New Research Shows Marketers Are Rethinking Nurture Strategies With New Channels And More Targeted Approaches

Lead nurturing has been a pillar of demand generation practices and programs over the past decade. With the majority of B2B cycles stretching six months or longer, marketing teams are challenged with finding ways to stay in front of prospects who are interested, but not quite ready to make a decision. In addition, marketing teams are also increasingly being tasked with developing nurture programs that drive conversions and accelerate time to close.

However, on the flip side of a deal, buying teams are becoming larger, more complex and harder to reach with traditional, email-focused nurture campaigns. The majority (86%) of respondents to Demand Gen Report's 2018 Lead Nurturing & Acceleration Benchmark Survey rated their current lead nurturing initiatives as "average" or below. Roughly 44% said that their lead nurturing initiatives specifically "need improvement." Only 10% consider their nurturing efforts "excellent."

The following report outlines the ongoing push for B2B marketing teams to enhance and refine their lead nurturing programs, including how:

• Marketers are pushing to become more targeted and relevant with their nurture initiatives;
• Nurture teams are incorporating different content formats to increase relevancy; and
• Testing different campaign formats is helping marketers better engage target segments.