It's summer and most people have planted pots and gardens, they check to ensure that the plants are watered – not too much, not too little – and provide fertilizer at optimal points. In other words they are engaged in ‘plant nurturing''.

The art of lead nurturing is just as precise.  Sales people struggle with following up and ‘touching base' which usually involves a phone call or an email to remind them that the sales person and the hotel is still there and have the prospect moved any further along in their decision making process.  This is not lead nurturing but ‘sales stalking'. 

Lead nurturing is more subtle.  Nurturing a lead involves staying top of mind with a prospect while providing them with info that may be useful in their buying decision but is not promotional.  Sounds like a contradiction – it isn't. 

Like the plant analogy above it is important to ‘water' prospects not too much and not too little. Sending them a one size fits all eblast is not nurturing. "Pretty, well-designed fluff is not going to "feed" your prospects. …content focusing more on the consumer and less on the company is far more effective."  (Brian Carroll. B2B roundtable blog, 4/8/09)

We now have more ways than ever to maintain relevant contact with leads and prospects that are not yet ready to buy.
Email Blasts.  No not to thousands but to a select few that may share common industry verticals, types of events, etc – these you can reach in small groups with relevant content about their industry, latest meeting trends for their kinds of events, etc.

Notice – there is not one word in here about you or your hotel.  This is information they can use, you have just fertilized them.  At the same time you have reminded them that you are an ‘expert' and on top of the trends in business and meeting and events.

Webinars on Relevant Topics.  

Who are the decision makers that usually buy your product?  Are they sales executives, are they human resource people? Provide webinars of interest to them – for example, you could host a sales webinar featuring a guest expert on a relevant sales topic or a panel discussion.  The same with HR.  Do you work with a lot of third party planners – invite an expert in the field to speak about a relevant topic like the Role Of Social Media in

Successful Events.  

Invite your prospects and then provide them with the recording for FREE! This establishes you as a great facilitator that cares about your customers.  "… according to MarketingSherpa, decision-makers are more likely to attend webinars than contributors." (Marketo.com, Best Practices for Lead Nurturing")
PS. NO promos in here either!

Social Media.  

Never has there been a lead nurturing tool like social media.  Social media allow sales people to stay in front of their prospects without ‘pushing product'.  Qualify your prospects on LinkedIn – learn what they look like, what their interests are and which groups they belong to that you can join.  Participate in groups, ask Questions – give Answers.  

Facebook is not just for B2C anymore.

Most companies maintain a page on Facebook as do many planners.  Check them out, ask them to Like or become a Fan.  FaceBook is such a robust visual medium that many planners will go to the hotel page to check out the property.  Use lots of pictures; engage Fans with relevant topics, ask their opinion on something, contests, etc.  The rule of thumb is two informational posts to one promotional post.

Blogs.  

A well written and designed blog is a prospect magnet!  In this survey by HubSpot that appeared in eMarekting.com, blogs run second in customer acquisition to LinkedIn in the social media space.
 
One hotel had a guest blog post by one of their summer interns. It was one of the most read in their blogging history. 

Another hotel does well with fishing groups and outfitters during the fall.  They post river conditions and stories of what has worked for other fishermen in catching fish!  Other poplar posts are recipes from the chef – there's a reason the Food Network is so popular. 

Ask your prospects to subscribe to your blog or forward it to them when there are posts you think they would be interested in.   Blogs are a great way to ‘fertilize' your prospects and allows them to gain insight into the hotel.  PS.  NO promos allowed!

The objective is not only to stay top of mind but to move them through the pipeline until they are ready to ‘buy'. 

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