Most marketing organizations first generate leads, filter those who are ready to buy from those who aren’t, and start lead nurturing from there.
This model works great, but it’s also expensive. Finding those leads in the first place means buying lists, renting media placements, paying for clicks on search and social networks, etc.
Again, this model works great and may be especially necessary if you need to generate ready-to-buy leads immediately.
But what if you decided instead to nurture leads first? Focus on building value for the prospect – based on their needs & priorities – before introducing your product or service.
Of course, many companies are already doing this. They’re creating reams of value-added content that gets the prospect’s attention, teaches them something, delivers immediate value. Do that job right and the prospect will want to come back for more, which further reinforces the value you’re creating and relationship your nurturing.
A minority of those prospects may actually be in the market for a solution to solve the problem or pain or priority you shared content about in the first place, at which point you’ve found yourself a real lead.
But the cost of that lead wasn’t buying a list or paying for a click or renting ad space. It was creating and sharing authentic, valuable content. Posting it on your blog, for free. Sharing it across social channels, for free. Helping it get ranked by Google and driving ongoing, steady traffic, for free.
There are many ways to do this, but it’s worth considering the implications for your business and marketing organization of strategically flipping the traditional sequence of lead capture and lead nurture. If you take the counter-intuitive approach, you may very well end up with a much wider audience and lower-cost, sustainable leads over time.
