How we nurture B2B leads: Belkins’ strategy

What kills B2B growth isn’t a lack of leads — it’s a lack of consistency that makes 90% of prospects disappear. Across hundreds of campaigns, we’ve confirmed that the highest appointment rates come from a smart multichannel nurturing sequence — one that introduces new value at every step, stays aligned within a single cohesive system, and spans 60+ touchpoints across 6+ channels.

📉 The data backs this up: Response rates plummet by 55% by the fourth touchpoint on a single channel. This doesn’t mean prospects vanish — it means most outreach stops adding value and starts blending into the noise.

What do we do differently at Belkins?

We invert the traditional funnel. Instead of starting broadly with generic content and paid ads, we lead with high-precision, personalized outreach. Only after we’ve sparked genuine connections do we layer in broader nurturing like paid campaigns and thought-leadership content.

The result is a leaner, more efficient nurturing cycle that cuts ad spend while producing higher-quality conversions. With Belkins’ lead nurturing services, our clients consistently see:

• 15–30% more booked meetings compared to single-channel efforts.
• 20–40% shorter sales cycles, as leads are already qualified and engaged.
• Higher deal sizes, because trust was established long before the first demo.

Below is the exact playbook we use to turn cold connections into predictable, sales-ready relationships.

Establishing the foundation for successful lead nurturing

Before launching the first sequence, we build the foundation. These components ensure every touchpoint is meaningful and purposefully moves a lead through the pipeline.

Sales and marketing alignment

Even the best nurturing sequence will fail if marketing and sales pull in different directions. True alignment means acting as a single growth engine with shared goals, data, and customer insights.

Marketing handles the long game: building awareness and cultivating trust through valuable content. This frees up SDRs to stop chasing cold leads and focus exclusively on the final step of conversion — closing the deal.

Most companies still chase leads like hunters, aiming only at the 10% of prospects who are ready to buy right now. But that leaves 90% of potential buyers ignored despite the fact that they need time and consistent nurturing.

The teams that shift from “hunting” to “farming,” cultivating relationships and building trust over time, are seeing their pipeline grow by 2–4x. They give those 90% the steady attention they need while focusing sales efforts on the few that are ready to convert today.

The alignment should be built on a single source of truth: unified customer data. Both teams must work from the same playbook, which requires deep, ongoing research. For nurturing, you’ll need:

• Clear buying committee mapping: This ensures you're nurturing all the key decision-makers with tailored messaging. We find that targeting 2–3 key contacts per organization creates effective multithreaded outreach without overwhelming your team's capacities.

• Mapped decision-making processes: Understanding the 4–7 stakeholder roles involved.

• A living pain points library: This is the foundation of all GTM strategy and messaging, and it must be continuously updated throughout the customer journey.

📚 Related readings: 

• How to achieve sales and marketing alignment
• How to identify the key decision-makers in B2B companies

A well-managed CRM system

Your teams need the right sales tools to manage a complex buyer journey. A well-configured CRM is not negotiable; it’s the central hub for an organized nurturing process. Your SDRs must be trained to enrich the CRM with conversation data from every single touchpoint.

A solid lead scoring framework

Your team should have a unified lead scoring system to utilize after each funnel stage. Scoring evaluates how engaged and sales-ready they are, helping your team to prioritize high-intent, best-fit leads.

In brief, our system is based on behavioral signals. Each lead gains or loses points based on their specific actions and attributes, from positive engagement (like a content download) to negative signals (like unsubscribing or signaling low intent).

Here’s an example of an event-based scoring system in HubSpot:

Belkins’ 4-stage multichannel nurturing strategy

The channels within each stage can be mixed and matched. Think of it as a flexible framework, not a rigid sequence. The core principle is what matters: At every step, you are adding new value or introducing a new channel, and you are adapting your messaging based on how prospects respond.

Stage 1: Building awareness and exploring interest

Key goal at this stage: Educate and warm up leads until they recognize their own need for a solution. This stage is about validation — confirming that our messaging resonates with their core pain points.

Key channels involved: Cold emails, LinkedIn outreach, ads.

Unlike a traditional top-of-funnel approach, we recommend starting immediately with non-intrusive, highly relevant outreach combining email and LinkedIn. Only after this foundation is set and the initial messages are tested do we layer in targeted ads with educational content.

The CTA is usually to read a pain-point-based article. For instance, we might launch a targeted campaign at a chief sustainability officer, sparking interest in why legacy systems create data gaps and how advanced analytics can reveal product-level emissions insights.

Here is a great example of a B2B email with a low-commitment CTA for this nurturing stage:

Interview invitation

Even in this early phase, there are clear indicators of healthy engagement:

• A healthy baseline: At least 50% of prospects should be neutral or positive (i.e., not unsubscribing or ignoring you).
• Genuine interest: Around 0.5% of your total list should be open to discussing your solution on a call.

If your metrics fall below these benchmarks, pump the brakes. It’s time to refine your value proposition, review your messaging, and revisit your audience research.

Stage 2: Activating interest using multiple touchpoints  

Key goal at this stage: Motivate problem-aware prospects to download gated content and stay top-of-mind.

Key channels involved: Emails, LinkedIn outreach, ads, and a downloadable piece of material.

We continue using the same channels as in Stage 1 but add an extra layer of value: a downloadable PDF (e.g., benchmark, research report, or case study). The goal is to offer high-value insights before asking for a demo.

Focus your outreach on the insights from the report, helping prospects naturally connect the dots between their challenges and your expertise.

A nurturing email after a prospect downloaded the material

Success metrics: The key metric here is simple: prospects who not only download the PDF but also show high-intent engagement, such as replying with feedback or comments about the content.

Stage 3: Creating direct engagement with a live educational experience

Key goal at this stage: Bring leads to a live educational event (like a webinar) to interact and see your company’s value firsthand. This nurtures both previously engaged leads and those who showed only low-level intent.

Key channels involved: Email invite sequence, retargeting ads for webinar signup, LinkedIn engagement push.

We design each session around a specific industry, persona, or even an underserved role (like a CFO) to make it hyper-relevant. Case in point: For a retail technology client, we drove 300 webinar attendees, 500 engaged users, and 25 appointments.

We use the multichannel invitation engine to drive registrations and engage: 

• LinkedIn: Personalized invitations to reconnect with the same prospects you messaged earlier
• Email: Sending short, value-driven invitations
• Calling: Making quick calls to personally invite them (“I think you’ll find it really useful — we’re sharing practical insights we’ve seen work in your industry.”)
  

Here’s an example of a webinar invitation campaign via LinkedIn:

After the webinar, it’s important to run a follow-up email sequence: 

Post-webinar email example for those who attended

Post-webinar email example for those who missed it

📚 Related readings:

• 22 sales follow-up email samples and templates that generate replies
• How to build a scalable follow-up system: The Belkins’ way 

Success metrics:

• Invitation confirmations and attendance.
• Positive replies. Even a “no” can be a “yes.” Replies like, “I’ll be busy — will there be a recording?” or “Can you share the deck?” signal strong intent, even from non-attendees.

Stage 4: Converting engaged prospects through personalized demos and sales calls

If a prospect interacts with ads or LinkedIn posts but doesn’t click through, they’re not ready yet — and that’s okay. Keep them in your lower-stage nurturing sequences, but don’t push for a high-intent sales conversation.

Key goal at this stage: To reach out to all unengaged prospects who have been nurtured with clear sales intent.

At this step, the outreach becomes more direct and creative. The leads who have passed through the previous stages are now qualified and should be ready to convert. Your email sequence should have one goal: booking the meeting. We often use a “double-call” (call + email) at this stage to accelerate booking.

The best approaches for this stage offer a specific, high-value call to action:

• A custom demo based on their known pain points
• An ROI calculator to justify the investment
• A relevant case study or client reference to address final objections

When a prospect agrees to a call, don't scare them off with a 20-question qualification drill. Book the meeting, period.

Here are some great B2B appointment-setting messages that have succeeded recently:

The most common mistake SDRs make at this step is chasing personalization, such as mentioning a recent funding round, a new hire, or another event in a prospect’s life. But that doesn't really help move the prospect in the right direction.  A CFO at a 50-person manufacturing company has completely different concerns than a CFO at a 500-person SaaS company.

You should always focus on relevancy, especially at this stage, by which point the message should already be refined and the pain points well-researched after previous interactions. By staying genuinely relevant, you ensure more opportunities come for an appointment.

Measuring key nurturing metrics

Traditionally, teams focus on output: emails sent, calls dialed, and initial response rates. These are better than nothing, but they don't measure effectiveness. The metrics that matter shift the focus from sheer volume to engagement quality, intent signals, and downstream revenue.

• Touchpoints per account: Total meaningful interactions (not just attempts) across all channels and contacts.
• Intent signals: Tracking website visits, content downloads, and event attendance across the entire buying committee.
• Pipeline velocity: The time from first touch to qualified opportunity. Effective nurturing shortens this cycle, as opportunities arrive with higher buying intent.
• Cost-per-opportunity/appointment optimization: Total investment per qualified opportunity. This should trend down as your nurturing strategy matures and lowers acquisition costs.
• Pipeline revenue created: The ultimate metric. How much new, qualified revenue is your nurturing process adding to the pipeline?

These metrics are the crucial link. They confirm that the resource-intensive, multichannel nurturing effort isn't just an activity; it translates directly into high-value, sales-ready opportunities.

Bottom line

As you refine your outreach formula, don't discard your own playbook. Your best insights often come from your own track record, not the next big trend. Dig into your past campaign data:

• Which industries and professional roles were most receptive?
• What specific messaging sparked actual conversations? (If it was effective, why did you pivot away from it?
• Which of your channels wins the most engagement? 

This analysis is the first step. The second is actively seeking candid feedback from your best clients. This continuous learning loop — reviewing what worked, confirming why it worked, and iterating — is the engine for scalable nurturing.

Ultimately, this process closes the loop between your teams. When sales provides concrete, front-line feedback on what resonates, marketing can double down on those themes, sharpen the messaging, and create a powerful feedback cycle that drives real engagement.