​Businesses that strengthen their lead nurturing practices across the sales funnel will influence prospects' willingness to buy no matter which channel they're on.

​To develop effective internet marketing campaigns, brands must consider how their prospects access media across the ‘net, and pursue lead nurturing opportunities across all viable channels. Many companies focus too closely on interactions or content types just before conversions, but marketing collateral at the beginning of the sales cycle often plays just as big a role in the long-term success of promotional strategies.

An October 2012 report from Econsultancy and Adobe noted that only 26 percent of global brands use advanced lead scoring and nurturing practices to attribute sales to touch points beyond the last click. However, three months later, MarketingSherpa ran a similar study that found 28 percent of marketers plan to increase attribution tactics across channels in 2013.

Perhaps what prevents many organizations from developing lead nurturing strategies is their inability to understand how their sales funnels work. Businesses just getting into the web-marketing game may overwhelm themselves with the breadth of website analytics and lead scoring technologies available today, but some of these programs have become essential for success on the ‘net.

Global brands include more than 12 channels in their marketing attribution efforts, including email marketing (80 percent), SEO (67 percent) and social media content (63 percent).

Google Analytics is a free​ ​resource widely used by brands ramping up their content marketing efforts online. Marketers can view referral traffic rates and a variety of other metrics to better understand where their prospects are coming from online, which pages they spend the most time on before converting and the social media networks that assist in generating conversions. According to Econsultancy, global brands include more than 12 channels in their marketing attribution efforts, including email marketing (80 percent), SEO (67 percent) and social media content (63 percent).

Businesses that strengthen their attribution tactics also build smarter internet marketing campaigns. When brands understand how top-of-funnel marketing channels influence interaction throughout the sales cycle, they can better anticipate sales opportunities and make sure the most persuasive content types engage readers when they’re on the cusp of converting.

Ted Karczewski is an Executive Communications Associate at Brafton. He works to develop his own voice and apply his passions to the evolving world of SEO and content marketing, but he doesn't shy away from writing for fun. After graduating from Suffolk University, Ted used his Communications degree to test out Sports Journalism before Marketing at Brafton.