The concept of Lead Nurturing has become a new Game of Thrones in b2b marketing sector: everyone is talking about it and no one really knows what is going to happen next. But one thing can be said for sure: even what appears to be a completely lost case can still be won over with some good strategy applied at the right moment.

So we at HelloMrLead decided to check it out and were surprised by the results obtained! Long story short, in just one week we literally resurrected more than 15 contacts and at least two of them converted in valid leads approved by client. Let’s see if we can do better!

So we got ourselves a client, an expert in managing loyalty programmes in retail sector. Last year we generated some leads for them, but others didn’t work out or just dropped out. The response rate obtained from the lead scoring campaigns in March for the very same client never exceeded 15%, in some cases dropping to 4,6%.

For the lead nurturing campaign our KPI was to get use of dead-end contacts. Not exactly a measurable one, but worth trying and nothing to lose.

Then, right on Holy week (dead season in Spain, so to say) we launched a sequence of 5 e-mails enriched with highly useful content from the client’s own blog: 2 of them dedicated to the buyer person, 2 more – to whatever contact you can get and the 5th “one-size-fits-all” just in case.

What’s point writing to a person who apparently lost interest in your product on a week that everyone goes on vacation, you’d ask sarcastically?

The statistics will speak louder than words:

– of a 100 conversations initiated we got 15 positive replies (most are still being followed up, such as Mercadona, BonArea, SPRINTER or Inditex)

– among those who turned into leads were Solmania and Adolfo Dominguez, companies that could potentially close deals worth several times the campaign price

– the “just in case” mail copy lead to at least TWO positive replies, while the most statistically efficient channel happened to be that “other contact” we did not rely on too much.

Inspired by the results we decided to extend the practice to our other campaigns currently in progress or about to be initiated. And here are some tips that may help you do the same:

  1. Don’t hesitate to remind of yourself. That is, not to be annoying, a great way to get use of your previous work that seemed fruitless.
  2. Be helpful. No one would ever respond to our e-mails if they weren’t offering any expertise or unique content. If a client doesn’t have a blog to base on, help him create one.
  3. Stay up to date. Holidays are a great opportunity to update and prosper, as your clients will have plenty of time to read, whilst the eve is perfect to force the decision making.
  4. Don’t throw away possibilities. Even if you know an MQL or SQL and focus the campaign on nurturing that particular contact, it’s always worth trying other approaches.
  5. Improvise. After all, this is not a tightly scheduled scientific experiment, there’s always a room for split-testing campaigns, personalized ideas and ad hoc management.

 

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