After prospects have visited your web site, called, or emailed you, they’ve made the treasured conversion into becoming a lead for your business. But often, they’re not ready to make a purchase decision. This stage of the consumer buyer journey is typically research-based; i.e., your prospects are looking for preliminary information about prices, products, or services. They’re also evaluating your business for its overall customer service and professionalism. And, they’re most likely contacting your competitors during this phase, too.
After your leads have expressed initial interest in your business, you need to continue to stay top of mind with them throughout their purchasing process. That way when the time does come for them to make a decision, yours is the business they choose. But staying in front of your leads doesn’t have to be a difficult or mysterious process. With some basic online marketing and lead management practices, you can stay top of mind and ultimately turn more of them into customers.
Following are three marketing and lead management tactics you can use throughout your leads’ customer buyer journey.
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1. Reach them again with retargeting
There are two kinds of retargeting that can help you reach interested consumers: search retargeting and site retargeting. Search retargeting is used when a prospect types a search term that is related to your industry into a search engine but doesn’t visit your site. Your online ad will still be displayed to this prospect as they continue to surf the Web. It’s a way to stay in the consumer’s mind as they visit other web sites, even your competitors’ sites.
Site retargeting is used after prospects have visited your website but left without converting into a customer. For example, let’s say you’re a dentist in Dallas, Texas and a prospective new patient visits your website. After reading several pages on your site, he leaves your website and visits other potentially unrelated sites across the Web. Because he has already visited your site, the retargeting technology can identify him as an interested shopper and show your display ad to him as he continues to surf the Web. It’s a perfect opportunity to re-engage him with a promotional offer like “Half Off Teeth Whitening” and a strong call to action like “Book Your Free Consultation Today” so he will click the ad and return to your website.
In both cases, the technology can show your banner ad to interested consumers so you can remind them of your business as they surf the web. This builds awareness from your brand and encourages the prospect to visit (or return to) your website.
2. Call your leads back quickly and ask questions
According to insidesales.com, up to half of consumers buy from the businesses that respond back to them first. If you rely on a voicemail system or answering service to help you manage the calls coming into your business, it’s important to return those quickly — within the first hour is ideal. The longer you wait, the greater the chances that a competitor will reach your prospects before you do. When you do follow up with your leads, be prepared to collect pertinent information such as their email address, location, and the reason for their call if they didn’t tell you when they contacted you. For instance, did they want to set an appointment for an initial consultation? Were they interested in a specific product? Do they need pricing information, etc.? This information not only enables you to help your lead, it also gives you background information you can use in follow-up communications.
3. Follow up with emails
Emails are a great way to stay top of mind with your leads and previous customers. Following up with these consumers with links to relevant industry articles, alerts about upcoming sales and special promotions, news about your products and services, and testimonials from happy customers are just a few topics you can include in follow-up emails. By providing timely, personal, and helpful information, you can build your business relationship with your prospects so that when they’re ready to buy, you’ve increased your chance at earning the sale.
Amy Neeley helps small- and medium-size businesses navigate the online marketing world as a Content Marketing Manager at ReachLocal. Connect with her on Twitter.