Multitouch direct marketing campaigns and lead nurturing programs result in a greater number of qualified leads, higher close ratios, and a stronger sales pipeline. For example, a longer sales cycle will require a greater number of tools (marketing vehicles) spaced further apart than a shorter sales cycle.
The tools employed and the contact timeline will vary depending on the solution being sold and the sales cycle. Lead nurturing should also provide secondary calls to action to allow the contacts to “raise their hand.” Some examples of effective lead nurturing tools include: case studies, white papers, newsletters, third-party articles, events, Webcasts, and executive briefings.
Today, teams of people execute content programs, and they need to be aware of how to create multitouch campaigns with the most current tools available. An effective lead nurturing program involves multiple points of contact and should provide a value-add in terms of content. To avoid this wasted effort, marketers need to nurture leads through the qualification cycle so that when a lead is turned over to sales, it is truly sales-ready.
Research has shown that 80% of lead generation expenditures are wasted because the leads are lost, ignored or thrown away by salespeople. Even worse, because salespeople are compensated for closing deals and lack the resources necessary to adequately follow up, they often don’t pursue the lead any further – throwing a potential sale out the window. Sales gets frustrated that they have to qualify leads. One of the biggest mistakes a marketer can make is to turn a lead over to sales before it is sales-ready. The ability to execute an effective multitouch campaign relies on an accurate and detailed prospect database that can be searched in detail to build very targeted prospect lists.īringing leads in the door is only the first step. To be successful, multitouch direct marketing campaigns require regular, consistent, targeted messages that resonate with each prospect.