3. Consideration Stage

At every stage of their engagement with you, the automated marketing platform will be applying a ‘lead score’. So every time a prospect opens an email, lands on a web page, downloads a report, the system will be tracking and scoring their process. By the time they’ve reached the consideration stage, in all likelihood they will already have been flagged as a marketing qualified lead to your sales team. At this stage they want evidence to support what you are saying and will want to find out what your customers are saying about you.

You can anticipate these requests by embedding links to content offering proof-points and success stories. Automated lead nurture email conversion programmes will signpost relevant content with a call to action.

Typical ‘consideraton’ stage content:

• Product guides

• Case studies/client videos

• 3rd Party Product Reviews

• Industry standards

• Industry awards

• Positive editorial

4. Decision Stage

When your prospects have received everything they need to make a decision and purchase – all it takes is a little encouragement in the form of a sales call to prompt an action or answer any last minute questions. By now you will have tracked online engagement at every stage of your prospective customers’ journeys. Marketing can provide sales with a view of the prospect at every stage of the buying funnel, and they can use this to guide the conversation to complete the sale.

5. Retention Stage

Hooray - your lead is now a happy customer. But be warned - it costs 5 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one - so it’s essential to keep communicating with clients by sending them relevant content and offers. Think about your retention and loyalty programmes – make sure they’re designed to engage existing clients, thereby securing their long-term customer loyalty. Keeping clients on side will save your business money by reducing the amount you need to spend on costly acquisition activity.

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