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10 Signs You Should Invest In Lead Nurturing

Marketing_FunnelAs wise man once said "not all leads are created equal."

Some leads can be easier to convert than others, but regardless of the outcome, every lead should be nurtured in one way or another. With your business, or the business of your client, there will be times, maybe many times, that lead conversion is lacking. This is when investing in lead nurturing is crucial.

So what is lead nurturing anyways? Lead nurturing is the mixture of communication and other relevant touch points from a business to a prospect. Good lead nurturing tailors marketing messages to every prospect's specific stage in the buying cycle? One of the simplest, easiest to implement, and most effective forms of lead nurturing we like to implement over is here is email marketing automation.

While lead nurturing may initially sound like a great idea, you must first be able to tell when the investment is necessary. In a perfect world you would constantly be investing and nurturing your leads, but most companies simply do not have the budget, or additional resources to do so. To help the cause, here are 10 signs you should invest in lead nurturing.

1. The leads are qualifying but not buying. The goal is to get your leads to use your produce/service, if they show interest but don't follow through, you may need to invest in some nurturing.

2. The leads have many decision makers. The more complicated the lead is, the tougher it will be to convert, and consequently, the more nurturing you will need to do.

3. Too many illegitimate leads. There is not much worse than wasting time on bogus leads. With a little investment, you may find that up to a quarter of your leads don't even deserve nurturing.

4. Lead nurturing generates more sales. If you find that lead nurturing generates more sales, and you likely will, then doing so is definitely worth the investment.

5. There is a poor response rate from sending email blasts. Personalizing, or adding a nurtured touch when emailing leads will likely produce a response rate that is worth the investment, and is more effective than a blast approach.

6. More and better sales opportunities. Nurtured leads often generate increases in viable sales opportunities, and there is no denying that is what everyone is after.

7. The majority of your leads never turn into sales. According to MarketingSherpa, over three quarters of leads never become sales, that is, unless they are properly nurtured. Like growing a plant from seed, you may have to put in considerable time and effort as your leads grow into sales.

8. Your leads are making smaller purchases. You want every lead to make a big purchase, which obviously won't happen every time, but if you invest in nurturing those leads, they will be likely to spend more.

9. You are not following up with marketing leads. Leads like attention, if you are not following up with your leads generated from marketing efforts, then you are likely wasting opportunities.

10. Leads are not qualifying. If your leads are not qualifying, it is a definite sign that they need more nurturing to get farther along in the sales process.

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Matt Walde
Post by Matt Walde
January 27, 2014

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