Nurturing Leads

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First, let’s quickly define these two words…

Nurture: taking care of someone

Leads: New people exploring what you have to offer

My goal here is to unpack how you can better engage your leads and walk with them to see greater engagement in your community.  This all starts with an attitude, a perspective, and an approach.  And it all comes back to being a guide.  The most significant way you can nurture people in your community is to serve them well as their guide. When you think of parental nurturing you think of someone taking care of a child for many years, showing them the way, and helping them mature into adulthood.  That’s exactly what you’re doing here - guiding people, walking with them, and helping them mature to where they can be guiding others.  

But let’s talk specifically about lead nurturing.  First, you need to have mechanisms to attract and capture leads.  Leads can come in many different forms - let’s unpack a few.  There are SO MANY ideas for lead generation so be creative and come up with your own unique idea.  

  • eBook - a free short book that captures the attention of someone exploring what you have to offer (just make certain it actually provides value)

  • Courses - similar to an ebook… make that content available in a free short e-course for someone to subscribe to. 

  • Worksheets - create simple worksheets that help make workflow and life easier on your potential audience.

  • Host a Webinar - host events that provide meaningful content and coaching for free as a means to generate interest.  

  • Free Trials - offer a free trial to something to give someone a chance to come in and “kick the tires”.

  • Discounts - offer discounts to one of your events or one of your resources to generate engagement.  

  • Refer a Friend - ask people in your community to refer someone else who might fit well in your collective vision.

  • Live Chat - offer live chat or a live chatbot that would capture someone’s email address to engage in the chat.

  • Schedule a Meeting - leverage tools like Calendly to have the means to schedule a meeting with you

  • Solve Problems - this is more philosophical, but focus your lead generators on solving the problems of your potential audience.  

 

Now that you have a lead generator or two created, let’s talk about what to do with those leads and focus on the nurturing part.  Here are some general rules of engagement.

  • Stay Value Focused - it might feel like it’s the time to pounce and “close the deal” but they are still checking you out.  Stay focused on the lead generator’s value, the problem it’s trying to solve for them, and additional thoughts on its content.  

  • Automate - when possible… automate.  Leverage tools like MailChimp, HubSpot, or ActiveCampaign to spin up an email drip campaign to kick out a series of emails (4-6 is reasonable).  

  • Text + Video - remember everyone is wired differently so consider leveraging both text and video when you create email drip campaigns.

  • Make it Personal - while you are leveraging automations, also do what’s possible to make it personal. 

  • Next Step - always have something that’s guiding the person to what their next step might be… a Lead Generator is just a step in the process so don’t miss the clarity on where you’re taking people next.   

 

Don’t overthink all of this.  It’s enough work simply to put together your plan.  Here’s a quick checklist when getting started.

  • Brainstorm Ideas

  • Create a Lead Generator

  • Make the Lead Generator look nice and branded

  • Setup the Lead Generator

  • Create a Drip Campaign

  • Turn it all ON

  • Tweak as needed


 

Cause Machine Solutions

Nurturing members is part of our DNA at Cause Machine.  We believe each community has a responsibility to carefully guide their members to a better state and that often begins with how you nurture leads.  Cause Machine has various “trigger” tools to help nurture new leads in your community so you can have the technology working for you.  Explore more ways how Cause Machine can help you nurture your leads.  Schedule a demo today!

 

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