Optimise customer journey stages with tailored lead nurturing

Tailor your Lead Nurturing Across Customer Journey Stages to Optimise your Marketing Automation results – Tip #18 | The success of any marketing strategy hinges on a nuanced understanding of the customer journey. As businesses increasingly turn to marketing automation, it’s imperative to recognise that not all leads are created equal. Nurturing leads effectively involves a strategic approach that caters to the diverse stages of the customer journey.

What are the Customer Journey Stages?

The customer journey is a multi-faceted ‘expedition’ that potential customers undergo, comprising distinct stages from awareness to conversion and beyond. Recognising these stages is fundamental to crafting a marketing automation strategy that resonates with your audience.

1. Awareness Stage: At the initial stage, prospects are identifying a problem or need. Your marketing automation should focus on providing valuable content that educates and raises awareness without being overly promotional. Think: window-shopping for B2B. Engage your audience with informative blog posts, whitepapers, and webinars. For instance, a software company targeting businesses might offer a comprehensive guide on streamlining operations.
2. Consideration Stage: In this phase, leads are actively seeking solutions. Tailor your marketing automation to deliver case studies, product comparisons, and in-depth content that demonstrates your offerings’ unique value proposition. If you’re a service provider, consider offering a free consultation or trial to showcase the practical benefits of your solutions.
3. Decision Stage: As leads move closer to conversion, they require targeted information to finalize their decision. Leverage marketing automation to send personalized messages, exclusive offers, and client testimonials. For example, an e-commerce platform might send automated emails with limited-time discounts or customer testimonials to reinforce the decision-making process.
4. Retention and Advocacy Stage: Post-conversion, maintaining engagement is vital. Marketing automation can be utilized to deliver post-purchase content, surveys, and exclusive loyalty rewards. Encourage satisfied customers to become brand advocates by implementing referral programs or requesting feedback that can be shared on your website.

Crafting a Tailored Marketing Automation Strategy

Understanding the nuances of each stage allows businesses to implement a personalised marketing automation strategy. Here are practical tips to optimise lead nurturing:

1. Segmentation: Divide your leads into segments based on their position in the customer journey. This allows for highly targeted and relevant communication. For instance, a software company might have separate email campaigns for leads exploring features (consideration stage) and those ready for a demo (decision stage).
2. Personalisation: Implement personalisation in your marketing automation to resonate with individual needs. Use dynamic content that adapts based on the recipient’s behaviour and preferences. For example, an online retailer could send personalised product recommendations based on a customer’s previous purchases.
3. Timing is Crucial: Tailor the timing of your automated messages to coincide with the natural progression of the customer journey. Use marketing automation to trigger emails or messages at specific intervals, ensuring your brand stays top-of-mind without overwhelming the audience.

Successful Customer journey stages – Metrics and Analytics

To fine-tune your marketing automation strategy, continual evaluation is essential. Monitor key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates across each stage. Analysing the data enables you to make informed adjustments to your automation workflows for optimal results.

Nurturing Leads Across the Private Healthcare Customer Journey

1. Awareness Stage

Imagine a potential patient, Sarah, who is just starting her healthcare journey. At this stage, she may be researching general health concerns or looking for information on preventive care. A private healthcare provider, recognising the importance of the awareness stage, could implement a marketing automation strategy that includes:

• Content Creation: Develop blog posts or video content addressing common health concerns, preventive measures, and the benefits of regular check-ups.
• Educational Webinars: Host webinars featuring healthcare professionals discussing relevant topics, creating an opportunity for engagement and information sharing.

In these communications, private healthcare providers could accentuate the general benefits such as shorter waiting times, specialist drugs & treatments, access to private hospitals, ability to choose, quick access to a GP service, extra time, lower cost etc.

By using professional marketing automation platform, a provider would ensure that Sarah receives these informative materials, gradually building awareness of their expertise.

2. Consideration Stage

As Sarah progresses to the consideration stage, she may be exploring specific healthcare services or comparing different providers. The private healthcare provider can adjust their marketing automation to deliver:

• Case Studies and Testimonials: Share success stories and patient testimonials, showcasing the positive outcomes of specific treatments or services.
• Interactive Tools: Implement automated emails offering interactive tools such as health assessments or appointment schedulers to make the consideration process seamless.

The marketing automation system should identify Sarah’s interactions with content, ensuring that subsequent communications are aligned with her evolving needs and interests.

3. Decision Stage

Now, Sarah is ready to make a decision regarding her healthcare provider. Marketing automation can play a pivotal role by:

• Personalised Offers: Send personalized messages offering discounts on consultations, preventive health packages, or exclusive benefits for choosing the healthcare provider.
• Virtual Tours and Q&A Sessions: Provide virtual tours of facilities or host live Q&A sessions with healthcare professionals to address any lingering concerns.

The automated system should track Sarah’s engagement, tailoring messages to facilitate her decision-making process.

4. Retention and Advocacy Stage

After Sarah becomes a patient, the focus shifts to retention and advocacy. Marketing automation can support this phase through:

• Post-Appointment Follow-ups: Send automated post-appointment emails, checking in on Sarah’s well-being and providing additional resources for continued health management.
• Referral Programs: Implement automated referral programs, encouraging satisfied patients like Sarah to refer friends or family and receive exclusive benefits.

This tailored approach ensures that the private healthcare provider maintains an ongoing relationship with Sarah, fostering loyalty and potential advocacy.

Metrics and Analytics across Patient Journey Stages

Throughout this process, the private healthcare provider would use metrics and analytics to gauge the effectiveness of their marketing automation. Tracking Sarah’s interactions, measuring appointment conversions, and assessing patient satisfaction can provide valuable insights for continuous improvement.

Conclusion

In private healthcare just as in any other industry, the customer journey is a nuanced process that demands a personalised and strategic approach. By leveraging marketing automation to address each stage of the journey—from awareness to retention—private healthcare providers can not only attract new patients but also cultivate lasting relationships based on trust, engagement, and quality care. In a competitive healthcare landscape, this tailored approach becomes not just a marketing strategy but a commitment to patient-centric care.

Interested to learn more?

Granted, not all this is possible with simpler, stand-alone email toolkits, but all this is possible with Marketing Cloud Account Engagement from Pardot with its deeply Salesforce integration.

Have a chat with one of our friendly consultants to learn more about how you can elevate your business performance through better tailored marketing and / or leveraging sophisticated marketing automation platforms for automated segmentation and efficiency.

Last Updated on November 14, 2023