How much business are you losing by not engaging your potential customers? Just think about all the people who requested information but were never contacted, customers who decided to work with a competitor, or people who just couldn’t afford your product at the time. Although these are frustrating and disappointing moments, don’t give up on these potential customers.
Now you might say that working on these prospects is a waste of time, but consider these five easy ways to nurture these leads.
1. EMAIL DRIP CAMPAIGNS
A drip campaign is a series of emails that you can automate to send based on certain qualifications. For instance, if someone fills out an online form on your website, you can set up a trigger to automatically put that person into a “Welcome to Our Business” email chain. Over time, these prospects will be emailed valuable content, promotional offers, exclusive information, or whatever your customers find valuable.
Drip campaigns allow you to eliminate repetitive tasks like welcoming new customers, pitching your product, or offering segmented promotions. Not to mention the fact that these targeted emails will instantly generate more revenue. Here are just a few stats to consider from Emma Email Marketing:
-
Automated emails get 119% higher click rates than broadcast emails
-
B2C marketers who connect with customers through automated emails see conversion rates as high as 50%
-
Companies who automate emails are 133% more likely to send messages that coincide with the purchase cycle of their customers
-
Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases
-
The average open rate for welcome emails is 50%, which makes them 86% more effective than email newsletters
-
Dealers and contractors that send a series of welcome emails see 13% more revenue than those that send just one
-
Sending automated emails helps you repurpose 61% more content than businesses that don’t use automation
I know this is probably a lot to take in. But don’t worry… even free email marketing tools like MailChimp offer easy-to-use email drip campaigns. This post from MailChimp even explains how to set up a drip campaign if you’ve never tried it.
2. SOCIAL MEDIA
I know a lot of people don’t want to mess with social media because they don’t think it drives sales. Unfortunately, this might be true for the RV/Marine and Home Improvement industries. But according to Pew Research Center, here are a few reasons why you should NOT abandon your social media efforts:
-
74% of U.S adults use Facebook on a daily basis
-
60% of U.S. adults use Instagram on a daily basis
-
46% of U.S. adults use Twitter on a daily basis
It would be an utter waste not to reach out to such a wide potential audience! Social media is a great tool to help potential customers become familiar with your brand and culture. Making sure you have positive online exposure will help nurture those people that are still chilling at the top of the marketing funnel. Even if you don’t see immediate revenue from social media, your online presence could be the distinguishing factor that brings someone through your door.
3. EMAIL NEWSLETTERS
When I worked on the marketing team at a prior employer, I was in charge of emailing our entire database a monthly newsletter. It was really effective because we could track the interactions and follow-up and nurture potential customers that seemed more interested in our content.
But what really amazed me was having a HUGE lead reach out to us after two years of inactivity. It was a total surprise because we hadn’t dedicated any other marketing efforts to obtaining this lead. Sometimes, your monthly newsletters will just connect with your potential customers at the right time and place.
Can you imagine if we hadn’t been emailing our database? We would’ve missed out on a major opportunity. It’s a simple task that will give you another chance to get in front of your customers and drive them to eventually make a purchase.
4. WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
A well-designed website is critical in this Digital Age. It’s no longer a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have! According to IMPACT and Magnet4Blogging:
-
Mobile users are 5x more likely to abandon the task if the site isn’t optimized for mobile
-
79% of people who don’t like what they find on one site will go back and search for another site
-
52% of users said that a bad mobile experience made them less likely to engage with a company
-
60% of users say they will not recommend a business that has a badly designed mobile site
-
94% of visitors stopped trusting websites with degraded web design
Do you see what I mean? You simply can’t afford to have an old-school website. The best way to find out if you need a web update, is to ask for sincere feedback (and sometimes the truth is painful). But listen to them! The website is for your customers, not you.
5. BLOGGING
No… blogging is not just an activity for stay-at-home moms. It’s a way to build trust and provide valuable content to your potential customers. When you create content that your potential audience would be interested in, it adds an element of credibility and satisfaction. And if you implement an advanced blogging strategy, it could dramatically increase your yearly revenue.
Just think about topics that your potential customers would find useful:
-
Best places to travel in an RV
-
Top 10 DIY home improvement projects
-
Pros and Cons of buying a boat
-
Pros and Cons of installing solar panels
These are all topics that your customers might be typing into a search engine like Google. If you’re content is valuable and uses effective keywords, you could show up first in the results! The more content you create, the more people will find your website and products, the more sales you close. This may be one of the most effective and passive ways to nurture potential customers.
Ultimately, it takes a combination of these strategies to see effective results. Although it may take some time to implement these initiatives, it’ll be worth it. If you don’t nurture potential customers, they are only one negative experience away from switching to a new product or service. Make sure that you’re the first alternative they think to investigate.
