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If you’re looking to build a killer marketing automation nurture program, you’re in the right place. In today’s digital world, nurture programs are a must for any business wanting to build strong customer relationships and boost sales.
If this is your first go-around, knowing where to start can feel overwhelming. The good news? BrandAction Agency can help — and we’ve compiled our top 10 tips to put you on the path to success.
Before we jump in, let’s define what a marketing automation nurture program is: A series of automated emails or other types of content designed to guide a prospect or customer through the sales process. These programs help develop leads over time, nudging them closer to making a purchase — hence, the term “nurture.”
Nurture programs are vital because they keep your business top-of-mind for your audience, even when they’re not actively engaging with your brand. They allow you to segment your audience and deliver personalized content tailored to their interests and needs, or otherwise educate, upsell or encourage them to click, download, contact, or virtually any other call to action, ultimately growing recognition and awareness as you move them further down your sales funnel.
No matter your industry, a well-designed nurture program can help you build stronger relationships and drive more sales. Ready to get started?
First things first: Know who you’re talking to. Identify the characteristics of your ideal customer — age, location, interests, needs and more. This helps tailor your messaging and content to resonate with them, making your program more effective.
You can use market research or analyze data from your existing customer base to identify common traits. And once you understand your target audience, you can create customized email campaigns, targeted landing pages or personalized content offers that speak directly to them.
And on that note, remember that personalization is key for building stronger relationships and driving engagement. It could be as simple as using their name in the email subject line or as complex as recommending products based on their browsing history.
What do you want to achieve with your nurture program? More leads? Increased sales? Clear, well-defined goals are essential for measuring success and making improvements. Align these goals with your marketing and sales teams to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Once you’ve set your goals, use them to guide your content creation. For example, if generating leads is your goal, focus on educational content rather than hard selling. If driving sales is the aim, more promotional content might be the way to go.
A content calendar outlines your messaging plan over a set period, ensuring consistency and regular delivery of valuable content to your audience. There are a number of free and paid platform you can use to organize your schedule, like Google Calendar, Trello or Asana.
Consider the frequency of your messages. Too many emails can overwhelm and lead to unsubscribes, while too few can cause your audience to lose interest. Segmenting your audience can help optimize message frequency, with more frequent emails to leads further along in the sales process and less frequent ones to new prospects. Which leads us to …
Ever receive an email or get served an ad that seemed completely out of left field? Like communicating too frequently, receiving irrelevant information can also create dissatisfaction. Overcome this issue with audience segmentation — the act of dividing your audience into smaller groups based on characteristics like location, age or interests. This allows for more relevant and targeted content, which can then be taken a step further with personalization.
Start with the basics, like using a person’s name in an email, and gradually incorporate more complex tactics. Actively monitor and optimize your segmentation and personalization efforts to ensure you’re delivering the most relevant content possible.
A/B testing, or split testing, lets you compare different versions of your emails, landing pages and other content to see which performs best. Testing helps you continually optimize your nurture program, identifying what works and improving your results. Test one variable at a time for clear results. For example, you could test two email subject lines to see which one gets more opens. If your audience size allows, test each version first with a small sample group, which can indicate which option may perform best in a full deployment.
Automation, in a marketing automation nurture program? This is what it’s all about. Automation triggers are predefined events or actions that activate automated responses from your marketing system. For example, you can set up triggers to send any variety of relevant, target content in real time to increase the effectiveness of your nurture program (and take one more thing off your plate). Examples include welcome emails to new subscribers or re-engagement emails to inactive ones, or emails for abandoned carts, lead scoring, review requests, special offers, new content alerts … the list goes on and on.
Integrate your nurture program with your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system to get a complete view of customer interactions (you do have a CRM, right?). A good CRM system, like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Zoho, can provide valuable insights into your customers, helping you track their sales journey and your relationship with them, and allows you to create more personalized content. When you can track customer data like contact information and purchase history, all in one place, your marketing and sales teams will be on the same page — and one step closer to success.
What’s the point of all this without the drive for constant improvement? Measuring the effectiveness of your nurture program by tracking and interpreting your data and analytics can identify successes and areas of improvement. Keep an eye on key performance indicators (KPIs) like open rates, click-through rates and conversion rates to see how your program is performing. For instance, if your open rates are low, try testing different subject lines or send times. Use your findings to refine your approach and drive better results.
Respond promptly to inquiries and feedback from your audience, using email, social media and other online channels to engage with your audience. Quick responses show you value your customers and are willing to help, building trust and strengthening relationships.
Last but not least, regularly review and optimize your nurture program to ensure it meets your goals and delivers value to your audience — and make sure all your stakeholders are on the same page. Optimizing involves analyzing data, assessing performance and making necessary adjustments. If done correctly, you’ll soon see your program become more relevant and effective over time.
Ready to implement these tips in your own nurture program? Start by getting ahold of the experts at BrandAction Agency.
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Julia Parisot
VP Growth
julia.parisot@brandactionagency.com
312-985-7247
Get a free marketing analysis
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Partner with us
Julia Parisot
VP Growth
Get a free market analysis
Follow our thoughts
