6 Lead Nurturing Strategies for Reaching Beyond the Inbox

Summary

Synopsis:

The importance of diversifying B2B lead nurturing strategies
The role played by relationships in the current buyer’s journey in driving conversions
Tactics for reaching beyond the inbox with nurturing strategies

Lead nurturing is a key component of modern B2B marketing strategies, not only for educating leads on a company's solutions and guiding them toward a purchase but also for contributing to forming strong, long-lasting relationships.

“Prioritizing lead generation above all else has become obsolete, especially considering buyer preferences and the rise of inbound marketing strategies. It is essential to accompany leads throughout the entirety of the buyer’s journey (beyond the top of the funnel), which helps companies engage leads and establish a healthy sales pipeline.”

Therefore, it has become crucial to employ omnichannel, full-funnel marketing strategies, capable of driving awareness and demand as buyers progress along the sales process. This approach is essential for accommodating non-linear buyer’s journeys that span multiple channels.

The complex nature of these journeys has sparked the rise of the bow-tie model to support the infrastructure and strategies that this focus on client centricity demands. The model is designed to allow teams to pivot and cater to the behavior and preferences of current buyers. This is especially prudent in a time in which 65% of a company's revenue comes from existing clients.

Source: Winning by Design

In essence, the bow-tie model incorporates post-sale marketing initiatives, contributing to an increased client lifetime value (CLTV) via upsells and renewals, among other tactics. The cyclical nature of the model allows teams to work in collaboration to build long-lasting relationships with client bases by leveraging lead nurturing strategies.

WHY CHANNEL DIVERSIFICATION IS
IMPORTANT FOR B2B LEAD NURTURING

Email nurturing is one of the most widely used forms of lead nurturing. However, email nurturing generates the best performance when paired with other outreach methods that go beyond the inbox to form stronger client relationships and brand trust. For example, email nurturing can be complemented with automated omnichannel outreach, to keep your brand top of mind and create a cohesive digital experience. This initiative also helps to avoid fatigue and consequent churn by diversifying the channels being used.

However, efficient B2B lead nurturing needs clear visibility into buyer behavior across every touchpoint in order to inform marketing strategies and identify sources of friction in the buyer's journey, which has grown increasingly long and complex.

According to the INFUSE Insights Voice of the Buyer 2024 report, most buying cycles (40.4%) range from 6 to 12 months, with an additional 15.4% of respondents reporting cycles over 12 months long. Furthermore, the same research found that the majority of buying committees (59.2%) are comprised of 4 to 10 people, while 29.8% of committees have over 10 members. This highlights the important role that data insights, accurate lead qualification, and the continuous delivery of relevant support from lead nurturing play in the B2B buying process.

This article provides diverse omnichannel nurturing strategies to complement emails and support buyers with value at every touchpoint as they navigate an increasingly complex buying process.

GATHER DATA INSIGHTS

Data-driven marketing is the foundation of informing the development of iterative marketing campaigns and strategies to enable marketers to better reach their goals and innovate. This is especially true when considering full-funnel lead nurturing initiatives and implementing the workflows necessary to support seamless experiences for buyers.

Improved targeting and segmentation, as well as personalization and UX, are some of the other benefits derived from successfully executed data-driven marketing strategies. This section illustrates how different sources of data may enable marketers to diversify their lead nurturing strategies beyond the inbox in their nurturing strategies.

LEAD INTELLIGENCE

While the definition may differ according to each organization, lead intelligence refers to data from buyer personas, segmentation details, intent data, and former campaigns to grant accurate insights into your audience's behavior and preferences. Collecting and analyzing lead intelligence is therefore quintessential to the accuracy and success of your marketing efforts, including lead nurturing initiatives.

Make sure to revise and update your buyer personas and ICPs with up-to-date information on your leads prior to launching nurturing campaigns. These data assets will inform your messaging and approaches to best engage different audiences, accounts, and decision maker profiles.

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Optimize your nurturing with lead intelligence

INTENT DATA

Intent data helps inform when leads are interested in your brand and their current stage in the buyer’s journey. Such data focuses on the behavior and activity of prospects to identify their propensity to buy a solution. For example, an account with multiple prospects searching for the same topics and keywords, as well as interacting with content related to these topics, is displaying intent signals. However, it is essential to remember that intent data must be analyzed at an account level and paired with other analytics to assess the leads’ sales readiness.

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GO BEYOND THE INBOX WITH TARGETED DISPLAY ADS

Targeted display ads leverage user email addresses to display different advertising according to the lead's unique properties and step in the buyer's journey.

However, it is important to implement this strategy with as much accuracy as possible to avoid being seen as invasive. Invite prospects to consume content specific to their persona, funnel stage, and pain points. For example, content designed to drive sales conversions is not apt for TOFU leads, as they are unlikely to convert. Instead, leverage short-form, informative assets that position your brand as a trustworthy solution provider.

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Kickstart your TOFU strategies with our guide

On the other hand, MOFU leads are likely evaluating options and more open to longer-form content that touches on more product information. For this reason, content focused on product comparisons and features is highly valuable for leads in this stage. However, it is important to refrain from overly salesy language. MOFU leads are still considering multiple options and looking to identify the solution that provides the most business value, making this a top priority in messaging.

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Find out how to navigate the buyer's journey
and encourage lower-stage conversions

LEVERAGE SOCIAL
MEDIA NURTURING

According to a 2022 GWI report, modern users spend an average of 2 hours and 26 minutes per day on social media. The same study informs that uncovering information on products and brands is reported by users to be the second highest reason for using LinkedIn, the platform most widely used by B2B marketers (93%).

LinkedIn supports this by sharing that up to 75% of B2B buyers rely on social media to inform purchase decisions (according to their studies). This emphasizes the importance of leveraging social media in B2B lead nurturing strategies, which can be done in a myriad of different ways.

“For instance, social networks can be leveraged for direct touches, such as outreach via LinkedIn InMail or newsletters, or indirectly, with thought leadership posts from executives and brand representatives on user’s feeds. However, both approaches hinge on prospects following and subscribing to brand pages and communications, as well as sales teams implementing successful outreach touches to capitalize on engagement.”

This can be supported by the regular sharing of valuable content addressing common pain points and challenges, engaging with your current audience, and utilizing hashtags and keywords. In essence, the quality and accuracy of your content is a powerful driver of increasing your followership.

As for newsletter subscribers, exclusive access to content and insights that align with audience preferences and needs is a powerful way to earn their attention. Remember these assets should match the interests of your audience on social media platforms, which for most, will be prominently TOFU users following your pages as part of brand discovery. Sponsoring or partnering with relevant newsletters in your industry can also help you reach prospects in bigger, shared audiences.

Furthermore, most platforms offer paid advertising options that can be utilized to showcase your brand and content to targeted audiences. These solutions allow you to extend your reach beyond your follower base, attracting lookalike audiences aligned with your ICP and buyer personas. However, given the cost of this strategy, paid social initiatives must be informed by the latest lead intelligence data to support the best performance.

Additionally, social media platforms offer organizations the opportunity to implement community-building strategies. By engaging with followers and users who find posts through organic discovery in comments and online forums, companies can empower their digital presence and foster trust, by humanizing the brand and enhancing the overall experience.

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Discover how to leverage social media
in the B2B buying process

EMPLOY DYNAMIC RETARGETING

Dynamic retargeting enables marketers to serve different ads to users according to their behavior on the company's website. This helps to engage prospects with ads specific to their interests. For example, product page views, products in abandoned shopping carts, or visits from cold leads can serve as a basis for this retargeting process.

For leads in the BOFU stage, special discounts and bundle offers can encourage them to complete a purchase. However, this should be supported by a sophisticated nurturing strategy to avoid communication being interpreted as pushy. Therefore, all retargeting initiatives must be based on a combination of lead scoring and intelligence on previous interactions, so as not to risk causing churn.

In essence, retargeting must be utilized as a method for enriching the lead’s brand experience with additional content, rather than pushing for a sale.

HARNESS SEARCH ADS

Via paid search advertising, companies can place their ads on relevant search engine result pages (SERPs). This approach is based on user email addresses and relevant keywords in search queries, allowing for personalized targeting.

This is also a cost-effective approach for securing performance, as most search engines operate ads via pay-per-click (PPC), through which companies pay only when users click on their ads.

This is a method to direct users to relevant nurturing content or particular product pages, depending on their buyer's journey stage, previous interactions, and other behavioral data. Search advertising can help existing prospects keep your brand top of mind while simultaneously paving the way for quality lead generation. With the right approach, it can also be used as a part of retargeting strategies.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ABM
AND ABX FRAMEWORKS

“It is imperative to leverage ABM frameworks to reach the entirety of the buying group at target accounts. Recently, the growing emphasis on buyer experience has driven innovative new ABM strategies, known as ABX, an approach that incorporates Client Experience (CX) and User Experience (UX) elements into ABM strategies. This approach has proven successful due to its capability of generating meaningful experiences and connections, which have become increasingly crucial in motivating buyers to make purchases.”

ABX frameworks are built by incorporating insights collected from decision makers at target accounts to inform its strategies. Marketers implementing ABX must engage prospects who are actively researching and considering multiple solutions, and seek to promote meaningful experiences. The approach is capable of continuously meeting prospect needs via an ever-evolving buyer experience that caters to their needs, challenges, and behavior across the entirety of the sales process.

This is ever more important in a time in which buyers are increasingly independent with their research, with 75% of B2B buyers preferring to engage with sales experiences that do not involve SDRs. Accurate lead nurturing, therefore, becomes a must to properly educate your prospects and guide them throughout their buyer’s journey.

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Drive personalization at scale and
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Key takeaways

Lead nurturing has become essential to guide prospects toward a purchase, but it must go beyond a simple email drip and focus on forming meaningful relationships.
Collect and analyze lead intelligence to ensure clear visibility into buyer behavior and inform your marketing strategies with up-to-date data.
Make use of ABM and ABX frameworks to engage multiple decision makers from each target account, contributing to developing a relationship with company stakeholders.
Leverage targeted display ads, social media nurturing, newsletters and sponsorships, dynamic retargeting, and search ads to go beyond the inbox and reach prospects on their preferred channels.