You Can't Nurture Leads (People) You Don't Know

All the talk of lead nurturing is pretty exciting. Who doesn't want to increase their sales by following up with prospective clients that aren't quite ready to buy? There is just one hitch: leads are people, and you can't nurture people you don't know.

Long gone are the days when prospective clients would call up, introduce themselves, and ask to speak to a salesperson. Today, leads visit your Web site and take a look around, then leave without ever identifying themselves. If you're smart, you have software that can pinpoint their company, but you still have no idea who they are or how to contact them. Suddenly, before it's even had a chance to work it's magic, that cutting-edge lead nurturing system you set up has hit the dead end of prospect anonymity.

The primary purpose of your Web site should be to induce your qualified prospects to identify themselves. Ideally, you can get them to sign up for a scripted automated nurturing path. But, if not that, then at least you need to know who they are. Only with that simple piece of information—which people are increasingly reluctant to divulge—can you start the nurturing process.

One of the best ways to entice self-identification is by offering high quality content on your Web site. This can take many forms—white papers that require identification for downloading, or subscriptions to e-newsletters. Most prospects are lost to short attention spans; over time, no matter how impressive your Web site or offerings, you are forgotten. When prospects identify themselves, they are essentially giving permission to periodically remind them about you by offering information that might benefit their company.

Other possible strategies include webinars, live events, and social media such as podcasts and online networking. The advantage to such strategies is that they give prospects a sense of control over the nurturing process. This allows them to set the level of engagement that they want with your company. Instead of giving them a reason to worry about annoying sales calls, you're providing a comfortable place for prospects to dwell during their research phase.

Once prospects identify themselves, software can update browsing data so that you can see everything they have looked at on your site since their first visit. This gives you a better understanding of your prospective clients' needs and interests, which are key elements to any successful nurturing campaign.

Don't underestimate the effort it takes to convert anonymous visitors into nurture-able leads. Focus all your marketing efforts on getting that identification.