5 Customer Nurturing Strategies for B2B Companies

Attention: B2B companies. Your customers want you to stop selling.

According to survey data from DemandGen Report, 68% of B2B buyers want companies to cut down on direct sales messaging. (In other words, please toss out the blatant “buy this now” content.)

It’s not that B2B buyers have locked their credit cards in a safe—it’s that they want to read fresh, quality, and relevant content before purchasing.

If you always ask your list to buy, buy, buy, this information is your call to action. Instead of hard selling, B2B companies should implement customer nurturing strategies if they want sales to increase.

Not sure you’re making the right moves to nurture your customers and give them real value? Read below for 5 strategies to give your people information that leads to sales.

Nurture Strategy #1: Understand the Difference Between Sales and Nurturing 

Sales and customer nurturing share the same goals—higher revenues. The former marketing technique often pounds the audience over the head with benefits and reasons for purchase, while the latter gives your prospects helpful information that improves their lives in some shape or form.

This is not to say you shouldn’t ask for the sale—it’s completely necessary at some point, but this technique happens later in the nurture process. In short, give your audience something before you get something.

Nurture Strategy #2: Prove That You Understand the Problem(s)

Especially with B2B, economic circumstances, technology upgrades, and shifts in market dynamics give rise to problems. These factors are inevitable, but thank your lucky stars that you’re a B2B company who knows how provide solutions that negate struggle.

Let’s say you work with realtors to implement comprehensive, long-term digital marketing strategies.

Suddenly, a new law looms on the horizon, and your clients can’t legally share house photos via email. You decide to be proactive, and create a free report that reveals alternate techniques that counteract the new law. Then you send this report to your list. And they love you for providing them a solution.

This is the core dynamic of nurture sequences—you help your followers navigate and overcome problems that are specific to their industry and their life. Call it altruism, but your marketing list will remember how you helped when it comes time to make a decision to purchase.

Nurture Strategy #3: Segment, Segment, Segment 

Customer nurturing doesn’t function when you reach out to everyone, so quit sending mass email blasts to your entire list. (Please).

Factor in past purchases, user behavior, survey feedback, demographics, and any other data you have to segment your list. Doing so ensures your content speaks specifically to their needs.

Nurture Strategy #4: Consider the Relationship

As you write your nurture-based content and scale back on your direct sales, keep in mind the customer relationship. Speak to your audience as if they were your friend, and offer them information you wish you had if you were in their situation.

Quality content is designed to promote a response. If you take the customer relationship into account that response will be thank you. 

Nurture Strategy #5: Nurture After and Before the Sale

Post-purchase nurture sequences are paramount to building a strong base of brand warriors who serve as ambassadors for your company. And they help increase further purchases.

On the other hand, pre-purchase nurture sequence gives your prospective customers a compelling reason to enter into a relationship with you in the first place.

It goes back to the principle of “give them something before you get something.”

The Basics—The Blueprint of an Effective Nurture Email

To craft an email that delivers value, but doesn’t oversell, there are a few basic elements to keep in mind. As you craft your nurture-focused content…

• Educate your audience on a problem specific to their industry, and give them steps on how to overcome it.
• Outline the status quo, reveal what’s at stake, and show how you have the strategies to turn unfavorable situations around.
• Use concrete evidence with case studies, statistics, etc. to back up your points.
• Give answers to frequently asked questions.

Help Other B2B Companies…

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