The most often used metaphor experts use when talking about lead nurturing is scoring a date with your ideal partner where first impressions do not make as much impact as they used to.

Although that comparison provides a lot of insight, there’s a better analogy that can provide a multi-faceted perspective on lead nurturing. That is no other than parenthood, specifically that of taking care of a baby.

Why not when parenthood is all about nurturing. And we will use this allegory to provide a balanced insight on how you can take care and guide your sales leads to becoming customers.

Setting up a united front

Before the baby arrives, parents have already discussed how they’re going to bring up the child. It is important that the husband and wife agree on each principle or they will end up having a confused child. Worse, they can even do harm than good to their kid if each of the parents has their own set of rules and nurturing method.

In the same way, the key departments — in which case are the marketing and sales departments — involved in lead nurturing should have a united front, a common perspective.

Like two parents who might not agree on all things but have to reach a compromise to create a harmonious family, your sales and marketing teams need to align themselves with each other to achieve a common goal. Because they are coming from two different viewpoints, they can bring unique and valuable insights to the table and support each other in building customer relationships.

You don’t just feed the baby anything



Babies need food — that we know without a doubt. However, we don’t just feed them any food. Moreover, feeding them inappropriately can also cause them to get sick. In the same way, you need to prepare content that is suitable for each sales cycle.

Tip! No matter how great your content is, if given at an inappropriate time, will lose its impact.

So how do you determine what content to deploy to your leads? Customer journey mapping!

According to Moz, there are four stages in the sales cycle – discovery, consideration, conversion, and retention.

1. Discovery

It’s the stage where you attract leads through engaging content in the form of social media posts, blogs, or video marketing campaigns.

Let’s say you are in the food industry niche, and you can create content that ranks well with the keyword, “best restaurants in (place).” It will attract potential customers to your site while educating and inspiring them at the same time.

2. Consideration

This stage should inspire curiosity to your customers and gearing them towards a buying decision.

Here, your sales team identify potential problems, forward them to your marketing team who, in turn, create relevant content. At this point, your content should be persuasive and more specific to your target, showcasing your product or service.

3. Conversion

When you want to convert your leads, you want to highlight your services or products further. This time, however, your content should be more data-driven.

4. Retention

Even if your leads become your customer, the journey does not end there. You want them to be repeat customers; thus, you nurture them by creating content in the form of tutorials, support, services, and many more. Sending a follow-up email is also good practice, especially if you want to make another sale.

Lead nurturing does not have to be stressful



Lead nurturing, like parenthood, can be stressful. However, there are systems and processes that make both less stressful. For parenting, you need to train your children while for lead nurturing, having a CRM and automating your marketing solutions can maximize your efficiency and gain more customer insight.

Some of the areas you can improve when you automate your campaign includes:

More personalized content – Your automated marketing tools can help you track your customers’ behaviors allowing you to create more comprehensive lead profiles. Such insight enables you to deliver more specific solutions based on their needs and preferences.

Targeted list – You can use the same information you have in creating customer profiles for building a targeted list . Such a list will save you time, money, and effort, not to mention very profitable. According to the Email Stat Center , segmented email campaigns have generated a 760 percent increase.

Communication is the tie that binds

Whether it is in the context of parenthood or marketing, communication is the key to have a successful outcome.

Spouses need to effectively express their feelings, thoughts, and opinions with each other. They also need to have that same level of transparent communication with their kids.

On a business standpoint, your sales and marketing team need to align themselves with each other and also provide leads with relevant and timely content.