Lead nurturing: how to turn cold leads hot

With lead nurturing, you combine a mix of content and channels to turn a random passer-by into a customer. Discover which content and platforms work best for each stage of the sales funnel.

Today’s customer is well informed and active across multiple channels. That is why it is important for sales and marketing professionals to offer relevant information for every step of the buyer journey.

So, which content and channels can you use to successfully chase leads and increase your chances of winning new customers?

Apply it right away: calculate what a lead is worth with our value-per-lead calculator.

Definition of lead nurturing: warm, cold, hot!

They sometimes say no two leads are alike. There are three types of leads that interact with your brand: cold, warm and hot leads.

• Cold leads: cold leads are companies that are not aware of your brand or that have shown little interest. They do not know who you are or that they need your product or service. Do not worry. The vast majority of your leads once started out as a cold lead.
• Warm leads: warm leads are potential customers who show interest in your product or service. They have already interacted with your brand several times, for example by visiting different web pages, filling in a lead generation form or signing up for the newsletter. These people may not be ready to make a purchase yet, but they are familiar with your company and trust you.
• Hot leads: hot leads are potential customers who are qualified and ready to buy. All you have to do now is convince these leads to buy from you instead of from your competitors.

The distinction between interest and buying intent is crucial here: many leads show interest, but only a small share genuinely intend to buy at that moment. Nurturing bridges exactly that gap.

How can you guide potential customers from cold to warm to “hot”? By guiding them through the funnel.

Top of the Funnel (TOFU) nurturing

The “Top of the Funnel” is also known as the awareness stage. During this stage, the goal is to attract a large number of potential leads. You want to reach a broad audience without actively filtering or discouraging conversions.

The goal of TOFU content is to make your audience aware of and informed about a specific problem, need or challenge they want to solve, without using sales arguments. So forget your sales pitch and focus on building genuine contact. Create content that tells a story, sparks the reader’s interest and provides leads with useful and valuable information.

Here are a few examples of TOFU content:

• Informative and educational content with which you do not promote the product, but try to make your audience’s life easier.
• SEO articles that match the search terms your audience uses.
• Introduction videos in which you show your brand personality and your product or service.
• Podcast episodes in which trends or current topics in your industry are discussed.

Unfortunately, it is often hard for people to discover your content directly. To reach people, you can use the following online platforms:

• Posting organic content on social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.
• Paid ads on social media or through Google Ads.

Middle of the Funnel (MOFU) nurturing

In the “Middle of the Funnel”, also known as the consideration stage, prospects show more specific interest in your product or service. It may be that an employee of a company has read your blog or follows you on social media, but is not very interested in buying anything yet.

For that reason, the goal of the content in this stage is to provide leads with information about your product or service and why it is the perfect solution to their problems. It is also important to keep building trust, so do not only send sales-focused content and avoid coming across as overly enthusiastic.

Content that works in the middle of the funnel:

• Customer success stories or reviews with which you demonstrate how your product or service has helped others.
• Downloadable content such as e-books or whitepapers where an email address can be left. This makes it easier to maintain contact.
• Webinars or YouTube tutorials.
• Personal or industry-specific landing pages that speak directly to a potential customer and their pain point.

Digital channels you can use to promote your content include, among others:

• Organic posts on social media.
• LinkedIn InMails aimed at leads you have had previous interactions with.
• Email marketing or newsletters.
• Paid campaigns on social media or Google.

Email deserves special attention here. According to Ascend2 research, email marketing is the most effective lead generation tactic, with websites and landing pages close behind. It is moreover one of the easiest channels to launch: you have full control over your list and you can reach a prospect directly and repeatedly without paying per click. For a B2B SME, that is often the fastest path to qualified leads without a big budget.

The engine behind good email nurturing is not personalisation, but relevance. An automated “Dear [first name]” no longer convinces anyone; what counts is content that genuinely solves your prospect’s problem. So segment by persona and funnel stage (for example based on your CRM data) and, instead of a sales pitch, send content that helps first before it asks for anything.

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Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) nurturing

The “final stage of the funnel” is the decision moment in your sales process. Potential customers have turned into potential buyers. They have taken note of your offer and are ready to make a purchase. Just a final push is needed to close the transaction.

These people are most likely looking at how you compare to your competitors to determine which company best meets their needs. That is why it is important to enter into conversation with them and not only focus on selling. Aim to build a relationship and share valuable information, so that you show you are the right person to support them with their challenges.

Content at the bottom of the funnel includes, among others:

• A clear pricing page.
• Customer references.
• A free assessment or evaluation.
• Product or service demos or a consultation.
• A discount code for e-commerce products or a free trial period for SaaS companies.
• A FAQ page with which you clear up common objections and increase your conversion.
• A table with which you compare your unique features against those of your competitors.

A large part of the content mentioned above will be available on the company’s web page. In addition, it is possible to use various online platforms to keep providing potential customers with information at the end of the sales process.

• Email marketing.
• LinkedIn InMails when you already have personal contact with prospects.
• Paid retargeting ads on social media or Google that keep your company top of mind and showcase your USPs.
• Presence on peer-to-peer review websites such as G2 or the equivalent in your industry.

Measure on customers, not on vanity metrics

How do you know whether your nurturing really works? Not on open and click rates. Those look nice in a report, but they are vanity metrics: they say nothing about who actually becomes a customer. The only question that counts is how many of the leads you nurture eventually became a request or a customer.

Would you rather take the lead on your digital future together? See what a lead nurturing programme can mean for your company, or schedule your free intake right away with Customer Impact by your side.

Further reading

• How do you write a cold B2B email that gets a reply?