1 in 5 businesses fails in their first year. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to increase your chances of success! One of the best?
Generating huge numbers of leads and then building strong relationships with them. Or, in other words, to become a master of both lead generation and lead nurturing. Unclear on the differences between these two all-important inbound marketing terms?
This post should help! Check out our basic guide to lead generation vs lead nurturing.
Lead Generation Comes First
As the name suggests, lead generation is the first part of the puzzle. This is the crucial process of attracting potential customers. It doesn’t matter whether you’re doing it through SEO, content, social media, or direct outreach.
Any marketing endeavor falls under the umbrella of a lead gen strategy. You’re trying to find (AKA generate) new leads to enter the top of your funnel. Fail, and you’ll never even have the chance to make a future sale.
Lead Nurturing Follows
However, lead generation’s all-but pointless in the absence of lead nurturing! You’ve got someone’s attention; they’re interested in your business. But now you have to nurture this burgeoning relationship in the bid to convert them into an actual customer.
Think of it like speed dating. Effective lead generation’s akin to making a good impression on the person across the table and swapping contact details. Effective lead nurturing’s about wooing them on the second date, buying them flowers, and going above and beyond to make them your partner!
The Strategies Differ Too
Now we’ve covered the conceptual distinctions, let’s turn to the practical ones. As we noted above, lead generation strategies tend to encapsulate all inbound marketing efforts! There’s some strategic overlap with lead nurturing, though the intent’s very different.
Using SEO to rank your site on SERPs is an effective and organic way to drive leads, for example. But you can use it to nurture them too. After all, when you understand your audience’s needs, interests, and problems, you can (much to their appreciation) create useful content that addresses them.
Likewise, including web forms and content upgrades on your site will fill your email list with would-be leads. You can then send valuable, informative, and entertaining messages that cultivate trust with them over time. Ultimately, it’s a matter of generation followed by nurture to incentivize sales.
Remember the Differences Between Lead Generation vs Lead Nurturing
Succeeding in business is no mean feat. Yet having a clear understanding of lead generation and lead nurturing (and then leveraging both strategies in your marketing efforts) will make an almighty difference. After all, these principles are at the core of building a brand, attracting a loyal following, and increasing sales!
We hope the information in this post will help you utilize them to good effect. Now, these insights should be a useful starting point for anyone who needs to nurture their leads a little better. But there’s much more to learn on this all-important topic.
