How are leads generated

Consumer journey

Leads can be generated through a variety of different online marketing methods but irrespective of which method has been used, the consumer journey is paramount to the efficacy of premium lead generation. The four main methods by which leads are generated are search, display, contextual placement and email.

Search
For search leads (paid and natural search) consumers are searching online for a particular product or service. When they have submitted their search query they are presented with a series of sponsored links/organic links about the product or service. All the marketing to the consumers should be related to the product or service in question and the marketing language should be such that consumers click on these links to find out more information about the product or service.

By clicking on the link, the consumer will reach a landing page with a data capture form which invites the consumer to submit their details in order to be contacted about the product or service. Once they have submitted their information a lead is created.

Display
For display leads, consumers are presented with an advert while browsing online. This advert can be in a range of formats from a simple banner to a more interactive creative. The advert invites the consumer to click-through to find out more information about the product or service. By clicking on the creative they will typically arrive at a landing page with a data capture form which invites the consumer to submit their details in order to be contacted about the product or service. Once they have submitted their information a lead is created.

Contextual Placement
For contextual placement leads, consumers are presented with a text link or an advert relevant to the underlying content on the web page they’re browsing.

Email
For email leads consumers on an opt-in email list are sent an email containing a piece of creative which invites them to click-through to find out more information about the particular product or service. By clicking on the creative they will arrive at a landing page with a data capture form which invites the consumer to submit their details in order to be contacted about the product or service. Once they have submitted their information a lead is created.

Adding value to your acquisition customer strategy

Typically, those who set up or operate premium lead generation websites or portals are experienced online professionals with a wide experience in using multiple online channels and products to drive volume.

Premium lead generation can compliment rather than compete with your customer acquisition strategy.

Take paid search for example, a premium lead generation provider can also appear on the same keywords as yourself, effectively capturing traffic that may not have clicked on your brand. They can also bid on your brand, driving competitors out of the space, as well as bid on your competitor brands.

Premium lead generation providers are quick to understand which channels drive traffic and at what cost, their nimbleness often enables them to react and take advantage of online channels quicker than larger brands.

This nimbleness and experience of managing particular channels can increase your brands reach, acquiring leads from a broader selection of online sources, whilst you pay on a CPA basis and take none of the risk.

Tip: If you are one of many buyers that a premium lead generation provider is selling leads to, make sure they are evenly distributing leads from their online acquisition channels, (e.g. search, email, display). Each channel will have its own reject rate (good Vs bad leads) and an even distribution of leads across all channels ensures you won’t get an above average reject rate.

Lead processing

Once a consumer has submitted their information, a lead is created but this is only the first step before a lead is passed on to the advertiser.

There should always be a layer of validation between the data submitted by the consumer and the point at which the lead is passed on to the advertiser. Validation is an essential component of lead generation. It involves ensuring that the details in every lead captured are accurate. 100% validation can never be achieved due to margins of human error when filling in a data capture form.
However, the objective is to achieve as close to 100% validation as possible, and
every effort should be made to reach this level.

However, it is important to note that every extra level of validation will increase the lead price and there will come a point where additional validation will not add any tangible value to the lead buyer.

Validation processes will vary between lead providers but there are a few basic requirements for all lead providers.

How “contactable” is your lead
One of the primary objectives for advertiser’s using premium lead generation is to make contact with the consumer as quickly as possible either through a call centre or similar process. The more “contactable” a lead is, the less wastage and cost there will be for the advertiser. Lead providers should have some systems in place to ensure that the contact information of the consumer is accurate.
One of the most basic checks is for the lead provider to invalidate any leads with incorrect phone numbers such as those with the wrong number of digits or incorrect number format. The same applies to post codes and any other information that can be validated in such a way. Some lead providers even integrate third party services where the consumer information is checked in real-time against databases to verify consumer contact information. The leads are then only passed to the advertiser if they have passed these tests.

Hoax data
Another simple check that should be utilised is checking consumer contact name details in real-time against a database of hoax names and characters such as swear words and leads are then invalidated if they contain any words or characters in the database.

Relevance to advertiser
In addition, there can be some validation with regards to how the consumer has responded to questions about the product or service. For example, for laser eye surgery leads there may be a question that the consumer has to answer such as “do you wear glasses or contact lenses?” Laser eye surgery companies only target consumer that wear glasses or contact lenses so if the consumer answers “no” to this question then the lead will be invalidated and not passed on to the advertiser.

Filtering
The final part of lead processing for the leads that pass through the validation process is that leads must be matched to the advertiser based on the customer profile that they have pre-defined. For example, if the form captures postal code information and the advertiser wants to target customers from a certain geographical area, the lead provider should ensure that the advertiser only receives leads from these corresponding areas.

Lead delivery

Real-time leads
Lead delivery should be such that the advertiser will maximise their return on investment from lead generation. If the advertiser is paying for leads generated in real-time and the consumer is expecting to be contacted within a short period of time after submitting their information then lead delivery should be set up to reflect this.

For example, if the advertiser is buying finance leads and has an outbound call centre to follow up these leads using a predictive dialler then leads should be delivered straight into the dialler to minimise any time lag between the consumer submitting their information online and the lead being contacted.

It is also paramount that leads are delivered in a secure way to protect consumer privacy and adhere to data protection laws. This can be achieved through a variety of encryption methods.

Non real-time leads
Real-time leads are usually more expensive than non real-time leads as there are significant commercial advantages to real-time lead generation as the advertiser can contact the consumers when their interest is greatest which will increase conversions and ROI.

Advertisers may also choose to purchase leads that are non real-time or buy leads generated in real-time but delivered in a batch at a later date (for example at the end of a business day). Not every advertiser will have a system to automatically receive leads, meaning that there is no way to follow up these leads quickly. In this scenario advertisers should ensure that leads are delivered in a format that will enable them to follow up each lead in the desired way. For example, leads purchased for an email campaign could be delivered directly into a CRM system.

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