Today’s sales cycle is complex and relationship driven. And as a marketer, your goal is to increase brand awareness, become a thought leader in your space, and, of course, fill the sales pipeline! How do you create a relationship with your lead and still drive the sale home? 

Marketing automation solutions, like Eloqua, provide marketers with sophisticated technology to enable lead nurturing and scoring programs to build relationships and promote brand awareness. But lets face it, a successful lead nurturing program is difficult to build and manage. How do you create compelling content that will entice your buyer? And how do you leverage your social media channels to make nurturing programs more interactive? Whether you are embarking on the marketing automation journey for the first time or you’re already running lead nurturing programs through a software like Eloqua, these tips can help you create successful campaigns that will drive leads!

Tip #1 - Content is king.
The key to a successful lead nurturing campaign is great, educational content that your prospect will want to read. When leads first enter your nurturing program, they are not yet committed to buy, but they are seeking outside information to assist them with a business problem. Sirius Decisions cites that white papers are desired by 70% of prospects in the early stage of the buying cycle. The average white paper length is between 5-7 pages and offers a prime opportunity to put forth your thought leadership position.

Tip #2 - Use your blog content to reel your reader in.
Blogs are a great educational resource. Additionally, because they are more conversational and casual in nature, they really lend themselves well to relationship building. A great way to catch a lead nurture prospect’s attention is to include a blog teaser in your email and then prompt the reader to link to your website for the rest of the post. Readers love to read blogs that provide quick tips or best practices.

Tip #3 - Engage leads with social media.
Social media has become a huge part of your marketing initiatives, but how do you tie it into your lead nurturing programs? A great way to get leads interested in your products and your social media channels is by offering an incentive for them to engage. Why not offer a product discount for those that follow you on Twitter? Or, consider driving traffic to a contest that you are only opening up to your Facebook fans.

Tip #4 - Promote discussions.
Wouldn’t it be great if email campaigns could be more interactive? Turning your emails into a hub for discussions is a great way to get your lead excited and engaged with your brand. Pose questions in your email and direct leads to your LinkedIn group so that they start the conversation by engaging with you and other customers.

Tip #5 - Keep content short and direct.
No one wants to read a long email. Generally, a prospect will merely scan a marketing email without digesting the copy. Also, take into consideration how many people will be reading your email over a mobile phone. So keep content brief and make sure the copy has value for the prospect. If your call to action is to download a white paper, pull out some key metrics and begin with the pain point. If your call to action is a link to a blog post, make sure it has an enticing title in order to prompt a click-through.

Lead nurturing programs are hard to build and even harder to maintain. It is important that marketers focus on educational content and keep it fresh by using social media. Your lead nurture campaign will guide a customer through the buying process and set the stage for how engaged they are with your brand. Additionally, software, such as Eloqua, can help you set up and properly segment your campaign to achieve maximum ROI and give you the right framework you need to leverage your content in the most strategic way.