b2b lead nurtureYour business needs to take lead nurturing more seriously this year. As you make efforts to ensure business-to-business lead growth, be aware that most of the prospects you get during B2B lead nurturing will take time to make a buying decision. But nurturing qualified leads not only helps them become paying clients, it also allows you to build trust for a long-term customer relationship.

Effective lead nurturing improves the quality of your leads and enables you to engage them effectively until they decide to buy. Here are three lead nurturing strategies that work for B2B marketing and sales.

1. Realign the Link Between Sales and Marketing

Due to the length of the typical B2B sales cycle, any leaks caused by poor alignment between Marketing and Sales can be disastrous. But you can improve the communication and synergy between Marketing and Sales by allowing the Marketing team to be present during sales calls.

This makes it easy for marketers to understand how prospects make their decisions and the challenges the Sales team must overcome. Encourage the Marketing and Sales teams to provide data to help clearly define a qualified lead. Ask the Sales team to provide notes and share CRM details with Marketing.

2. Use an Account-Based Strategy

Using an account-based strategy helps you identify and focus on the prospects that are more likely to convert.

Find key accounts. Use criteria like company size, location, annual income, types of clients they serve and the kind of solutions they provide. Develop content that meets the prospects’ needs. Your content should address their key concerns, fit their preference for receiving content and help them achieve their goals.

Develop a personalized content strategy for both email and web content. Let prospects have a truly customized experience each time they come to your site. Use Google Customer Match and Twitter Tailored Audiences or LinkedIn Matched Audiences to reach your qualified prospects.

3. Diversify Your Marketing and Nurturing Platforms

One of the most common buzzwords you’ll hear in business today is “multi-channel marketing.” At one time, companies had to pivot from canvassing their community’s mailboxes with marketing content and shift instead to search engine optimization and email-based marketing. These days, if you’re relying on email or any other single platform for visibility, you’re potentially losing valuable leads elsewhere.

A robust and properly diversified nurturing campaign might utilize email combined with social media, blog posts and other targeted content such as whitepapers, infographics, polls and surveys.

4. Don’t Forget the Follow-Through

The speed with which you follow-up with promising leads is another key factor in lead nurturing. For example, on average, once a promising lead interacts with a given website, the average company waits 42 hours to get in touch. Acting faster can make a sizeable difference.

Use LeadMaster’s tools to help nurture your leads

Business-to-business marketing can bring in many leads every day. But these prospects must be carefully nurtured before they buy your product or service. This requires tools that help you effectively engage your leads and take them through your sales funnel. LeadMaster provides the best tools for nurturing business-to-business leads. Contact us and begin enjoying your free 30-day trial today.