Marketing science that brings together numerous techniques intended to understand the needs of consumers, to offer them products that meet them and to subsequently build their loyalty. The road is therefore long to build a relationship of trust with your customers. Lead nurturing and inbound marketing are two tools to use together to achieve your objectives.
In order to understand the need to combine these two techniques, we will have to dissect them separately.
Lead nurturing or how to retain a potential customer
To fully understand what lead nurturing , let's look at the roots of each expression that makes it up. First of all, you have to differentiate between suspect, lead, prospect and customer.
Each of these actors is classified into the different phases of the purchasing process by Engel, Kollat and Blackwell (1968) :
- The suspect is in the need recognition . This is an individual who presents criteria consistent with your targeting, but who has not taken any action until then;
- The lead is in the information search . He wants to satisfy the feeling of lack he feels;
- The prospect is already focused on evaluating alternatives . So, it is very possible that he has approached you for details about your product. This will allow him to compare the solutions available to him;
- The customer is a person who has already made the purchase . Subsequently, he will go through the post-purchase evaluation to determine the product actually met his expectations. Depending on any discrepancies, he will decide whether he will use your services again.
The border that separates the lead and the prospect is so fine that certain works no longer make the difference. So, we can also talk about “ prospect culture ”. This approach consists of maintaining, or even strengthening, a relationship with a prospect who is still hesitant. B to B commerce where the customer is a seasoned professional, whose purchasing decision can have colossal repercussions on the future of their business. Not surprisingly, the purchasing process is extremely long.
Inbound marketing: internet at the service of your business
As announced in the title, inbound marketing is the approach which consists of using digital channels to manage the relationship with prospects/customers. Eh yes ! It is currently unthinkable to do without the Internet if we remain competitive in a fierce market.
As a result, the team assigned to inbound marketing is responsible for creating content (texts, images and videos) in order to best present your company's offers. To do this, there are several instruments, such as:
- SEO or “ engine optimization ”, also called natural referencing . In simple terms, you need to produce content where the right keywords (those related to your field of activity) are highlighted. An adequate choice of keywords and natural insertion in your articles will allow you to appear at the top of the list in search engine results;
- SEA or “ engine advertising ”, also called sponsored referencing . As its name suggests, your business will have to pay for your brand to appear first on the news feed of web platforms and in advertising spaces .
In addition to traditional websites, social networks are the ideal target to optimize the visibility of your business. We must also not forget e-mails , essential especially in to B.
Two tools to use simultaneously for optimal results
Ultimately, we note that inbound marketing is an improvement on the lead nurturing of yesteryear. Indeed, the objective remains the same: to retain prospects. However, in addition to traditional marketing instruments, the internet has appeared.
Earlier, we mentioned that lead nurturing was mainly used in B2B , since professionals are difficult prospects. They have in-depth knowledge of their needs and carefully examine the alternatives presented to them, unlike more impulsive end customers. It will then be necessary to use specialized channels to present your products to them.
Social networks, such as Facebook, are not suitable in this context. These are mainstream platforms, with already congested news feeds. Here, we will prefer emails . In recent years, we have often talked about e -mailings and newsletters . Very simply, in order to stand out from your competitors, you will need to create original and attractive content. This is why long texts are no longer enough. It is essential to highlight visuals related to your offer to “catch the eye” more easily. Including a link to your website in your email can also be beneficial, as it will increase your traffic.
E -mailing is intended for prospects are still hesitant . As a result, the content is more detailed and adopts a commercial tone . The newsletter focuses on actual customers (those who have already purchased at least once). This time it will be more synthetic and informative content . A newsletter is only used to inform about the arrival of new products or promotions.
But the scope of digital does not stop there. You also have the possibility of analyzing the performance of your commercial actions using dedicated programs. To know if you have chosen the right strategies, refer to the number of visitors to your website, the number of emails opened among those you have sent, reactions to your publications, etc. The idea is to put concrete figures on your actions.
Based on these statistics , you will be able to make changes to your marketing strategy. Even in the event of failure, lead nurturing inbound marketing innovations , remains continually perfectible. Once the corrective actions have been put in place, you will be able to recover your disappointed prospects or strengthen the relationship you have already established with them.
Sources
https://www.1min30.com/inbound-marketing/inbound-marketing-quest-ce-que-le-lead-nurturing-2078
https://www.inboundvalue.com/blog/lead-nurturing-definition
