For a successful campaign, lead generation isn’t entirely enough. It is equally important to convert those leads into revenue-generating customers. The process of transforming a lead into a paying customer goes through the phenomenon of lead nurturing.
More specifically, lead nurturing is a relationship-building tactic with prospects who are interested in a product or service but aren’t convinced enough to buy something. They might avail services or buy the products at a future stage. Lead nurturing aims at educating the prospects about a product or service, making them aware of your product/company with an intention to influence their buying decisions in your favour.
With the dynamic consumption cycles and increasingly complex purchase decisions, brands and businesses are trying to invest more and more towards lead generation and lead nurturing. They aren’t just focusing on creating the best lead forms but are more concerned about a holistic CRO strategy that can guide prospects further into the sales funnel. If you are interested in how businesses are taking on the lead generation and nurturing challenge, here are some facts and statistics to help you with your research.
1. 65% of businesses consider traffic and lead generation as their biggest marketing challenge.
According to HubSpot, generating quality traffic and leads is one of the biggest challenges for business marketers around the globe. It has been haunting marketers for years and still gives them jitters. Just the nature of the challenge has evolved. With the introduction of social media and several other digital platforms, the number of touch points between marketers and customers has increased. This gives businesses the power to command the type of lead they want to generate and nurture.
2. 93% of B2B businesses believe content marketing to be more effective at generating more leads than traditional marketing tactics.
Independent researches by Marketo & Forbes, reveal that the majority of B2B businesses have started believing in the power of content marketing. If a business is able to produce quality content on a consistent basis, it is able to generate more leads and effectively nurture them to convert into paying customers.
3. 74% of global companies prioritise lead nurturing and conversion
HubSpot reveals that 74% of companies consider lead nurturing to be their top priority. Companies understand that every lead doesn’t convert, and lead generation can be a cost-intensive exercise. This has influenced them to focus more on lead nurturing for greater benefits.
4. 93% buying decisions start with an online search when it comes to B2B domain.
As per Pinpoint Market Research, 93% purchase decisions begin with an online search. While you might be wondering why such a statistic found a place here, it is important to note that the process of lead nurturing begins with persuading visitors to convert into customers. So, this insight gives us a broad perspective on how to use content marketing efforts for ranking well in organic search for discovery.
5. 96% of website visitors don’t come to a website with an intention to buy
Almost everyone who comes to your website is just there for research instead of making a purchase, as revealed by a market study. This reinstates the significance of lead nurturing. You need to invest diligently towards influencing your visitors through a focused lead nurturing strategy. Lead generation alone would mean nothing if your marketing team is clueless about conversion rate optimisation.
6. 68% B2B businesses will use landing pages for lead nurturing and conversions in the future
In a world of low attention spans, consumers need a crisp and to-the-point message. The statistic doing rounds online was revealed by Marketing Sherpa and rings a death knell for the future of homepages and websites as we know them. Consumers are looking for specific message catered to their needs which a landing page with personalised lead form can effectively provide.
7. Just 29% of the businesses invest in nurturing their existing customer base
According to Demand Gen, majority of businesses (as high as 81%) have strategies to attract and nurture early-stage leads but only 29% of businesses make it an effort to target existing customers after they make a purchase. Every customer is a potential gold mine and has more chances of buying from you again. So, instead of spending more time on attracting, focusing on up-selling, cross-selling and retention can enhance the ROI.
8. 53% of businesses confess that most of their leads take a long time to convert.
A study by Ascend2 reveals that most businesses believe that their leads require long cycles of nurturing involving several influencers. People with low buying intent have to be convinced again and again in order to make them buy something. Without adequate effort, prospects can slip away to rivals and competitors.
9. 50% of marketers say increasing lead-to-customer conversions is their biggest challenge & top priority.
The same study by Ascend2 offers some important insights about lead generation and nurturing. Marketers believe that the most important objective of their strategy is increasing the lead-to-customer conversion ratio. Further, improving lead quality, increasing the number of leads and reducing acquisition costs are some important aspects. But lead nurturing remains their top focus as everyone wants more conversions.
10. Aligning content with a prospect’s stage in the buyer’s journey can boost conversion rates by 72%
If you are serious about conversion rate optimisation (CRO), you need to craft your content according to the needs of the prospects. For your lead nurturing efforts to succeed, you need to focus on relevance. It is important to know your prospect’s position in the buyer’s journey and provide content that suits their requirements. This strategy has a better impact on the overall conversion rate.
Lead nurturing to boost your conversions can help you in the long term. If you are really serious about making your marketing efforts more fruitful, you should invest more time, effort and resources in perfecting your lead nurturing strategy. Define your goals and start creating good landing pages to capture more leads.