ROI figures revealed for lead nurturing campaign

Lead nurturing seems to be one of the worst kept secrets; everyone knows that it works, but few are prepared to reveal any figures. Until now.
SiriusDecisions produced research that showed 80% of leads dumped by the Sales Department go on to buy a rival solution within 24 months. So staying in touch with your leads will eventually pay off and maintains your market share.

Marketo compared nurtured and non-nurtured leads and found that nurturing produced a 20% increase in sales opportunities. This is supported by further case studies:

  • An online market place for the maritime shipping industry, increased its contact-to-lead conversion rate from 10% to 25%, and also raised the lead-to-opportunity conversion rate by 50%.
  • Lead nurturing produced a 225% increase in the volume of prospects that convert to sales opportunities, and a 150% increase in contact-to-lead conversion rate.
  • A provider of outsourced IT services targeted CFOs and high-value sales prospects. It saw a 12:1 ROI on its lead nurturing programme.
  • Over one 3 month period, approximately 50% of its new business came from the lead nurturing programme.

Lead nurturing does not always involve a huge investment in systems or re-engineering. Many SMEs are able to add nurturing campaigns by using existing staff, and larger organizations are choosing to outsource. These companies are able to increase their pool of sales-ready leads by as much as 50% with little or no incremental investments.

Here’s some quotes from other industry experts on the benefits of lead nurturing:

“Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost per lead.”
Marketo

“Proper lead nurturing programs can yield anywhere from 15% to 200% in additional, new qualified leads.”
Brian Carroll

“Our statistics reliably indicate that for every 100 or so prospects nurtured in the prospect pipeline, some 20-40 more sales-ready opportunities will be rendered over time. Yes, more than 20%.”
Eti Sales

In tough economic conditions few companies can afford to ignore the benefits of lead nurturing, and the evidence that it works is now becoming public. For details of SCi’s lead nurture programme click LeadNurture+

Written by Graham Smith

An award winning, senior executive with over 25 years experience in both online and offline marketing, advertising and design. A member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing he has been elected to the Telemarketing Council at the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). Graham has held Directorships at advertising and marketing agencies and worked on accounts as varied as Shelter Homeless Charity, Islington Council, Mitsubishi and Lennox Lewis (Heavyweight Boxing Champion).