The whole point of driving traffic to your site is so you can convert that audience into becoming actual customers. In my experience, that doesn’t happen by simply giving them access to your content. You have to actively find a way to stay connected to these leads. And that’s where lead nurturing comes in.

The goal of lead nurturing is for you stay top of mind among your leads; and develop this relationship towards convincing them to buy your product or sign up for your service. You’re essentially guiding their journey towards conversion. The best way to do that, by far, is through email.

In terms of marketing strategies, email still boasts some of the highest engagement rates. It lets you segment audiences with more precision and allows you to personalize messages, which is critical to engaging leads. Used correctly, you can turn casual blog readers into paying customers and loyal clients.

There a few considerations you should keep in mind though. Here’s our quick guide on how we’ve used email marketing to nurture our leads:

1. Keep it simple

Technology allows us to create all these fancy templates with interactive elements. However, statistically, it turns out the plain and simple, straightforward email still works best. Of course, because not all businesses are the same, it’s recommended to test what really works and what doesn’t for your own audience. Generally, sending a plain-text emailer is a good place to start.

2. Be strategic about your use of images

Sticking to a straightforward email format doesn’t mean you can’t add some visual interest in your emails. Choose a good image that’s relevant to your product or service to demonstrate just how relatable your offer is. You’ll be surprised at how effective a simple, well-chosen image can be for engaging your audience.

3. Take the personal route

Email is a communication platform that allows marketers every opportunity to personalize. Be sure to customize subjects whenever possible and address your leads by their first name. However, be careful about crossing the line of personalization as well. Limit each email to 2 or 3 personalizations so you don’t seem like you’re overstepping boundaries. As simple as this sounds, trust us, your recipients will greatly appreciate it.

4. Be consistent without bombarding your leads

Reaching out via email should be carefully timed. Your objective is to maintain relevance and to stay top of mind without annoying or constantly bombarding them. Time your email sending frequency based on your sales cycle. A good rule of thumb is to send 3 to 5 emails, 10 days apart.

5. Pay attention to your call-to-action (CTA)

Be clear about what you want your leads to do once they finish reading your email. Remember, you want them to act on your CTA, so make your CTA button stands out. 

Your CTA copy should be as actionable as possible. Avoid the generic route. Pitch something more enticing. Try replacing the usual “click here” with a “sign up for a free trial” or “download your free white paper” or “subscribe to our newsletter”. This simple switch can go a long way in further engaging your audience.

Using email to nurture your leads is a great way to reach out to your audience and directly communicate to them. It’s an important tool that we’ve personally used to grow our active customers. If you want to learn more, get in touch with us, to explore how we can help.