What is lead nurturing?

[subornaakter20]

What is lead nurturing? A thorough explanation from the basics to 7 steps to get results, including success stories!
2023-07-27(Updated: 2025-01-09 )
Email MarketingEmail Delivery Basics

Lead nurturing is one of the marketing methods that has been gaining attention in recent years. However, in the domestic market, many companies are still focusing on new business development, and I think there are many companies that have not yet started nurturing.

In this column, we will explain the basic overview of lead nurturing, the background to its popularity, and its advantages and disadvantages. We will also explain the methods and processes for nurturing potential customers, so please refer to this if you are thinking of incorporating lead nurturing into your business.



Table of Contents [Hide]

2. The Role of Lead Nurturing
2.1.What is lead generation?
2.2.What is Lead Qualification?
3. Why lead nurturing is attracting attention
4. Benefits of Lead Nurturing
4.1. Benefit 1: Prevents loss of business hospital contact list opportunities and orders
4.2.Benefit 2: Increased productivity of sales activities
4.3. Benefit 3: Increased trust in products and services
5. Disadvantages of Lead Nurturing
5.1. Disadvantages 1: Time and resource required
5.2. Disadvantage 2: It takes time to see results
5.3. Disadvantage 3: Difficult to measure and evaluate results
6. 7 steps to successful lead nurturing
6.1. STEP 1: Collecting and unifying customer information
6.2. STEP 2 Segmenting customer information
6.3. STEP 3: Subdivide the stages
6.4. STEP 4: Create a customer journey
6.5. STEP 5: Work closely with inside sales and sales departments
6.6. STEP 6: Define the completion of nurturing using scoring etc.
6.7. STEP 7 Create content
7. Key points for achieving results with lead nurturing
7.1. Point 1: Set KPIs
7.2. Point 2: Clarify the definition of a hot lead
7.3. Key point 3: Collaborate between departments
8. Six specific lead nurturing techniques
8.1. ① Social Networking
8.2. ② Retargeting Advertising
8.3. ③ Email
8.4. ④ Seminar
8.5.⑤ Telephone
8.6. ⑥ Owned Media
9. Three metrics to measure the success of lead nurturing
Conversion Rate
9.2. Lead Engagement
9.3. Shortening the sales cycle
10. Lead nurturing use and success stories (email distribution)
10.1. Case Study 1: Asoview Inc.
10.2. Case Study 2: Hot Staff Shinagawa Co., Ltd.
10.3. Case 3: Center Gate Co., Ltd.
11. Summary


What is Lead Nurturing?
Lead nurturing is a method by which a company cultivates prospective customers (leads) who have shown interest in the company's products or services, and leads them to negotiations and orders. The goal is to increase the willingness to purchase by continuing to take an appropriate approach according to the degree of consideration of the prospective customer, and ultimately lead to sales.

This term was coined to mean nurturing potential customers (leads).
Nurturing applies to all leads who have had some form of contact with a company. This applies not only to new customers, but also to leads that did not lead to an appointment or leads that were once lost.



The role of lead nurturing
As mentioned above, lead nurturing is a method to "increase purchasing desire and ultimately lead to sales," but the first prerequisite is to get customers interested in your company's services and products.

Therefore, the ideal flow is said to be to first acquire potential customers (leads) and stimulate interest in your company's services (known as "lead generation"), then implement lead nurturing, and finally select the potential customers (leads) (known as "lead qualification").