Lead nurturing

What it means

Lead nurturing means gradually building relationships with prospects who are not yet ready to buy. The company sends them a series of useful emails, articles, guides and reminders so that they remember it and choose it once their need matures.

Most website visitors do not buy straight away. One is just finding out what bookkeeping costs, another is thinking about setting up a company in six months. If nothing happens after the first contact, they forget. Nurturing keeps in touch and moves the lead through the sales funnel closer to a decision.

The foundation is relevant content. Messages should answer the questions the prospect is dealing with at that stage rather than just pushing the product. Good content builds trust and shows expertise, so when the time to decide comes, the company is no longer an unknown supplier.

How it works in practice

Contact usually starts with a lead magnet, such as a checklist for setting up an s. r. o. or a price calculator. An automated email series follows as part of marketing automation, explaining the topic step by step and ending with an offer of a consultation.

Content is tailored by segment and behaviour. Someone who opens emails about payroll receives more content on employing staff; someone who visits the pricing page repeatedly may get a meeting offer. Lead scoring helps decide when a contact is mature enough to hand over to sales.

Success is measured by open and click rates, but above all by conversion to meetings and customers and by time to purchase. Ordinary email marketing and the newsletter are complemented by retargeting, webinars and personal contact, so that communication does not rely on a single channel.

What to watch out for

Sending marketing emails requires consent or another legal basis, and every message must offer an easy way to unsubscribe. Double opt-in is recommended to confirm that the owner of the address signed up, and the database should record when and how consent was given.

Communication that is too frequent or irrelevant puts prospects off and leads to unsubscribes or spam complaints, which harm the deliverability of all the company's emails. It is better to send fewer messages with clear value than to bombard contacts with offers.