1885.

1885 was the year that set the ground work for lead nurturing as we know it today. I know you’re thinking what could have possibly occurred in 1885 that could relate to how I sell my products/services now in such an advanced & online 2016?

This guy, Hermann Ebbinghaus happened, that’s what.

Dr. Ebbinghuas was a German psychologist who was famous for studying memory and in particular coming up with the ‘forgetting curve’. The forgetting curve was developed as a way of studying how quickly a person can learn. Ebbinghaus was able to determine that the speed a person may forget information depends on a number of factors such as: The difficulty of the material, the portrayal of the information and the amount of sleep (or lack thereof) & the stress the person is under. As you can see below, the percentage of information retained after the first &  2nd repetitions (orange curve) is quite low and therefore needs to be continually reinforced.

According to DemandGen the definition of ‘Lead Nurturing’ is “the process of engaging prospects by providing the information and dialogue they need at each stage of their buying process to position your company as the best choice to help them achieve their objectives.”

Lead Nurturing is about educating prospects on how you can best solve their issue or problem (remember the first stage in the customer buying process is problem recognition). So understanding the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve can have a huge impact on how you go about communicating with your prospects. They will likely only remember more than half after some time if they’ve heard about it at least three (3) times. This is the actual science to when & how often you should be communicating/educating/providing value to your customers.

If your lead nurturing involves only one or two communicating points then you’re failing your prospects. You have failed to provide enough points of communication to ensure your solution is retained in their memory. Just refer to the forgetting curve, since even after that 3rd repetition only 60% of information is retained.

As an example, I had to take a job at a gym while I was studying. My role was to provide a smiling face at the front desk & prospect current members for leads and sell as many memberships as possible. After 6 months had passed I had become so surprised on how many prospects I spoke to didn’t actually realise what was included in the membership. Many of my sales could have occurred sooner if they understood that when you joined you received 3 free personal training sessions and a workout & eating program for free.  This was the 40% that was missing, it took me on average 4-5 communication points or ‘repetitions’ to actually get them to join. This was only for a gym membership. A somewhat simple product. The number of ‘repetitions’ for a more complex B2B product/service must be more.

Don’t forget Ebbinghaus stated that the difficulty of the material had an impact on the ability for someone to absorb the information. So if you’re falling short of the number of ‘repetitions’ you’re communicating to your prospects, then your lead nurturing campaign needs to be revised.

So next time you’re creating an effective lead nurturing strategy or campaign, don’t forget about Dr. Ebbinghaus and his forgetting curve.

I repeat, next time you’re creating an effective lead nurturing strategy or campaign, don’t forget about Dr. Ebbinghaus and his forgetting curve.

I repeat, what I repeated, next time you’re creating an effective lead nurturing strategy or campaign, don’t forget about Dr. Ebbinghaus and his forgetting curve.

I repeat… I repeat…

And by the way, do you remember what was Dr. Ebbinghaus first name?

In case you forgot and decided to put more important things in mind, it was Hermann, if you’re curious. I’m sorry, but now you’re less likely to forget that… 😉

Your own next step in Lead Nurturing?

If you think improving your online  marketing is important for you, I would suggest you try out our very own 2-min test here from us at Sonician in order for you to figure out if Marketing Automation could be for you. You’ll find it directly at: www.sonician.com/survey/2mintest/