45 Lead Nurturing Stats You Can’t Ignore

Most fitness businesses find that generating leads is their biggest growth-related challenge. The truth is that lead generation isn’t the problem. A lack of a solid lead nurturing strategy prevents prospects from becoming clients.

The goal of nurturing leads is to build strong relationships with potential clients, letting them know you care about them by solving a problem or fulfilling a need they have. It’s one of the most reliable ways to build trust and establish a relationship with people who have expressed enough interest to inquire with you in the first place.

Unfortunately, most people who visit your website are still not ready to buy. A well-designed lead nurturing campaign can help you convert these visitors into loyal clients.

Lead nurturing is communicating with a new lead to gain enough interest so that they’ll commit to your fitness program or facility. It’s a crucial part of any marketing strategy, and without a strong lead nurturing system, you’ll find that prospects, who were once interested in what you have to offer, will move on quickly.

Why is lead nurturing so important?

Research shows that 50% of leads aren’t ready to convert at signup, but nurturing that prospect relationship through resources, learning opportunities, and special offers will increase your acquisition rate by about 20%!

Think of your lead nurturing strategy like a flywheel, where your online visitors turned leads are there and ready to fuel conversion, and converted leads (clients) fuel further retention and loyalty. You have to keep them interested, show them that you’re the expert they need, and keep doing so even after they commit.

Unsurprisingly, 73% of marketers say converting leads into buyers is their top priority. This means making a concerted effort to develop the right lead nurturing strategy. Statistics help illustrate this for us. Let’s dig deeper into the stats to explain how lead nurturing impacts conversion and growth.

What are the most prominent lead nurturing challenges business owners face?

No business is getting it 100% right all the time. Implementing lead nurturing into your marketing program will likely involve a lot of trial and error. Though, these statistics show that you’re not alone with the challenges you’ll face, proving that it’s worth investing your time and effort into nurturing those leads.

1. More than three-quarters (77%) of all marketers think their lead nurturing initiatives are just average or need improvement. (Demand Gen Report)
2. 65% of businesses are simply not putting in the effort to nurture leads consistently. (Marketing Sherpa)
3. Generating traffic and leads is the primary marketing challenge for 65% of companies. (Writers Block Live)
4. While 37% of marketers say that generating high-quality leads in the first place was one of their biggest challenges. (Ruler Analytics)
5. 40% of marketers say getting a response from prospects has become more challenging over the years. (HubSpot)
6. The top challenges of lead nurturing programs include creating relevant content, personalizing campaigns, multi-channel integration, segmenting lead data, and nurturing campaign workflows. The most effective online channels for lead nurturing campaigns are emails (78%), websites (48%), social media (39%), and blogs (30%). (Invesp)

What do these stats tell us? You should be nurturing your leads in multiple ways with a multi-channel approach. The best strategy is through marketing automation (email and SMS), dynamic content, social media, and a great, fast website with numerous landing pages built to nurture your prospects from the moment they arrive—automatically.

Generating leads and lead nurturing relate to your website

There are definite benefits to having your website be the first place you think about nurturing leads. You may not realize that your website needs improvement, but check out these lead nurturing stats to help you see where your site could use some help.

7. 96% of visitors who visit your website aren’t ready to buy yet. (Marketo)
8. Businesses with 31-40 landing pages get seven times more leads than those with only 1-5 landing pages, but those with over 40 get 12 times more leads than those with only 1-5 landing pages. (HubSpot)
9. A site that loads in 1 second has an e-commerce conversion rate 2.5 times higher than a site that loads in 5 seconds. (Portent)
10. 85% of marketers believe that consumers expect a personalized experience, and this starts as soon as prospects land on your website. (Evergage)

Blogging and content marketing to nurture leads

People love to search the internet for things to read and tend to trust websites that have put their attention to blogging and providing tons of content. Blog posts do more than just taking up space on your website, though. You can use them on social media, send them out in emails, and even create membership areas that offer “exclusive content” once someone becomes a qualified lead.

11. 56% of marketers find targeted content the most essential element of a lead nurturing program. (Ascend2)
12. Aligning content with a prospect’s stage in the buyer’s journey can boost conversion rates by 72%. (Business2Community)
13. Content marketing generates three times as many leads as outbound marketing at less than half the cost. (DemandMetric)
14. Blogs are 13 times as likely to drive a positive ROI (return on investment). (HubSpot)
15. Companies who tailor content to lead generation buying stages of their clients have 73% higher conversion rates than companies that don’t have such practices. (Aberdeen)
16. 51% of companies say updating old content has proven the most efficient tactic for their content marketing strategy. (G2)
17. Blogging 11+ times per month get more than four times as many leads as businesses that are only blogging 4-5 times per month. (HubSpot) This is an interesting stat, but remember, quality is always more important than quantity. You’ll still generate and convert more leads with fewer high-quality pieces than more poor-quality pieces.
18. 5% of marketers claim monetary value lead magnets, like discounts or coupons, produce the best results to encourage your leads to commit to your service or products. (GetResponse)
19. Companies with blogs produce an average of 67% more leads monthly than companies that don’t blog. (DemandMetric)
20. Blogs (86%), case studies (42%), and customer success stories (36%) are among the most popular content formats for lead nurturing. (G2)

Email or SMS as a lead nurturing strategy

Email is still where it’s at when it comes to lead nurturing. In this world of constant scrolling, if a lead invites you into their inbox, you’ve got a little more time to really nurture them. Despite being one of the most effective strategies, it’s definitely not where you should put all your eggs, so to speak. Make sure you’re on top of these lead nurturing stats and always adjust your business marketing plan accordingly.

21. 47% of marketers believe email marketing is the most effective lead nurturing tactic. (Ascend2)
22. 42% of companies consider email to be one of their most important lead generation channels. (Strategic)
23. 60% of consumers subscribe to a brand’s list to get promotional messages and deals. (MarketingSherpa)
24. Friday is typically the day with the highest click-through rate potential, at 2.7%. (Campaign Monitor)
25. Companies that automate lead management see a 10% or higher increase in revenue in six to nine months. (HubSpot)
26. 54% of email marketers say increasing engagement is their number one priority. (Ascend2)
27. Businesses that use marketing automation to nurture prospects through email or SMS see a 451% increase in the number of qualified leads. (Salesforce)
28. When it comes to lead nurturing, you need to make your emails personal. 51% of email marketers say email list segmentation is the most effective way to personalize lead nurturing. (Ascend2)
29. 80% of marketers who use automation software generate more leads; 77% convert more of those leads. (VB Insight, APSIS)
30. Targeted emails drive 18 times more revenue than non-targeted ones. (Juniper Research)
31. Email drives higher ROIs than other lead generation tools. (Campaign Monitor)

Nurture leads with social media

32. Along with email, social media is among the most frequently used channels during the lead nurturing process. (HubSpot)
33. Increased exposure, increased traffic, and generated leads are among the top reasons marketers value employing social networks in their lead nurturing campaigns. (Statista)
34. Approximately 46% of online users rely on social media when making a purchasing decision. (Nielsen)
35. 500 million accounts use Instagram Stories every day, making it a huge opportunity to help nurture your leads. (Hootsuite)
36. 47% of marketers are actively learning more about using TikTok for business. (Social Media Examiner)
37. Facebook is the most popular social media platform, used by 94% of marketers. (Statista)
38. More than 80% of businesses invested in social media marketing last year. (HubSpot)

How does lead nurturing help generate more sales, revenue, and conversions?

39. Improving customer retention and increased engagement are the two top priorities of a lead nurturing strategy. They aim to drive loyalty in a variety of ways, including improving client experience, educating prospects, and reducing sales cycle length. (Ascend2)
40. Personalized lead nurturing can increase conversion rates by 63% and engagement by 57%. (BrightTALK)
41. It usually takes around eight lead-nurturing steps that are needed for a lead to convert to a paying client. (HubSpot)
42. Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads. (Annuitas)
43. Only 29% of brands nurture their existing customers beyond the initial purchase. (DemandGen)
44. Nurtured leads produce, on average, a 20% increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads. (DemandGen)
45. Companies that nurture leads well generate 50% more sales at a 33% lower cost. (DemandGen)

These lead nurturing stats don’t lie—Attract and convert more clients with the right strategy

Nurturing leads will almost guarantee more prospects turning into clients than if you don’t have it built into your marketing strategy. Consider taking a few steps outlined in the lead nurturing stats laid out above, and try implementing the ones you think will give you the most growth and client retention.

For more info about lead generation, visit our other blogs:

• 5 Ways to Get More Leads Online for Your Fitness Studio
• Call-to-Action Best Practices: 9 Tips to Get More Leads
• Your Ultimate Guide to Customer Acquisition Cost
• How to Thrive with the AIDA Customer Journey Model

Want to learn more about how WellnessLiving can grow your fitness business? Click here for a free, no-commitment demo today!