The weather here in Chicago has definitely taken a turn for the worse. But just because it’s getting cold outside doesn’t mean you should let your leads go cold. You know how it is: lead databases often get bogged down by countless leads that have seemingly been there since the beginning of time. These leads get the occasional newsletter or company update, but for the most part do not engage whatsoever with your company. Cold leads may not seem like they are worth the effort to go after, but there are usually a few that can be successfully reengaged and turned into customers.
Contact Leads Before They Go Cold
Before we get into revitalizing cold leads, we should first address prevention. How do you keep leads from going cold in the first place? We have found that the best way to prevent a lead from going cold is by contacting them as quickly as possible. Harvard Business Review found that companies that contacted new web leads within an hour of the lead being created were more than seven times as likely to qualify that lead than firms who waited an hour, and more than 60 times as likely as companies who waited longer than 24 hours. When a prospect browses your website and fills out a form to contact your company, do you know how long it will take for a sales rep to get in touch with to them?
Speeding up the time it takes to contact these leads can prevent them from turning cold. One way to do this is with a tool like MyLeadResponder. When a lead fills out a web form, MyLeadResponder immediately triggers a call to your sales rep and whispers all the information from the lead, including the marketing source that generated the lead. If the rep accepts the call, MyLeadResponder then triggers a second call to the lead to connect them in conversation. This guarantees your reps are talking to these leads before they move on to another provider or lose interest.
Revitalizing Cold Leads Through Email
Many businesses’ preferred method for reengaging leads is with an email campaign. The purpose of these emails is to entice leads to reengage with your company by providing them with new and interesting information. This is the time to brag about new features your company just started providing, offer exclusive deals and promotions, or show them new ways that your product can create value for them.
This type of campaign can be run as either a single email blast, or a longer drip campaign. The single email blast can be used as a last ditch effort before marking a lead as dead. The drip campaign is when you send out a new email to your cold leads about once a week. The goal here is to keep reminding these leads about your company, just not in an overwhelming and annoying way. This type of campaign allows marketing to reengage with cold leads by providing them with new resources such as blog posts, research reports, or white papers. There should be a natural progression with each email providing a resource with a little more information in order to increase their interest.
Tracking the success of these email campaigns is vital. Knowing the results of these campaigns can confirm the effectiveness at reengaging cold leads. For the leads that stay online, marketing automation tools can usually monitor the performance of your emails as well as if leads convert. Call tracking technology can measure the other group of leads who call into your business as a result of the email. Only by combining both tools can you really get the full analytics picture.
Grabbing Their Attention With Voice Broadcasts
Another excellent way to reach out to prospects that have lost interest is by voice. An email always has a chance of being ignored, but a call will almost always get answered. Voice broadcasts can deliver prerecorded messages to thousands of people at once. These calls don’t have to be the same robot voice broadcasts you have seen in the past. With interactive voice broadcasts, you can add the power of interactive voice response as well as personalization of your message. This allows the your outbound message to be interactive and go in the direction that the receiver of the call decides. With IVR, you can allow the respondent to connect back with a live agent right away, during the call, making a sale all the more likely.
Stay At The Top Of Their Mind With Retargeting
Your website may receive a high amount of traffic, but how many of those viewers actually convert? Generally, that number is around two percent. Keeping your product at the top of their mind could help bring back some of the other 98 percent. Retargeting ensures that your online ads can be displayed anywhere the customer goes. With each consecutive ad your brand will become more recognizable. Customers will begin to remember who you are and why they considered purchasing from you in the first place. These ads are a great place to display promotions and coupons to entice these potential customers into consideration. They may not come back right away, but there is a much higher likelihood of them converting in the near future.
Preventing leads from going cold is integral to every company’s success. The faster you reach out to a new lead, the more likely you are going to be to close a deal. But once the cold leads start to build up, it is important to occasionally reach out and remind them you are still there. Email campaigns, voice broadcasts, and retargeting can help you reengage leads that you thought were as cold as it feels outside. To find out more about email campaigns and MyLeadResponder, take a look at our Definitive Guide to Call Tracking for Email Marketing.
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