The truth is that most small businesses inherently have more competition than their big-name competitors, which is why consistent communication, personalization, and effective lead-nurturing strategies are so important.
Lead nurturing tactics and tools can help you drive more revenue and increase conversions. Innovative techniques like automation and segmentation can keep customers engaged throughout the buyer’s journey and encourage them to eventually purchase.
Whether you own a small med spa or a local boutique, lead nurturing strategies are an invaluable tool you can benefit from. In this small business guide, we’ll walk you through various lead-nurturing tactics you can use to build relationships with leads. Here’s everything you need to know:
What is Lead Nurturing?
Lead nurturing is the process of building relationships with potential customers through marketing and sales initiatives. These strategies can help guide prospects through the buying journey, eventually pushing them to purchase.
Why is the Lead Nurturing Process Important?
With the right lead nurturing strategies and tools, you can maintain your brand’s reputation, build trust with your audience, and maintain better relationships with your paying customers.
Successful lead nurturing strategies use valuable content and consistent messaging to educate the buyer and keep your small business top of mind throughout the sales process. If you aren’t engaging with your customers throughout every step of the buyer’s journey, they might lose interest or explore other options with your big-name competitors.
Top Five Lead Nurturing Strategies for Small Businesses
The lead nurturing process turns prospects into paying customers. If you own a small business, you know how valuable every touchpoint is to your success and profitability. Investing in tools, software, and lead-nurturing strategies can help build client relationships and maintain consistent communication with new leads.
Here are five lead nurturing strategies your small business can use to increase conversions and improve the buyer’s journey.
1. Automated Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most powerful marketing channels you can use. Studies suggest that for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you’ll get a $44 return on investment. With email marketing automation, you can automate your outreach, enabling your lead nurturing strategies to work in the background of your workweek. This will give your team more time to fine-tune their strategic approach and focus on tasks that need a more hands-on, human approach.
Townsquare Interactive’s cloud-based CRM has built-in email marketing and SMS automation tools. You can create and develop compelling campaigns that educate your leads at every part of the buyer’s journey.
2. Personalization and Segmentation
Prospects and customers choose small businesses over big-name brands for tailored services and a more personalized approach. With personalization and segmentation, you can easily adjust your content to align with your customer’s unique needs. This will help you build trust and improve customer engagement. Personalization and segmentation can also help improve customer retention and lead to an enhanced customer experience.
With segmentation, you can recommend different products or service recommendations to different audiences. You can also offer specific deals and offers based on location or buyer habits. These small segmentation tactics can help you streamline the sales process and ensure the content you prioritize is valuable for the specific audience.
3. Prompt Customer Follow-ups
After a big demo or sales call, your sales team needs to follow up with the prospects and continue to nurture the leads. While some customers might make a decision right there, others might need more time to think about the cost and benefits.
With a cloud-based CRM, you can track follow-ups and automate your check-ins, ensuring your prospect’s needs are met. This is the best way to ensure your small business is still being considered one, two, or three weeks after the first touchpoint.
Townsquare Interactive’s innovative business management platform has built-in features like real-time notifications, unified messaging, and automation tools to engage with your leads. You can also track client communication in one place to better understand their behaviors and interests in your products or services.
4. Take a Multi-Channel Approach
The best way to ensure your small business is top of mind is to continue to connect with your target audience across various channels. With social media, email, paid ads, and content marketing, you can educate, inform, and persuade new customers.
When taking a multi-channel approach, always stay consistent with your lead nurturing strategy across the various channels. This will help you build brand recognition and trust through multiple touchpoints.
5. Localization Marketing
If you own a small business, you likely have a smaller budget than some of your bigger competitors. With a localization marketing strategy, you can maximize the ROI of your marketing initiatives and build connections with customers in your community who are more likely to convert. You can use localization by:
- Develop a local SEO strategy
- Segmenting your communication by location
- Optimize your Google Business Profile
- Offering personalized deals and offers for specific targets
- Planning local events in your community
- Taking advantage of traditional marketing tactics like print ads and signage
At Townsquare Interactive, we specialize in small business SEO tactics. We’re here to help you fine-tune your approach to local SEO to ensure your business comes out on top in the SERPs.
Explore Lead Nurturing Tactics With Townsquare Interactive
Lead nurturing is probably the most effective way to build connections with your audience. With software, prompt follow-ups, and automation tools, you can streamline the lead nurturing process and improve your conversion rate.
Townsquare Interactive’s business management platform has a suite of tools and features your business can use to nurture leads. Our business management platform is an all-in-one tool to engage with prospects throughout every step of the buyer’s journey. Contact us today for a free demo.