Not only is lead generation one of the most controllable and measurable forms of advertising spend, it also utilises all forms of digital marketing. A consumer may have arrived at a lead generation website from searching on Google or responding to some form of display advert or even after receiving an email about a product or service but a lead is only created once the consumer submits their information and has given their express consent to be contacted about the specific product or service.
When buying leads, an advertiser is not buying a click or an eyeball or a website visit but an
engaged consumer that has expressed an interest in the advertiser’s product or service. Buying leads enables the advertiser to get one step closer to a converted customer than other forms of digital marketing.
Lead generation campaign objectives will differ depending on the timescale and the type of leads being generated. For highly filtered real-time campaigns the main objective is to convert as many customers into a sale in the shortest possible timeframe to generate a short-term return on investment. At the same time, interested customers that do not convert immediately into business can be used to form a more long term customer acquisition strategy and by remarketing to these consumers, lead buyers will see incremental conversions over time that will impact upon the ROI from the initial campaign. For shorter form lead types the objectives may be more long term whereby the advertiser is effectively collecting a highly targeted database of prospective customers which can be used for further marketing purposes and customer acquisition.