Customers have the ability to do a lot of research on their own before they even get in contact with your sales team. From there, it can take as many as six to eight touches to make them a viable sales lead.
Frustrating, right? But these numbers don’t tell the whole story. Some businesses are much better than others at nurturing leads.
While the overall lead conversion rate across various industries sits at a paltry 2 to 3%, many companies consistently convert new customers at 10%, 20% or even higher. How? They’ve found reliable ways to nurture leads to the point of sale.
Here are some strategies to explore for your healthcare company.
Get to Know Them
Converting customers starts with connecting with them on a deeper level. You’ll need to understand their place in the customer journey - the long road that starts when they first become aware of you and is everlasting.
This allows your messages to come across as tempting and appropriate. Someone early in their journey is still getting to know your company and will respond best to messages that don’t seem too intrusive - in the same way that a brand new friend probably isn’t ready to talk deep personal issues.
Conducting research and surveys will help you get to know your customers better, but these methods can also come across as a bit cold. Warmer ways to connect include reaching out through social media, offering responsive customer service, and maintaining an upbeat relationship via text.
Offer Something Useful
Customers prefer to be educated, not sold to. How can you help them?
This is where content marketing comes in. Develop content that speaks directly to the needs of your customers. The most useful content for them will answer their questions, fulfill their desires, and leave them feeling more informed than before.
Examples include:
- Email newsletters that are niche-targeted to certain customer personas
- Blog posts that help customers make sense of the purpose your products serve
- Q&As with your healthcare experts
- Success stories from patients who have overcome health challenges thanks to your products
Be Where They Are
Think about where your clients are spending their time.
While they probably didn’t come of age with social media, it’s likely that your audience spends at least a little time on social media each day checking in on their friends and family on Facebook or glancing at LinkedIn. Your customers are spending a significant amount of their workday, not to mention their leisure time, online.
Healthcare customers also spend lots of time researching health issues online. A whopping 80% of people, or 93 million Americans, searched for a health-related topic online last year - up from 62% in 2001. Interestingly, while only 22% of people over age 65 have the internet, 70% of those people are actively using it to look up health problems.
The question is this: Is your product message reaching your audience online?
Follow Up Fast
Finally - and most importantly - when you have fresh interest from a new customer, follow up with them ASAP. In fact, when companies reached out to leads within an hour of their initial request for information, they were seven times more likely to have a meaningful conversation with the lead. Fail to connect with them at a crucial moment and you may lose them forever; make a solid connection and they could be a customer for life.
To learn more about lead nurturing and conversion for healthcare companies, connect with KBK Communications or download our free healthcare marketing guide.
