I’ve been talking to clients about the recent IDG report on customer engagement, and am still surprised to find that some of the findings have the ability to surprise people. Perhaps the most important finding is that IT decision-makers download an average of nine informational assets throughout the purchase process. But why is this a surprise? I know some marketing managers want to link one specific marketing action with a sale, but this is totally unrealistic.
Marketing is a long-term process, and our clients with the most effective marketing processes also have great lead nurturing campaigns to ensure that once a prospect begins to engage, we keep feeding them content and marketing information to help them move through the sales funnel and make a design-in or purchasing decision. Prospects are also much more receptive to being contacted than you might imagine: one-third (34%) of respondents were ready to be contacted by a sales person after consuming two to four pieces of content.
How are you nurturing prospects? Are you collecting contact details through registration forms, and more importantly are you using lead nurturing/drip campaigns to ensure that they receive the many different pieces of collateral they will need to make their decision. If not, email me to explain why you don’t do it.