Marketing experts agree that a competitive advantage will increasingly depend on developing a strong, consistent strategy for generating and nurturing leads online.
Business 2 Community contributor Amber King asserted that neglecting to make lead generation a priority can lead to lost opportunities, and, as a result, lost profit. She reported that businesses often assume that an existing sales lead is guaranteed, and by failing to nurture those leads, lose customers that aren’t provided with updates and information. Leads that are not nurtured may feel they are not valuable to the business, which will negatively impact sales. King argued that it is imperative to continually keep in contact with existing leads, building up trust and respect to drive loyalty.
Lead generation, according to King, is a never-ending process. By keeping connections alive, prospects who may not have been ready to take action at one point may be nurtured to an eventual sale. Frans Van Hulle, CEO of ReviMedia and Direct Marketing News contributor, offered tips on the continuous and often challenging lead generation process.
Van Hulle explained that many marketers struggle to find new customers in a fast-paced, constantly changing environment. Lead generation strategies, therefore, need to be based on long-term objectives and predictions for success. He explained that diversity is the key to testing leads, since a method that is effective for lead generation at one time may eventually prove unsuccessful. By constantly diversifying strategies, businesses can fine-tune and improve the acquisition of sales leads to secure new prospects.
Van Hulle further revealed that generating high-quality leads demands an investment in trusted web services with a premium domain name as well as professional and unique content. Lastly, building a strong database of customer information is key to knowing what potential leads need or desire so that offers can be tapered to benefit their preferences.
By making the lead nurturing process a constant effort, businesses can quickly adapt to changing consumer trends while attracting new prospects for long-term success.
