22 February 2011
A lot of people seem to be confused about the difference between nurturing a lead and destroying an embryonic relationship. Lead nurturing gets to the heart of what productive direct marketing is all about.
Whoever coined the term "Customer Relationship Management" had no idea what was involved in identifying a potential new buyer, initiating a relationship, and developing that relationship. If they had a clue, they would never have suggested that customer relationships can be "managed".
Customer relationships can be allowed to atrophy thru inattention, theycan be destroyed by non-responsiveness, poor service/support, a poorly performing product or service, and ill advised communications. A customer relationship can also be nurtured and developed into a mutually beneficial partnership.
Unfortunately, more than a few marketers think that blitzing people with offers is the secret to "nurturing" nascent relationships and generating sales accepted leads. There is a big difference between being persistent and being an annoying pest. Hammering your list without regard to the value or suitability of your offers is a guaranteed way to fail.
One easy way to see if your messaging strategies are matching the appetites of your prospects is to look at your opt out rates. For many organizations the opt-out rate for their email campaigns averages between 1/2% and 1% for every drop. (Remember, these factors compound so over time your list is rapidly degraded.)
Nurturing a new relationship requires demonstrating your value and helping your prospect to develop a positive attitude towards your brand. You want their attention? What are you prepared to give them?
Give to Get is one of the most fundamental "laws" of direct marketing. If you want your prospect's attention, you must give them something of value. It's that simple.
If every offer is evaluated in terms of the value delivered to the prospect, you will most likely eliminate a few - perhaps a lot - of your offers. That's OK. If you are delivering value you will receive quality attention and you will develop quality relationships.
Don't have a lot of content? Well, indeed this can be a problem. However, keep in mind that your content is fresh for the people on your list who have not seen it previously.
