Over the last couple of weeks we've discussed how to attract more attention on the internet and get quality visitors to your site.  Then we took the next step and gave you some tips and tricks to help you increase your conversion rate and begin to grow your bottom line.  The problem is, a lot of companies do not have a plan in place to continue the relationship once they begin receiving internet leads.  

First, let's define internet leads.  For the purposes of inbound marketing, internet leads are people who have come to your website and "engaged" in some way.  They usually have filled out a simple form in order to download helpful information from your website.  In essence, they have exchanged some type of information with you in order to receive something back.  The question for most is:  Now I have this information about this visitor - what do I do with it? 

The ideal situation is that you continue to further that relationship and help gently guide the visitor through your sales funnel to the end goal your company has set.  Maybe you're a doctor's office and you simply want to achieve a higher level of engaging with your patients on your site.  After the first engagement, you might send a series of weekly emails that inform your patient of other information available on your site and show them how to take care of particular tasks in a way that's efficient and convenient to them.  

Another example might be if you are a real estate company.  Let's say an internet user gets on the web to find suggestions for getting their home ready for sale.  They pull up Google and type in:  Important things to do before listing my house.  In the search results, they come across a blog article from your company titled:  5 Key Steps Before Listing Your Home.  When they click on the article, they find a handy reference guide that they can download and follow to get their house ready for sale.  All they have to do is fill out the form that asks for their name and email address.  They fill it out, receive the reference guide and are ready to begin preparing their home.  Now what?  

Your lead nurturing strategy might look something like this.  

1. When you created the reference guide, you identified the target audience and what was important to them.  
2. Next you identified the sales cycle that this target audience usually follows.  
3. In addition to the reference guide, you create a series of six emails to follow up with that lead to help gently guide them through the sales cycle and prepare them for choosing your company as their listing agent.  
4. The form on your landing page was created so that when it was submitted, the email campaign is automatically triggered.  
5. The six emails are strategically spread out over four weeks.  They emails are:

• One day after downloading the reference guide they receive an email stating "Hi Jane! I saw you downloaded our reference guide:  5 Key Steps Before Listing Your Home.  I hope you found the guide helpful.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.  I'm here to help in any way that I can.  Regards, John."
• Three days after downloading the reference guide Jane receives another email  stating "Hi Jane!  Because you downloaded 5 Key Steps Before Listing Your  Home, I thought you might find the following article helpful too:  3 Simple Tips  That Make Your Home Memorable During a Showing.  Let me know if I can help  in any way!  Regards, John
• John uses analytic software like Hubspot, so he can see that Jane came back to his site and read the article he suggested.  Jane receives a third email 7 days after she originally downloaded the reference guide that states:  "Jane:  Being prepared is the most important thing a Seller can do to help their home sell quickly.  I am available at your convenience to give you a fair market value of your home when compared to similar homes that have sold in your area.  There is no charge for this service and all of my seller's have found it to be very  helpful when they are making their decision.  I'll follow up this email with a call.  In the meantime, if you want to begin the process, you can simply go to my website and answer a few questions about your home to get started.  Once I receive those answers, I'll be able to give you the information you need to be an informed seller.  Regards, John"

These are examples of how John might nurture his internet leads based on the fact that they downloaded a book about how to list their home.  Remember that when you are nurturing your leads, you should always consider what marketing piece they downloaded, where they are at in the sales cycle when they engage and what is the persona of this particular audience member.  By considering all of these factors, you can appropriately engage your lead without interrupting them.  Rather, you'll making their day easier because you have provided them something valuable.  You have begun establishing yourself as a thought leader, as a trusted advisor.