Most marketers are experts on the components of traditional lead scoring and lead nurturing. They know exactly what data to track (click-throughs, opt-ins, opens, downloads, etc.) and they have a system for determining which leads are worth their time. They know each step in their funnel, they know who their customers should be, and they have a strategy for reaching them. And yet, most marketers aren’t happy with their results and are nowhere near reaching their full potential.
1. 59% of marketers say that their lead nurturing programs are failing
2. 66% of marketers find it challenging to know what is most important to target customers
Marketers may understand each component, but there is a serious breakdown in the two most important stages of marketing: lead scoring and lead nurturing. Right now, no matter how hard they work, or how sharp they might be, most marketers are not only losing qualified leads but being incredibly inefficient with the leads they do have. Conversational lead nurturing can fix these two key issues, harnessing the power of AI to help you convert more leads and be smarter with your time.
Traditional lead scoring is inefficient and leaky
Put simply, lead scoring is about determining which leads are worth your time—and any busy team know how precious their time is. As an obvious example, the head of a team looking for your company’s B2B product ASAP would obviously demand more time and attention than, say, a grad student downloading whitepapers for their thesis.
While that may be a cut-and-dried example, a survey by DemandGen found that 63% of marketers struggle to know their leads’ goals at each stage in their journey. All the data in the world on opens and clicks and downloads can’t necessarily communicate intent, they merely communicate interest. An ideal lead will have interest in the product, opportunity (and resources) to purchase/subscribe, and a big enough need for the product—determining if your lead has all three can be extremely resource-intensive. What’s worse is that it often takes just as many resources to get to a no as a yes, and sometimes more: people are often reluctant to say no, or just may not be able to make a decision on their own.
“Traditional lead scoring models are a myopic view of the buyer’s journey, especially for B2B products which typically require immense nurturing of multiple decision-makers. Just getting one lead warmed up is not enough and results in time and effort wasted, especially if the other members of the buying group are at different stages of the buyer’s journey.”
Brain Gates
SVP Marketing & Strategy, RainFocus
You don’t have time for the lead nurturing you should be doing
The way to push lead through your funnel is through lead nurturing, and this process can help score these leads for later on. As we just discussed, however, this process is time-consuming and cumbersome.
The current model is generally a one-way street. For example, you send out an email campaign, get hundreds of responses, but you probably don’t have the time (or focus) to take your time and chat with each respondent. Every good salesperson knows that you should listen more than you speak, so why do marketers take such a one-sided approach?
Every marketer should be using conversational lead nurturing, which turns this process into a two-way street, a full-on dialogue of information sharing. Fortunately, AI-powered services can fill in and do this resource-intensive type of lead nurturing for you, all while collecting more valuable data and scoring your leads with the acuity of an expert marketer. This will not only give each lead the time and focus they need to get to a yes or a no, but it will let you spend more of your own precious time with the leads who matter most.
The power of conversational lead nurturing
AI-powered conversational lead nurturing can engage with your contacts at scale to generate better data about your target audience, build and improve relationships, and set you up for success with better lead scoring. Plus, it does it all without additional people costs, don’t burn out, and doesn’t complain, even while working 24/7.
With new, personal insights into your audience, you can drive them through your sales funnels more efficiently and keep them engaged with more impactful content. At every stage of the funnel, they’ll be able to interact on a personal level, asking questions and sharing valuable information about themselves. While the AI helps with all of this, you’ll have more time to focus on what matters, and you’ll be able to pass better leads on to your sales team—with stronger pre-established relationships with the leads as well.
Most of all, conversational lead nurturing creates a two-way street. Through technology, it allows you to treat your leads as more human, all while driving your bottom line. It’s a rare opportunity to make your life easier and improve your output at the same time, and it’s the future of digital marketing.
