Here's a quick video from Jeff Ogden of Find New Customers on some of the biggest mistakes businesses make when getting into lead nurturing. Jeff talks about 'drip marketing' and how content needs to craft a story for the customer, guiding them through the buying process.

Here are 10 quick tips to help you produce a successful landing page. They're hopefully a good checklist to consider when building a page, but as always you should test each element to make sure they work to produce the right outcomes for your pages.

1. Don't try to do too much on the page - don't overfill your page. Instead, make your page clear, succinct and effective for achieving its main purpose.
   
   
2. Make use of bullet points. Typically, you have 3 seconds to get across what your page/offer is about before a visitor decides to stay on the page or navigate away. Making bullet points the focus of the page should help to convey your main message quickly and effectively.
   
   
3. Keep everything above fold (especially the form) if possible.
   
   
4. Mention the offer in the headline.
   
   
5. Keep navigation to a minimum - this reduces the temptation for the visitor to navigate away from page and increases the likelihood of them completing the call to action.


6. Make text on buttons action orientated e.g. "Download now", "Get your white paper".
   
   
7. Set expectations & show the value of the content in your copy/headline e.g. "Free 10 page white paper on... " rather than 'Free white paper"
   
   
8. Add social sharing links to let people share the landing page / content with their peers - can help to increase the exposure to your brand/content.
   
   
9. A 3 column layout generally works well - left hand column has image of content - centre column (wider) has main offer / bullet points - right hand column has form.
   
   
10. Add a check box on a content download form that lets people quickly & easily sign up to your newsletter at the same time.
    

Useful links:
Which Test Won
Hubspot
Marketing Experiments

Below is a helpful video from lead generation expert Dave Green. Green offers 2 key distinctions between the processes of lead generation and lead nurturing ...

In B2B marketing it is becoming increasingly important to look at deepening relationships with prospects over time, engaging with them through different channels (email, direct mail and SMS).

This can be accomplished using lead nurturing programs: systems which have the functionality to track and score behaviour and demographics, and send triggered emails to leads. Eloqua defines lead nurturing as a 'discipline focused on leads who are not yet ready to buy' and that 'successful lead nurturing is in delivering content of sufficient value that the audience remains engaged'.

The lead nurturing planning process can be split into two key areas:

• Lead scoring (to provide an indication on the propensity of the contact to purchase)
• Lead nurturing (to determine and trigger the most appropriate email communication to develop the lead)

Below are key questions that need consideration before you can effectively plan any lead nurturing program:

The lead scoring program:
1. Have you met with your sales team to define an ideal lead?
2. What defines a hot, warm or cold lead?
3. What contact or company demographics are considered priority indicators for explicit scoring?
4. What web activity is considered a priority indicator for implicit scoring?
5. Are the current available forms already segmented by level of importance?
6. What score would indicate a sales-ready lead?

The lead nurturing program:
7. What is your ultimate goal for your leads? Sign up for a trial or demo, register for a newsletter, reach a score threshold...
8. Of the assets you have available, which are most likely to tempt your leads? Whitepapers, free reports, free trials...
9. How do your prospects enter the program? After a telemarketing campaign, after a website visit, request for a newsletter...
10. What timeframe should be considered between triggered emails?
11. Do you want to include a 'fast track sign-up' opportunity with each email?
12. If you plan to push prospects toward an existing website, could their interest be disrupted by the flow of the website?
13. Are all website pages to be tracked?
14. Would you like include A/B split testing in your program? You could test 'call to action' and email design effectiveness on your audience...
15. When should a prospect leave the program? After completing set actions, once a score has been reached, after a set time of no activity...

Below is an example of a lead nurturing plan:

If you have any lead nurturing questions post a comment below or email me at whatworksonline@rbi.co.uk

Below is a handy gadget from KoMarketing Associates which allows you to measure the Return On Investment you are getting across your Google PPC campaign...

A useful analysis from Forrester of how marketing automation can help to align B2B marketers with sales and bring large business benefits. However, 'Marketing Automation is like a painter's palette - it doesn't make you a master' and the research reveals a number of issues:

1. Focus is stuck at the top of the funnel - many B2B marketers are not using the system to nurture the leads, but to blast their entire database. 
2. There is a lack of process - before automating, few B2B firms had any real process in place for lead generation and the handoff to sales.
   
3. Not enough support from the sales organisation exists.
   
4. Resource bottlenecks persist - once marketers realise what's possible with automation, they naturally want to run more campaigns, but don't have the content they need to engage buyers.
   
   
   

Article by Lawrence Mitchell (RBI-UK)

 

Lead generation is expensive, and part of marketing's job, especially in this tough economy, is to maximize return on marketing spend. With that goal in mind, lead nurturing continues to be a hot topic.

I came across two informative posts about lead nurturing this week that I thought were worth sharing. Both have helpful tips for getting started with lead nurturing and taking your existing lead nurturing program to the next level.

The first, Lead nurturing: What is it? And why should I care?, by Barbra Gago, Inbound & Social Marketing Manager at Genius.com, reviews what lead nurturing is and why you should nurture leads, and provides tips and tools to get started.

The second, Lead Nurturing Checklist for Marketing Automation, by LeadSloth's Jep Castelein, gets right to the heart of how to get started with an easy to follow checklist. Jeb suggests starting by addressing the following questions:

• Do you want to nurture new leads, existing leads or both?
• How do you to segment your audience?
• Do you want a linear drip campaign, or rule-driven dynamic campaign (flow chart)
• Which content is available for nurturing?
• What frequency of emails and duration of campaign do you prefer?
• When do you send leads to sales?
• Do you need to improve the quality of your lead data?

Work with your sales team to define your ideal lead, put together valuable content and start nurturing your prospects!

 

View the article by Liz McInnis (BuyerZone) at: http://leads.buyerzone.com/2010/04/when-in-doubt-nurture.html