Welcome to our new series on lead nurturing, where we’ll be taking a look at different types of lead nurturing campaigns in greater detail. Learn everything you need to know about use cases, timing, content, and more.
We get a lot of questions about lead nurturing here at Pardot. And we don’t blame you! With so many uses for nurturing programs and the different audiences that they can be used for, it can be hard to keep track of the types of emails you should send, when you should send them, the appropriate tone to use — well, you get the idea. Heck, even I have a hard time keeping it straight, and I write about marketing automation on a daily basis!
But don’t worry, we’re here to help you keep track of the little details so that you can focus on the big picture. With speakers like Mathew Sweezey on staff (who was previously in sales himself!), we’ve been able to gather the intel you need to make your lead nurturing programs a success.
So sit back, pop some popcorn (okay, I’m getting little carried away here), and read over our new blog series on different nurturing programs that might come in handy at your company. Our first nurturing program focuses on Net New Leads in your database — take a look to see when you might use this campaign, how to time your emails, what tone to use, and more!
When would you use a Net New Lead Nurturing campaign?
The Net New Lead Nurturing drip, also known as an educational drip, is ideally used in scenarios where new leads are entering your system through content downloads or online campaigns. This drip is great for leads who are going through the research process, but who aren’t ready to talk to a sales rep yet. The goal is to take them from a conversion point to a sales-ready state.
What should the timing look like?
With this program, you’ll want to consider the length of your sales cycle. Do you have a longer sales process? If so, you’ll want to wait longer between emails. The shorter your sales cycle, the closer together you can send your drip emails. Mathew Sweezey suggests a minimum of six days between emails and a maximum of 45 (for those longer sales cycles), with about eight to ten emails per program. This presents a balance between communicating too frequently, and not frequently enough.
What kind of email should you use?
You’ve probably submitted your information to a company through a form and received a number of communications in return, ranging from fancy HTML emails to more personal communications from a sales or marketing rep. Well, these are both tactics that can be used as a part of a Net New Lead Nurturing program.
Take some time to think about what you want to achieve with this program. Would you like to nurture your leads with a digest of helpful information on a biweekly basis? This can easily be achieved through an HTML email (check out Pardot’s Perspective email digest to get a feel for what an HTML template might look like). If you’re hoping to provide some more personal communications, perhaps from your sales reps, use a simple plain text email with a personalized signature instead. Or, you can always do a mixture of both.
Here are some great examples of good and bad HTML nurturing emails with analysis provided by Brainrider.
What should you say?
Again, this will depend on whether you decide to go with an HTML or plain text option. An email digest can be wordier and may read more like a newsletter. A plain text email in response to a content download, on the other hand, might read like the following (including variable tags and a signature):
If you’re curious how other B2B marketers are approaching their content marketing strategies, you should check out this blog post, [Insert Blog Post Name Here]. These are great examples of how other companies are achieving success without having to increase budget or resources!
Check it out and let me know if you have any questions.
Remember to keep your tone casual, make content relevant to the recipients’ interests (based on their activities), keep copy on the shorter side, and include additional resources and a call to action.
And that’s it! Stay tuned for our next post in this series on Sales Nurturing programs, and don’t forget to download our Complete Guide to Lead Nurturing for more information on all of the different types of drips you can run at your company!
