The Inbound way to nurture leads into paying customers depends heavily on email marketing. This may seem surprising, as most of us have come to think of email marketing as spammy and annoying — the antithesis of lovable!
But consider these stats by ExactTarget and the Direct Marketing Association:
- There are more than 3.2 billion email accounts today.
- 95% of online consumers use email, and 91% check email at least once a day.
- 77% of consumers prefer email for marketing communication.
- Email marketing has an ROI of 4300%
An Inbound email campaign is all about segmenting your email lists so you’re sending the right content to the right people at the right time.
In the Awareness Stage the prospect is experiencing a problem and will respond best to content that helps them understand it better. This could include videos, blog posts, slideshares, links to free tools, eBooks and guides.
In the Consideration Stage they’ve given a definition to their situation and are researching ways to solve it. The best content for this stage includes webinars, case studies, FAQ sheets, product white papers and third-party reviews.
By the Decision Stage the prospect has started to love you, and is open to more “salesy” offers like free trials, ROI reports, demos, consultations, and quotes.
When your prospects come to trust you for taking the time to nurture them through these steps, they’re much more inclined to make a purchase, come back again, and tell their friends how wonderful you are.
It always goes back to buyer personas — tailoring content to fit every step of their journey.
