Lead generation is a fundamental part of growing your business. Although generating new leads is important, nurturing your existing leads into hot prospects for sales is vital. In fact, a recent study cites that majority of leads don’t convert because of lack of lead nurturing citing that a new lead doesn’t become qualified until it has gone through 7 to 13 touch points. What we need to remember is it’s not just about securing new leads, but quality ones (You know, the kind of leads salespeople argue over).

Importance of Lead Nurturing

As marketers, we need to bring in new leads each day in order to build the funnel. But keeping those leads engaged so they not only buy your product but become advocates can be challenging. It’s a difficult task because buyers are hesitant. Resistant. Indecisive. They also don’t trust brands. But, hey who can blame them? There are a lot of charlatans out there asking for your money. Saying they’re “the best,” “the cheapest,” “the most innovative” … The fact is that it doesn’t matter what you say. We must make our customers feel it. Let them know we care. Hold their hand. Give them stuff they get excited about. Because what it comes down to is making your brand memorable. And even if your brand may truly be the very best, it’s our job – as marketers, to make our customers feel it. When they begin to feel, they begin to buy.

So how do you do it? How do companies generate the right kind of leads for their sales team? Well, it starts with having some solid lead generation strategies.

So, how do you create lead generation strategies that attract new customers?

Understand Your Buyer’s Path to Purchase in Your Lead Generation Strategies

This may seem obvious. And you may have created a solid buyer’s persona back when you first initiated your lead generation strategies. But ask yourself: “Is it still current?” “Do you review it frequently and update it as needed?”

Thing is, many savvy marketers create a synchronized roadmap of their customers’ path to purchase, but put it on the back burner and it ends up being forgotten about. Remember, today’s buyer is dynamic, establishing his or her own path to purchase – through a myriad of channels, and it’s our job to know how and where their purchasing decisions are made. Consequently, many brands’ lead generation strategies are flawed because they don’t identify their audience’s path to purchase. Solid lead generation strategies will not only detail how and where their customers’ purchasing decision is being made, but it will also engage with them at different levels of their buying process.

Learn more about Cold Email Lead Generation Hacks.

How do you create lead generation strategies to nurture existing customers?

Integrate Lead Nurturing into Your Strategies

Every company and every buyer are unique. And while a key part of your lead generation strategies is lead nurturing, it’s not just about connecting with your prospects. It’s about showing that you care enough about your potential customers’ challenges that can win the deal. So, get to know them. Get in front of them. After all, although it does take time for companies to convert leads from strangers into paying customers, your competitors may not be nurturing their relationships the same way as you. Their lead generation strategies may be missing this key component. So, to help move your leads down the funnel, know what type of communications they want to be sent. Offer a myriad of touch-points, with just the right frequency, to help move them to the next phase in the funnel. Studies prove, properly nurtured leads not only become sales-ready more than 50% faster, but they cost companies 33% less (according to Forrester research). So, understanding your potential customer for lead nurturing should be integrated into your lead generation strategies.

Remember lead generation isn’t complicated. Just get to know your buyer by doing your homework. Then build a plan and execute with discipline. Test and retest as required and continue to evolve your lead generation strategy to drive results.

Read more about Clever Email Marketing Segmentations .

To see how companies are integrating Clickback’s Email Lead Generation software into their strategies to drive results, click here for a 1-on-1 demo!