The wide use of the internet has made information readily available at everyone's fingertips. Whatever you might be looking for, the internet is the best place for it. The flow of information across various online channels and the ease of accessing it have changed the ways of buyers who now depends on self-education before setting out to buy anything. The trend of searching the internet before buying has completely changed the role of marketers who now have to play more of transactional roles rather than educating buyers. Marketers are now keen to build a relationship with customers so that it drives them towards making purchases. To develop and maintain close relationships with customers on one on one level there is hardly anything better than email marketing.
The new role of marketers
The role of marketers has now changed as they have to act as stewards in assisting customers as they progress in their purchasing journey. By regularly keeping in touch with customers through emails, they can hold their hands and accompany them as they walk through their own content journey in a personalized way. Marketers become the friend, philosopher and guide for customers as they keep answering all their questions as they progress towards the bottom of the purchasing funnel. Marketers have to be more sensitive towards buyers so that they understand their behaviors and demographics correctly and also their wants and needs. They must have their fingers on the pulse of customers to be able to understand their expectations so that they can serve them well. Picking up leads early and nurturing it so that customers keep moving in the right direction is the task of marketers.
What is lead nurturing?
Marketers have to follow customers closely by using the communication channels so that they can pick up early hints from the customer behavior that point towards a possible sale happening down the line. This is what we call to lead. Once marketers perceive leads, they have to latch on to it and nurture it carefully while accompanying customers in their buying journey. Leads are only hints, and its possibility of successful conversion into sales depend on how well marketers are able to nurture it just in the way we plant a sapling and take care of it so that it grows into a healthy plant.
Since marketers have to interact closely with customers during the process of nurturing leads, it is essential to building good relationships with them by using the powers of email communication. Marketers must befriend customers and enter into personalized communication that reinforces the relationship so that they can have their words and advice counted.
Engage in relevant conversation with potential customers
Pick up a thread from any communication with customers and explore its relevance to any lead that you may have identified so that you can use it for entering into a dialogue with customers. This is a piece of advice from the experts of SEO Company Eterpro that assists its clients in many kinds of online marketing. Creating proper emails helps to set up the conversation, but you must know the right ways of doing it. The emails must be so compelling that it would stand out from all other emails in the inboxes of customers. How you can do it will become clear on reading this article.
Create compelling subject lines
When we receive an email, we look upon the subject line to decide whether to open it. The subject line is the face of emails that have the highest initial impact on the recipients, and you must take utmost care when creating it. There is no need to increase the attraction of subject lines by decorating it with fancy words, but it should be simple yet have magnetic powers. Firstly, it has to reveal the usefulness of the email to readers. Secondly, there has to be clarity so that readers know what it is about. Thirdly, make it unique so that it creates an urge to see what is inside. Lastly, pack it with a sense of urgency so that readers feel like opening it instantly.
Choose a trusted sender address
The success of lead nurturing depends on how much trust you can generate among customers. Buyers would only like to engage in communication with someone they trust. While the subject line helps to generate trust that makes customers open emails, the sender's name or email address also generates similar trust. Only when you have some prior relationship with customers that you can expect them to start trusting you provided you are able to earn it. Evaluate which entity of your business, your personal name, brand name or business name generates the maximum confidence among customers and use it as the sending address for emails to nurture leads. This would ensure the high opening rate of emails and pave the way for getting closer to customers.
Compose an effective email
Composing an effective email is an art because you should be able to communicate the crux of the story in just a few selected words. The message has to be clear and compelling with some actionable elements that readers would find satisfying as there would be something meaningful for them in the communication. The value proposition must also be very clear, and it should not take more than 30 seconds to go through the email and understand its worth. The call to action as well as the value you convey must strike the right chords with customers.
Lead segmentation
Since different customers are in different stages in the sales funnel, you have to categorize the leads into different segments. This would help to plan how to nurture different kinds of leads. Newly perceived leads would need a different type of communication as compared to leads in more advanced stages of the sales funnel. Segmentation helps to understand the customer needs better and facilitates creating messages that leave a mark on them.
To convert possibilities into positive sales, you have to nurture leads by knowing how to make customers act positively.
Guest post courtesy of Sujain Thomas