Email Lead Nurturing and Customer Relationship Building

McCarthy & King Marketing is a Massachusetts direct marketing firm offering email marketing to help businesses and non-profits to stay in touch with prospects and customers (or donors). 

On this page, we are focusing on lead nurturing which involves communicating with existing prospects and customers (or donors).  

Email Nurturing – step by step Here’s what the work involves: Step 1 – Set up an Email Service account Step 2 – Create a design template Step 3 – Create an automated series of introductory emails Step 4 – Develop an email calendar for year-round emails Step 5 – Create additional email campaigns as needed For an expanded discussion, read below. For pricing information, check out Email Nurturing Campaign Pricing.

Download your FREE copy of Making Snail Mail Work: 13 Lessons in Direct Mail Strategy First Name: Last Name: Business Email Leave this field empty To discuss a campaign or get a quote, call Bob McCarthy at 508-473-8643.

 

Email Nurturing – an expanded discussion Email Marketing has changed everything In the past, when you wanted to communicate one-on-one with a prospect or customer, you could visit them, call them or write them a letter.  All good choices in their own way.  But also very  time consuming and, as a result, expensive. When email became available to marketers, one-on-one communications changed forever. Now you can connect with your prospects and customers in just seconds and get a response just seconds later.  It’s also very inexpensive – almost free. But adding email to the marketing mix shouldn’t mean removing the other methods of communications.  They can all play a role in your sales process.   First, an important distinction … There are two ways to look at email marketing and we want to make sure this distinction is clear at the very outset. Most people who are using email marketing today are using it to communicate with their prospects and customers (or donors).   They send emails to people with whom they already have a relationship.  In other words, they use their own opt-in email lists.  Read below to learn more about this service. But many also use email marketing to prospect – to generate leads using outside lists.   This has been a somewhat controversial use of email in the past, but it is growing in acceptance under certain conditions.  We provide these services as well using only the most reputable list companies.  Click here to learn more. Do you need an Email Service Provider?  CLICK HERE >>   Know your objectives When you consider using email marketing, you should start by understanding your objectives. Right now, you may have a general goal such as staying in touch with your prospects and customers.  And that’s okay.   Staying in touch goes a long way. But eventually, you’re going to see that email marketing can be used to nurture leads through the sales process or to build your reputation as a thought-leader in your industry. Eventually, you’re going to see that email marketing can help you build more repeat business by communicating directly with your current customers.   And it can help to reactivate some of your lapsed customers.

Learn more about Email Marketing Email Prospecting Email Lists Email Offers Email Creative Landing Pages Email Metrics Pricing Email Nurturing List Building Nurturing Strategy Stepped Offers Automated Emails E-Newsletters Surveys Landing Pages Email Metrics Email Service Providers Pricing For a Quick Quote, call Bob McCarthy at 508-473-8643   Services at a glance Full-Service Campaigns Consulting Copywriting & Creative Design Training & Coaching

Getting started

It’s true you can send email through your own personal email service, but if you are serious about email marketing, you need to use an Email Service Provider or Marketing Automation Service.

An Email Service Provider gives you to tools to create professional looking email messages, manage your lists and keep track of everything.  In today’s world, it is absolutely essential.

Email Service Providers vary in sophistication and service levels.  Many are very affordable (starting at $15/month), self-service systems like Constant Contact, aweber, iContact and Vertical Response.

We can provide this service for you, or we can set up an account on your behalf and train your staff.

 

Building your list

When you start off with email marketing, most of us begin with a tiny list.  Hey, you have to start somewhere.

But eventually, through hard work, innovation and time, your list will grow into the hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of contacts.  When that happens, you will begin to see the real power of email marketing.

So where do you start?  Simple, start with the people you already work with – customers, prospects, vendors, business partners.

You should also put an email signup box on your website so visitors can join your list on their own.

If your website offers free content in the form reports, white papers, tip sheets and the like, you can offer those items as an incentive for joining you list.

What you don’t want to do – and what is prohibited by most Email Service Providers – is simply copy names from a directory or someone else’s list and add them to your own.  This will likely result in spam complaints.

Deciding what to send

This obviously depends on the business you’re in.  If you have a consulting business, a newsletter is a good start.  If you run a restaurant, coupon emails make sense.  If you are a manufacturer, product and pricing updates are more common.

Here’s a quick list of email ideas:

• Individual articles or multiple articles
• Product/service application stories
• New product or service announcements
• Seminar and webinar promotions
• Case studies and customer stories
• Staff promotions and additions
• Product/service sales promotions
• Market research results and surveys

 

Taking advantage of automation

One of the real advantages of email marketing is that you can set it up once and put it on auto pilot.

Think about how often new leads fall through the cracks because you were able to keep your email schedule.

Using an email “autoresponder” system, you can create a series of emails and then set them up to go out to all new subscribers on scheduled basis.   Send them out every three days, or five days, or whatever schedule you want.

Think about how a series of 10 emails sent over a 30 or 40-day period can help solidify your new relationship.  And think about how many of those new leads would otherwise fall through the cracks.

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How we can help you

We work with clients in a variety of ways.  For some, it’s a full-service approach.  Others prefer to handle it themselves.  And then there some who use us extensively at the outside, but eventually take it all inhouse.

Here’s what the work involves:

• Set up an Email Service account
• Create a design template
• Create an automated series of emails
• Develop an email calendar
• Create additional email campaigns as needed

How much does email cost?

As mentioned earlier, email is a very affordable service starting at $15 per month.  Your cost will go up as your list gets larger.

After that, you can either do it yourself or use us.

If you are interested in our services, check out Email Nurturing Campaigns Pricing.

 

Get started or learn more

So what’s your next step?  If you’re close to making a move, we’d love to talk.  Call Bob McCarthy at 508-473-8643 or send him an email at bob@mccarthyandking.com.

If you’re not there yet, let’s stay in touch.  Please join our mailing list and get all of our updates and articles.

Of course, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call.