5 Ways to Nurture Leads Through the Sales Process, eCommerce Style

Leads. Nurturing. Sales Process. Probably words you hear more often than not. But for those who work in eCommerce, the phrase “lead nurturing” may seem a bit foreign.

Why? The practice usually involves B2C transactions that warrant terms like "visits" and "conversions." However, lead nurturing does play a significant role in eCommerce marketing.

In fact, there are several tactics that eCommerce marketers can use to nurture leads to effectively drive more sales. The truth is, even if you are an outstanding eCommerce marketer, approximately 96% of your website's visitors aren't ready to buy just yet. Quite a significant chunk, no?

And for website visitors who aren't ready to buy, lead nurturing has been an effective tactic. Research has shown that companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales ready leads at a 33% lower cost. So let’s talk about ways to nurture your leads through the sales process in an eCommerce fashion.

1) Create How to Videos

I don’t know about you, but every day I wonder what I did before how to videos (not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but nonetheless, they save my life and I have no shame admitting it). How to Videos are an easy way for your brand to gain exposure and an ideal way to reach your buyer personas.

Does your company sell dinnerware or home decor? Consider creating videos on how to set your table or decorate for special  events and holidays. What are your buyer personas pain points and what do they need help figuring out? Start there and you’ll be able to come up with some great video ideas.

2) Content Downloads

Yes, that’s right, content downloads for your eCommerce site. If your eCommerce site sells womens' clothing, think along the lines of “The Ultimate Guide to Your Spring Wardrobe” or anything that your buyer personas would be interested in gaining more knowledge about and would find interesting.

Content downloads are great call to actions to feature on your blogs and also on (dare I say it?) your product pages. Since 96% of your website visitors are not ready purchase when they land on your site, you need to do something else to get them into your database.

They might be ready to do something else such as learn more about your products or brand. Request an email when they choose to download your offer and bam, you’ve got yourself contact information. But, use it wisely - ya hear?

3) Blogging

This should not come as a surprise to anyone, but it still needs to be mentioned. This is a key way to attract visitors to your site, business and products in the first place.

In fact, 81% of U.S. online consumers trust information and advice from blogs. So get out there and start writing about your products and how your buyer personas can benefit from them. Add in some awesome branding and behind-the-scenes looks at you company and you’re on the hot nurturing track for sales success.

4) Live Chat

Live Chat is one of my favorite things to find on any website, let alone an eCommerce site. I’ll throw another confession at you - I have been the face behind live chat on two eCommerce sites before and, while those aren’t my favorite days to look back on, I know the impact Live Chat can have on conversion rates.

Live chat is nurturing your leads through that eCommerce sales process at its finest. I guess you could say it’s equivalent to a sales call and this is your chance to make a great impression and really help those leads get to the next step of their goals.

Your leads are cruising around on your site and you are available to answer questions, upsell and provide an excellent user experience, instantaneously. This is the ultimate way to nurture.

5) Abandoned Cart Emails

Ah, now this should sound familiar! An abandoned cart email is a very important part of eCommerce lead nurturing. Why? This is your bottom funnel lead who is so close to purchasing you can almost smell the dollar bills.

Taking good care of these leads is crucial because one false step could mean the difference between a purchase and a lost sale. Being said, you should try to be immediate in your follow-up here. You know what this lead is very interested in your product and they just need that final "pull" to make the final purchase (notice I said pull not push…).

The average abandoned online shopping cart is 67.91%. Suffice to say, it’s likely happening on your eCommerce site. That means it’s time to get your abandoned cart email campaigns setup to pull those leads through the final step of the sales process.

The Bottom Line

See, nurturing your leads isn’t that scary as an eCommerce marketer, right? It's important to keep in mind that there are ways you can work on to reaching those 96% of visitors that aren’t ready to buy, and with some proper eCommerce nurturing, they eventually will.