Generating leads is only half the battle.
The real challenge lies in nurturing those leads and guiding them through the buyer's journey towards conversion.
This is where lead nurturing campaigns come into play. An email nurture campaign is a strategic, automated series of personalized emails designed to guide prospects through their buyer's journey by delivering relevant content at the right time.
Lead nurturing is all about:
Common Types of Nurture Campaigns
By implementing effective lead nurturing campaigns, you can:
While you could run many different types of lead nurturing campaigns, there are 5 core campaigns we believe that every business should consider implementing. Let's dive into each one:
The welcome nurture introduces your brand to new leads who have just entered your database, typically through a website form submission or other lead capture.
The goal is to make a great first impression, provide an overview of your offerings, and start building that crucial relationship.
A typical welcome nurture might consist of 3-4 emails sent over 2-3 weeks, with content such as:
The key is to find the right balance between selling your value proposition and providing genuinely useful information. Remember, these are brand-new leads who are still getting to know you, so the focus should be on building trust and rapport.
Engagement-based nurtures are designed to adapt your messaging and content based on a lead's level of engagement with your previous communications. The idea is to provide a more personalized experience for your most active and interested prospects.
For example, you might have one nurture track for "highly engaged" leads who have consistently opened and clicked your emails, visited your website, and engaged with your content. This nurture could feature more in-depth, sales-focused content to push them further down the funnel.
On the other hand, you could have a "re-engagement" nurture for leads who have gone dark and become inactive. This nurture would aim to rekindle their interest with more attention-grabbing, educational content.
The key is to leverage your lead scoring or engagement data to segment your audience and deliver the right message at the right time. This helps you maximize the impact of your nurturing efforts.
Action-trigger nurtures are designed to automatically nurture leads based on a specific action they've taken, such as downloading a whitepaper or registering for a webinar. The goal is to capitalize on that initial engagement and provide a relevant, personalized follow-up experience.
For example, let's say a lead downloads your "HubSpot Guide to Lead Nurturing" whitepaper. An action-trigger nurture could then kick off, sending a series of 3-4 emails over a few weeks that:
The great thing about action-triggered nurtures is that they let you act quickly, sending highly relevant content to leads who have already shown interest in a specific topic or offer.
Sales-focused nurtures are designed to support your sales team by nurturing your most qualified, sales-ready leads.
These are the leads who have demonstrated a high level of engagement and interest and are likely closer to making a purchasing decision.
The content in sales-focused nurture tends to be more personalized, with a heavier emphasis on your products/services, customer success stories, and clear calls to action to schedule a demo or consultation.
You may even consider having your sales reps directly send some of the emails to add a more personal touch.
The goal is to provide that extra nudge to help move these leads through the final stages of the buyer's journey and into the hands of your sales team. By taking some of the nurturing burden off their plate, your sales reps can focus on closing the deal.
Reactivation nurture campaigns are a strategic way to reconnect with leads who have become inactive or disengaged. The goal is to rekindle interest in your brand by providing educational, relevant, and valuable content that resonates with the lead's needs.
They also can determine if they’re still using or interested in your product or services, and offer a chance for direct engagement through a call.
You can start with a single email asking for feedback or offering an educational resource. If they engage with the campaign, follow-up emails can highlight the tool or extend a special offer.
Event promotion nurtures are a specific type of lead nurturing campaign designed to drive registrations and attendance for a particular event, whether it's a webinar, conference, or another virtual/in-person gathering.
These nurtures typically consist of a series of 3-4 emails sent over several weeks leading up to the event, with content such as:
The key is to create a sense of urgency and excitement around the event, while also providing enough value-add content to justify the prospect's attendance.
Additionally, you'll want to set up a goal or conversion event in your HubSpot workflow, to automatically remove registrants from the nurture once they've signed up. This ensures you're not bombarding them with unnecessary emails.
Now that you understand the different types of lead nurturing campaigns, it's time to focus on the most important element: the content itself. You could ask yourself the following questions:
This topic was covered in more detail during a previous webinar I hosted. If you'd like to watch it, you can do so below.
Additionally, consider joining the Redwood Grove community for growth insights—they frequently host webinars on marketing and sales!