More leads, more leads. Every digital marketer and sales professional has heard this phrase a lot. We all desire them, but how can one obtain them? Furthermore, how can you make sure your leads will stick around?
For any digital marketer, turning website visitors into clients is a difficult task. Generating interest in a product or service is one thing, but turning that curiosity into engagement and sales calls for a deliberate and innovative strategy. Building relationships with customers during the sales process is essential to a brand’s reputation and conversion rate.
Communication is essential.
In order to generate and nurture leads effectively, communication tools are essential. A crucial component of lead nurturing is a positive Customer Experience (CX), which is made possible by thoughtful and helpful communication. It has been demonstrated that putting a high priority on valued customer experiences and CX has exponential effects on revenue and loyalty across 20 sectors.
The most direct and individualized technique to incorporate into your lead nurturing and generation plan is SMS. Using automated procedures like email-to-text and bulk SMS can help you generate and nurture leads more efficiently. making certain that your communication plan is solid, smooth, and useful.
Let’s get back to the basics: what constitutes a lead?
Leads are essentially prospects or possible clients who have shown interest in a brand. Sharing contact details, including an email address, phone number, and social media account, is typically how this is communicated. In order to initiate communication and begin the process of converting a potential consumer into a paying customer, brands gather contact information.
The process of drawing in a potential customer and turning their interest into a transaction is known as lead generation. Brands may enhance engagement by customizing marketing and sales activities using the lead’s data and contact information.
Brands seek to grow their customer base and customer retention through lead creation and nurturing. While gaining new clients is crucial, it’s not the sole indicator of a prosperous company. The bottom line is greatly impacted by a brand’s capacity to convert leads into loyal customers. Profits can increase by 25–95% with an only 5% increase in client retention rates.
Qualified Lead for Marketing (MQL)
A person who has engaged with marketing initiatives and material and demonstrated interest in a brand is known as a marketing qualified lead. This could involve engaging with a brand’s online presence, downloading content, visiting their webpage, and signing up for their newsletter. MQLs have taken proactive measures to show their interest, even though they are not yet prepared to become clients. MQLs frequently evolve into SQLs in the future.
Lead Qualified for Sales (SQL)
Sales Qualified Leads have made it clear that they are prepared to speak with the sales team and spend money with a brand. This is typically demonstrated by a MQL approaching a company directly to inquire about its goods and services. After that, a brand representative converts the MQL to SQL by following up by phone, SMS, or email to ascertain the possibility of a purchase.
The sales team can use the data acquired during the MQL nurture process to customize their approach and aid in closing deals when interacting with SQLs.
Lead Qualified by Product (PQL)
Someone who has utilized a brand’s product or service for free and is considering upgrading is known as a “product qualified lead.” PQLs benefit from the product or service and express interest in purchasing an upgrade after being given access to a free limited edition, trial offer, or beta test.
SMS tricks to incorporate into your plan
Instant messaging is the most convenient and efficient way to engage with leads, regardless of whether you like to send SMS or utilize over-the-top (OTT) messaging programs like WhatsApp. Smartphones are one of the most widely available forms of communication, with over three billion users globally. You can be sure that your messages will be viewed because the typical individual checks their phone 96 times a day.
Make sure your business messages are compliant before you begin sending. For your brand to send A2P messages, all of your contacts must consent and opt-in. Otherwise, you run the danger of undermining the credibility, trust, and reputation of your brand.
Online sign-up forms, website landing pages, and opt-in incentives like VIP program membership or special discounts make it simple to build out a large contact list. This is a legitimate and efficient method of gaining SMS subscribers that are eager to hear from your company.
Encourage leads and prospects to interact with your brand by sending them SMS messages like:
Personalized greetings
Reviews and surveys of customers
Programs for loyalty
Customer service
Reminders for abandoned shopping carts
With 48.7 million UK consumers expected to choose to receive corporate SMS this year, consumers are increasingly choosing the directness and immediacy of text messaging from brands. which represents a significant rise above the 37.2 million people who chose to receive branded SMS in 2016.
SMS is also economical and effective for businesses. Excellent flexibility in supporting several lead touchpoints is offered by SMS. Interacting with leads at various stages of the customer journey can improve the overall Customer Experience (CX) and guarantee a higher revenue boost.
Communication must be maintained at every stage of the client journey. Customers love the immediacy and personalization that SMS offers when a brand contacts them. Additionally, when leads receive text messages, they are far more likely to interact and reply to communications and calls to action (CTA). While marketing emails only receive 6% of responses, SMS can have up to 45% of responses.
Use SMS to lead qualification.
An essential phase in the lead generation process is lead qualifying. because not every lead is sincere about wanting to buy something. Brands need to assess a lead’s quality and potential value to the company. Choosing whether or not to interact with them comes first, followed by how to interact. Businesses can communicate potential customers using two-way SMS and request a response to further pique their interest. A strong SMS platform can quickly filter responses and group contacts when asking them to reply with keywords like “YES” or “STOP.”
For instance, an automated trigger response with a link to a landing page is delivered if the recipient responds with “YES.” On the other hand, their contact information is immediately added to an opt-out list if they respond with “STOP.”
You can customize your SMS messages to help a qualified lead move on to the next phase of the customer journey. According to a Franchise Help survey, leads’ text response rates were 209% greater than their phone call response rates. Additionally, it was demonstrated that SMS had a greater positive verification rate. Compared to phone calls, texts received 295% more responses verifying their contact details.
Using SMS for lead nurturing
It’s a common mistake for brands to focus primarily on lead generation, neglecting to follow up and nurture their existing leads. Adopting lead nurturing techniques can boost revenue, improve customer experience, and increase client retention.
Sending generic mass letters to every contact on your list is not the only way to cultivate leads. If leads are to feel appreciated as unique clients, marketing messages need to be more thoughtful and focused. Messages must be relevant and targeted to the recipient, as 67% of consumers now want highly personalized experiences from brands. SMS is inherently more intimate. However, you and your clients can gain even more from further personalizing messaging.
Segmentation and personalization
Contact list segmentation is simple with automated marketing tools like CRM and SMS gateway. Because of this, your lead nurturing technique is very effective and enticing to your target audience.
Contacts can be divided into:
Product interest levels
Contact information Website activity Industry
Creating dozens of distinct messages isn’t the only way to personalize your SMS.
It may be as easy as changing a few words in a template, which has been demonstrated to significantly affect the receiver. More than 78% of customers claim that if a business’s promotions are consistent with their prior experiences with the brand, they are more inclined to take advantage of the deals.
Send Merge
The solution for the smooth customizing of bulk SMS is Merge Send. Merge Send sends bulk text messages that are personalized for each recipient by using pre-configured templates and custom fields. Brands can easily make clients feel valued as unique people with this SMS gateway feature.
You can customize messages with custom fields using Merge Send, including:
Names of customers
Local shops
Times of appointments
Money owed
With 47% of purchases being larger than those made by non-nurtured leads, nurtured leads typically result in a 20% boost in sales opportunity. Brands can attain healthy growth and establish credibility with their clientele by making the effort to communicate frequently and with quality information. SMS makes it easier for brands to meet sales goals, promote sales, and improve customer service and experience. Brands may use instant messaging to engage, educate, and sway consumer behavior while establishing real connections.