If you sell to businesses, you know lead nurturing is a slog. Prospects need time, follow-ups, the right info, and—let’s be honest—a little hand-holding. But who has the patience (or the calendar reminders) to do it all by hand? This guide is for B2B teams who want practical, no-nonsense automation using Encharge. If you’re tired of generic tips and want a workflow that actually works, keep reading.
Why B2B Lead Nurturing Needs a Different Approach
Before you dive into tools, let’s get real about B2B leads:
- Longer sales cycles: B2B buyers rarely impulse-buy. They research, compare, and drag things out.
- Multiple stakeholders: You’re not selling to one person. There’s a committee, and they all want different things.
- More touchpoints: One email won’t do it. You need a sequence—emails, calls, maybe even a LinkedIn nudge.
Automating this process doesn’t just save you time. It keeps leads from going cold and gives you a fighting chance at actually closing deals.
Step 1: Get Your Foundations Right (Don’t Skip This)
Automation is only as good as your prep. Don’t automate junk, or you’ll scale up your problems.
Know Your Audience Segments
- Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Who are you trying to reach? Industry, company size, job titles—get specific.
- Buying Stages: Not everyone is ready for a demo. Map out your stages: Awareness, Consideration, Decision.
Map Out Your Content
You need content for each stage. If you don’t have it yet, at least jot down what you would send:
- Awareness: Blog posts, industry reports
- Consideration: Case studies, webinars, product comparisons
- Decision: Demos, pricing info, testimonials
Pro tip: Don’t get stuck “waiting” for perfect content. Use what you’ve got, and improve it later.
Clean Your Data
- Make sure names and emails are accurate.
- Remove dead leads.
- Tag leads with useful info (source, interest, company size).
If you start with messy data, your workflow will annoy more people than it helps.
Step 2: Set Up Encharge and Integrate Your Tools
If you’re new to Encharge, get your account set up and poke around. It’s not rocket science, but you’ll want to connect a few basics:
- CRM: Plug in HubSpot, Salesforce, or whatever you use. This is how Encharge knows who your leads are.
- Form tools: Connect your website forms (Typeform, Gravity Forms, etc.) so new leads flow in automatically.
- Email: Hook up your sending domain so your messages don’t end up in spam.
Take the time to set up integrations now—manual CSV uploads get old fast.
Step 3: Build Your Lead Segments in Encharge
Now, group your leads so you can personalize your messaging.
- Go to “Segments” in Encharge.
- Set rules based on firmographics (industry, company size), behavior (downloads, page visits), or source (webinar, demo request).
What matters: Segments should be actionable. “All leads in SaaS companies with >50 employees” is useful. “Anyone who’s ever clicked an email” is not.
Don’t overcomplicate it out of the gate: start with a few key segments and refine as you learn.
Step 4: Draft and Load Your Email Sequences
Here’s where most B2B companies overthink things. You don’t need a 12-email epic. Three to five well-timed, relevant emails per segment is plenty to start.
Typical sequence:
- Welcome / Thanks for your interest
- Set expectations and offer something useful.
- Educational follow-up
- Share a blog post, report, or guide.
- Social proof
- Case study, testimonial, or success story.
- Product intro or offer
- Invite them to a webinar, demo, or consultation.
- Nudge / Breakup email
- “Still interested?” or “Let me know if you want to stop hearing from me.”
Load these into Encharge’s email builder. Use personalization tokens—first name, company, relevant product info. But don’t go overboard; “Hi {First Name}” is plenty.
Be honest: Fancy design doesn’t matter. Focus on clarity and relevance.
Step 5: Create Your Workflow in Encharge
Now the fun part—actually automating it.
- Go to “Flows” and create a new flow.
- Trigger: Start with an event (e.g., “Lead added to segment,” “Form submitted,” or “Tag applied”).
- Actions: Add steps for sending emails. Space them out—1-3 days apart is usually fine for B2B.
- Conditions: Add logic if needed (e.g., “If lead opened last email, send X; otherwise, send Y”). But don’t make it a spiderweb of complexity.
- Exit criteria: Decide when to stop nurturing (e.g., lead replies, books a meeting, or is marked as “Opportunity” in your CRM).
What to ignore: Don’t worry about fancy branching or A/B testing right away. Get a basic sequence running, then improve as you go.
Step 6: Set Up Lead Scoring (Optional, But Useful)
Encharge lets you score leads based on actions—email opens, link clicks, visiting certain pages. For B2B, this can help your sales team prioritize.
- Assign points for meaningful actions. Downloaded a whitepaper? +10. Opened 5 emails? +5. Requested a demo? +25.
- Set up a trigger: When a lead hits, say, 30 points, notify a salesperson or move them to a “Hot Leads” segment.
Don’t get carried away: Overly complex scoring models just confuse everyone. Stick to a few obvious actions.
Step 7: Connect to Your CRM and Set Up Notifications
Automation doesn’t mean leads never need a human touch. When someone actually raises their hand, you want sales to know—now, not next week.
- Use Encharge’s CRM integration to update lead status.
- Set up notifications (email or Slack) to alert sales when a lead replies, requests a demo, or crosses a score threshold.
This is where a lot of automation falls flat—if sales isn’t in the loop, qualified leads fall through the cracks.
Step 8: Test Everything (Don’t Skip This Either)
There’s nothing worse than an automated email with {FirstName} or a broken link. Before you flip the switch:
- Test every trigger and every email.
- Send test leads through the flow.
- Check for typos, weird formatting, and missing personalization.
Ask someone else on your team to run through the process—fresh eyes catch things you’ll miss.
Step 9: Go Live, Watch, and Iterate
Once you’re confident, turn it on and let it run. But don’t “set it and forget it.” Check in weekly:
- Are emails being delivered and opened?
- Are leads moving through the flow as expected?
- Are sales getting the right notifications?
Tweak subject lines, swap out content, or adjust timing as needed. If something’s not working, don’t be afraid to cut it.
What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Ignore
Works: - Simple, well-timed sequences - Clear, relevant content - Timely sales notifications
Doesn’t work: - Overly complex flows no one understands - Generic, “me too” emails - Ignoring data cleanup
Ignore: - Chasing the latest AI copywriting fad - Endless A/B tests before you even have a baseline
Keep It Simple and Keep Improving
Automating lead nurturing in Encharge isn’t magic, but it does free up your team to focus on real conversations—not copy-pasting emails all day. Start with a simple flow, watch how it performs, and keep tweaking. Don’t let “perfect” get in the way of “done.” Most importantly, make sure your automation actually helps—not annoys—your leads.