Four lead nurturing tips based on purchase involvement

Understanding how a consumer evaluates alternatives is critical to building a lead nurturing strategy.  Many consumer decisions that have a low level of purchase involvement focus on the emotional connection a user has with a brand.  By contrast, a complex purchase with high consumer involvement will include many more product attributes and consideration of choices before a decision is made.

Here are four lead nurturing tips to aid your marketing tactics based on consumer purchase involvement:

1. Decision making is a temporary state of mind – many marketers get caught up in the idea that lead nurturing is a lengthy and drawn out process.  If your brand decision is based on a low level of consumer involvement, develop marketing programs that enhance brand loyalty and repeat purchase behavior to increase your lead conversions.  For example, the simple decision “where am I going to each lunch today?” is a low involvement purchase that is typically not planned years in advance.  A lead nurturing campaign for a marketing manager of a restaurant might include a high frequency of radio spots during the noon hour to lead a brand loyal consumer back to their establishment.  Advertising a special offering at a reduced price targets the repeat purchase consumer who might not have a brand loyal option in mind but is going to make a lunch purchase that day.

2. Information search can be influenced by impulse marketing – if your brand decision is based on a slightly higher level of involvement, create a lead nurturing campaign that helps increase your brand visibility closer to the purchase decision.  Point of purchase displays and live product sampling are a great medium of information search that can influence short-term preference.  For example, a grocery marketing manager may recognize that foot traffic is heavier in retail stores on a Saturday than a Wednesday.  A product sampling station at the end of a retail aisle on the weekend engages shoppers to compare product attributes first hand.  This can quickly enter a high profit brand into a set of value-based consumer alternatives near the moment of decision making.

3. Risk plays a critical role in benefit assessment – higher involvement purchase decisions assess many unique product attributes during the risk-reward scenario.  Do you recognize the lead nurturing content you must communicate to reduce fears and trade-offs that influence a purchase decision?  Concisely illustrate the positive effects your brand will have after the purchase decision is made.  Solution based content can reduce risk and ease the fear of consequences that help delay purchase decision.  Write your lead nurturing copy based on the circle of influence and level of adopters who have influence on the purchase decision.  Innovators and early adopters typically make up 15% of any market and will be more likely to take a calculated risk based on feature benefits and success potential.  Laggards and late majority consumers will need more success documentation of your product and endorsements by thought leaders or third-party brands.

4. Co-branding has a positive effect on adoption – creating a joint alliance between your brand and another brand can have a noticeable effect on your lead nurturing campaign.  Co-branding helps you increase the positive sentiments of your brand simply due to association with another trusted brand.  Choose a partner that fits into your identity profile, resonates with your value proposition and can bring immediate value added to the lead nurturing campaign.  For example, American Express and Delta Airlines have had tremendous success opening new accounts with business travelers who are also luxury consumers.  The powerful combination of each brand identity speaks to a very specific demographic that has tremendous purchase influence.  Examine marketing relationships that will offer an incremental solution to your customer’s life and simultaneously enhance your brand equity.

Finally, using lead management software can directly amplify the success of each lead nurturing campaign.  Easy to use SaaS platforms like NitroMojo (http://www.nitromojo.com) have real-time dashboards that cross analyze market-based responses to each lead nurturing event.  This will allow your management team to understand lead nurturing successes as they happen and make strategic changes much more quickly, allowing your marketing team to create the right communication that influences purchase decision.