Lead nurturing is the process of building a relationship with your leads and moving them down your sales funnel until they are ready to become customers.

When new visitors arrive at your website, you have two ways to seize the opportunity and guide them toward becoming customers. Both opportunities can evaporate in the blink of an eye if you don't have the proper systems in place.

Lead Nurturing 101

Lead nurturing starts by collecting a visitor's contact information in exchange for something she deems valuable but not risky. Often, that entails some form of useful information or a product trial intended to help solve the visitor's problem.

Email, RSS subscriptions, and similar methods of engagement keep a visitor's memory and impression of a company or product at the forefront. Later on in the lead-nurturing process, you can use a visitor's contact information to educate, inspire, or otherwise engage her as a potential new customer. The goal is to encourage both return visits and, eventually, sales.

Behavioral Marketing 101

Behavioral marketing collects information about what a visitor does while on your site, and appropriately engages the visitor before she clicks away. For example, a visitor might land on your homepage, see a button about a product of interest, and click to learn more.

Now imagine that her activity on your site could automatically produce targeted messages that announced special incentives, additional useful information, tips, or other enticements.

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