One of the themes throughout the lead nurturing guide is generating the right content for your lead nurturing campaign. If you are not a professional content writer, you need to have some idea of what to put together for your leads to read on your web site and in your auto responder emails. You want your site to be the go-to place for trusted and accurate information about your business sector. If your leads trust you, find your content informative and like your style, they will do business with you.
Here are some ideas for killer online content:
1. Information is the key
Forget punchy sales copy and go for useful and informative content. Think about what your customers ask about and answer those questions as frequently asked question (FAQ) guides or update them on new products.
Don’t try to sell, but just have a low-key call-to-action pointing to more information or products. Sports shops might want to offer tips on diet or technique, while accountants may throw out some tax advice. How-to or money saving ideas are always good content.
2. Discounts, offers and deals
You are taking a chance on the lead consigning you to the spam bin or unsubscribing if you start pushing sales. Measure the response by sending these mails to a small number of leads before embarking on a promotional campaign.
3. Something for nothing
Another type of informational message that is triggered by requests for information about specific topics – for instance, if you sell food and drink you can inform your leads about the nutritional facts of specific products, or how to combine them for a special meal. Think of those recipe cards in supermarkets endorsed by celebrity chefs that are aimed at promoting specific ingredients.
4. Product trials and demos
Like discounts, offers and deals, these are risky messages and should only go out near the end of the lead nurturing cycle or on request from the lead. If the call-to-action that triggered the lead to respond was for a demo or trial, of course, respond straight away with this message.
5. Personal messages
If a lead is stuck in the lead-nurturing campaign and is not progressing towards a sale, then try a personal message offering a telephone chat or promotion. This is like a last-chance saloon that lets the lead decide whether to stay in the sales funnel or jump in to the buyer’s queue.
6. Curated content
A popular way to offer information on a given topic from around the web is to provide a list of resources and links to other web sites and blogs. It goes without saying that this content should not point your leads towards your competitors.
7. Matching content to the buying cycle
Here’s a helpful graphic that gives some content generation ideas for different stages of the buying cycle:
Now it’s your turn
What challenges does your business have when creating leads?