Nurturing leads is essential in the customer journey. Not all leads are ready to buy immediately; some need more information, reassurance, or reminders before making a purchase decision. By keeping leads engaged with tailored messages and content, you can build trust, address concerns, and ultimately convert more leads into loyal customers. Marketo Engagement programs make this nurture campaign process efficient and scalable, ensuring no lead is left behind. By delivering relevant content at the right time, engagement programs can more effectively guide leads through the sales funnel.
What is an Engagement Program in Marketo?
An engagement program is a series of automated emails or messages sent to leads based on their behavior, interests, and position in the sales cycle. These programs keep leads engaged, informed, and moving toward making a purchase.
Engagement programs in Marketo specifically focus on the nurturing aspect of marketing automation. They help you stay in touch with leads over time, providing valuable information and building relationships. By automating these interactions, you can ensure that every lead receives consistent and timely communication, leading to higher conversion rates and better customer retention.
Benefits of Using a Marketo Engagement Program for Nurture Campaigns:
Using a Marketo engagement program for your nurture campaigns offers several key benefits:
• Increased Lead Nurturing Efficiency:
Engagement programs in Marketo automate the process of sending personalized communications to your leads. This means you can easily set up and manage multiple nurture streams without sending each message manually. Automating these tasks ensures that your leads receive timely and relevant content based on their interests and behavior.
• Improved Lead Conversion Rates:
When leads receive content that is specifically tailored to their needs and interests, they are more likely to engage with your brand. Marketo engagement programs help you deliver the right content at the right time, which can significantly improve your lead conversion rates. You increase their chances of purchasing by keeping your leads informed and interested.
• Enhanced Customer Relationships:
Consistent engagement is key to building strong customer relationships. Marketo engagement programs allow you to maintain regular contact with your leads and customers, providing them with valuable information and support throughout their journey. This consistent engagement helps build trust and loyalty, making your customers more likely to return and recommend your business to others.
• Time and Resource Savings:
Automating your nurture campaigns with Marketo saves you time and resources. Instead of manually managing each aspect of your campaigns, you can set up automated workflows that handle everything for you. This streamlines your marketing efforts, allowing your team to focus on other important tasks while ensuring the campaign nurtures your leads effectively.
Key Terms in Marketo Engagement Programs:
Marketo engagement programs have specific terms describing various aspects of the program’s functions. Here’s an explanation of each term:
1. Stream:
A stream in Marketo is a sequence of content that you set up within an engagement program. Each stream contains multiple pieces of content (emails, offers, etc.) sent to leads in a specific order. Streams organize your content and manage the flow of communication based on where the lead is in their journey.
2. Content:
Content refers to the individual pieces of information you send to your leads, such as emails, eBooks, webinars, or any other type of marketing material. In Marketo, content is what populates your streams, ensuring your leads receive the right message at the right time.
3. Cast:
A cast is an instance of sending content to leads in a stream. Think of a cast as a scheduled broadcast where the content in your stream is sent out to the leads. Each time the content is sent, it is considered a new cast.
4. Stream Cadence:
Stream cadence is the frequency at which the casts are sent within a particular stream. For example, you might set the stream cadence to send content every week or every two weeks. Setting the right cadence is important to keep leads engaged without overwhelming them.
5. Person Cadence:
Person cadence refers to the timing for each lead receiving content within a stream. It considers when the lead first enters the stream and ensures they receive subsequent content based on the set intervals of the stream cadence. This personalization ensures that each lead gets content spaced appropriately based on when they joined the stream.
6. Exhausted:
In Marketo, a lead is considered “exhausted” in a stream when they have received all the content available in that stream. This means no more emails or messages are left to send to them within that specific stream. At this point, you may need to move the lead to another stream or engagement program to continue nurturing them.
Step-by-Step Flow on Creating an Engagement Program in Marketo:
Creating an engagement program in Marketo involves several steps, from defining your streams to analyzing when leads exhaust. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Define Your Goals and Segments
- Identify Goals: Determine what you want to achieve with your engagement program (e.g., lead nurturing and increased conversions).
- Segment Your Audience: Define the criteria for different audience segments (e.g., demographics and behavior).
Step 2: Create a New Engagement Program
- Navigate to Marketing Activities: Go to the “Marketing Activities” section in Marketo.
- Create a New Program: Click “New Program” and select “Engagement Program” as the type. Name your program and choose the appropriate folder and tags.
Step 3: Set Up Streams
- Add Streams: In the engagement program, add streams by clicking on “Add Stream.” Name each stream according to the stage of the customer journey (e.g., Awareness, Consideration, Decision).
- Define Stream Cadence: Set the cadence for each stream, such as weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. This determines how often content is sent.
Step 4: Populate Streams with Content
- Add Content to Streams: Drag and drop the emails or other content you’ve created into each stream. Ensure each stream has relevant and valuable content for its target audience.
- Content Order: Arrange the content in the order in which you want it sent. The first piece will go out on the next cast, followed by the subsequent pieces according to the cadence.
Step 5: Set Up Smart Campaigns
- Entry Campaigns: Create smart campaigns to add leads to your engagement program. Define the criteria for when and how leads enter the program.
- Transition Rules: Set up rules to move leads between streams based on their behavior or engagement (e.g., moving from Awareness to Consideration when a lead downloads a whitepaper).
Step 6: Schedule Casts
- Schedule the First Cast: Set the date and time for the first cast in each stream. This is when the first piece of content will be sent.
- Ongoing Casts: Marketo will automatically handle the timing of subsequent casts based on the stream cadence you’ve set.
Step 7: Analyze Person Cadence and Exhaustion
- Person Cadence Analysis: Regularly check how individual leads progress through the program and ensure they receive content at the expected intervals.
- Exhausted Leads Report: Marketo provides reports on exhausted leads who have received all content in a stream.
- Go to the Stream: Open the stream you want to analyze.
- Check Exhausted Leads: Look for the “Exhausted” column to see how many leads have completed all content.
- Reassign Exhausted Leads: To continue nurturing exhausted leads, move them to a new stream or program. You can set up smart campaigns to handle this automatically.
Conclusion:
Using Marketo engagement programs is essential for building and maintaining strong relationships with your leads. These programs automate the process of sending personalized, relevant content, helping you nurture leads more efficiently and effectively.
Set up and optimize your engagement programs in Marketo to ensure you nurture every lead toward becoming a loyal customer. Start leveraging the power of Marketo engagement programs today to see better results from your nurture campaigns.
Ready to transform your lead nurturing efforts?
Marmato Digital specializes in setting up Engagement Programs in Marketo that automate your campaigns with precision and effectiveness. Our team can help you create personalized, automated workflows that engage your leads and move them smoothly through the sales funnel. Contact us today to learn more about how Marmato Digital can transform your lead nurturing strategy.
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