The signs of a future sale are in your favor: you’ve noticed an uptick in recent visits to your website, customers are signing up for your email newsletter, and someone added a product you sell to their shopping cart. While it seems things will tilt in favor of a conversion, you may need to help your clients a little further down the path with mid-funnel marketing.
Mid-funnel marketing involves engaging with your customers to encourage them to the consideration stage of the buying process, which is when they’ll decide to buy your products (or not). In the engagement stage of the buyer’s journey, customers are already familiar with your company and what you offer. However, they haven’t entirely decided whether they need your services.
You’ll need to nurture the lead to encourage your customer to make a purchase. Think of lead nurturing like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs. You lay a path for them to follow directly to your cash register. However, they must have a reason to follow your trail. If there isn’t one, they’ll simply change direction.
There are several techniques you can use to nurture your leads. Not every method is appropriate for every business, so select the ones you feel are most likely to resonate with your clients.
Omnichannel Marketing
Omnichannel marketing is especially well-suited for lead nurturing. With omnichannel marketing, you connect your various advertising platforms so that each interaction with a client is recorded and used for future communications. It helps create a seamless experience for the customer. Rather than starting from scratch every time they interact with you, their journey will flow much like a genuine conversation.
Omnichannel marketing works best when you already have a prospect. Perhaps they signed up for your emails but didn’t make a purchase on your website. Or they visited your physical storefront and talked with your head cashier.
Once you have a customer’s information — an email address, phone number, or a follow on your social media account, you can use it to nurture your leads and push them further through the buying cycle. For instance, you might email them a discount to purchase the item they looked at on your website or retarget them through connected TV ads.
When done properly, omnichannel marketing will easily transition your clients from the engagement to the conversion stage while effectively nurturing your leads.
Use a Mix of Marketing Materials to Reach Clients
Most customers will engage with your company several times before they finally decide to purchase from you. Rather than serving them the same marketing spiel every time they interact with you, vary your tactics.
For instance, if email is your primary marketing channel and you sell products online, don’t always send the same promotional materials advertising your wares. It’s tiresome, and your customers will grow bored and ignore your communications.
Instead, provide something different for your clients to consume. A newsletter containing your latest blog posts, or a case study on the benefits of one of your products, will vary your interactions so that you’re not always in sales mode.
Connect with Your Leads Shortly After They Provide Their Information
When a potential customer provides you with their contact details, don’t let them gather dust! Clients have lots of other things going on in their lives besides shopping. They may forget you if you don’t try to re-engage with them. Even worse, if you wait too long, they may not remember who you are or why they gave you their information.
It’s good form to send an email or a text within 24 hours of receiving your client’s contact information. That way, you show that your business is active and that you value their patronage.
You can include an incentive encouraging them to return to your storefront, like a one-time sign-up discount on your products and services.
After your initial communication, you should wait a few days before you try to reconnect with them. However, you’ll want to ensure your communications are regular enough that customers learn to expect to hear from you. Over time, their familiarity with your brand will grow, hopefully leading to future sales.
Lead Nurturing Is an Art
Your customers want to hear from you — especially if they show signs of engagement with your company. Use the opportunity to keep them interested through lead nurturing. Lead nurturing that feels genuine and provides your clients with benefits tends to work the best. Use our suggested strategies in your mid-marketing funnel plan, or integrate some others that fit well with your business model.
