Lead Generation. Contents

Transcription

1 Lead Generation Trine Buus ad pepper media Robin Caller Goallover Julian Barkes Dianomi Justin Rees LeadPoint Simon Wajcenberg- Clash Media Tim Milverton Magnetise Group Contents Introduction... 2 What is lead generation?... 2 What is a lead?... 2 Business and payment model... 3 Types of Lead Generation... 3 Premium Lead Generation... 3 Incentivised lead generation... 3 Co-registration... 4 Advertiser considerations... 4 How to turn leads into customers... 4 Data capture form... 5 Exclusive or Non Exclusive lead generation... 5 Delivery channels and formats... 5 Search (paid and natural) Display advertising... 6 Contextual placements... 6 Build in pages (co-brand or white labels)... 6 Applications and widgets... 6 Other... 7 Creative impact and incentives... 7 Data cleaning and lead qualification... 7 Real-time... 7 Non Real-time... 8 Quality... 8 Data management and analytics... 8 Why use lead generation?... 8 Return on investment (ROI)... 8 Transparency... 9 Cost effectiveness... 9 Targeting... 9 Stability... 9 Qualification... 9 Flexible... 9 Build your customer database Lead Generation

2 Introduction Figures released in April 2009 by the IAB show that the internet was the only marketing medium to experience growth in 2008, with online market share rising to 19.2% as advertisers seek greater accountability and return on investment. As advertisers embrace online to deliver their campaigns, there is an attraction to use different methods of delivery to attract consumers, especially if they are accountable. This is precisely why online lead generation has been a topic of interest in the industry as its main focus is on customer acquisition. In November 2008 the IAB formed a Lead Generation Taskforce, a group comprising of the UK s major players in the space, established to help advertisers to fully understand online lead generation, and how it can be used successfully. This white paper is one of a series of publications which the taskforce are in the process of creating. If you would like to join the taskforce or have any questions please contact amit@iabuk.net What is lead generation? Online lead generation is one of the most cost effective and measurable ways to acquire new customers. Online lead generation is about getting contact details for potential customers who have requested information on an advertiser s product or service. In the current economic climate, marketers are increasingly looking to channels that are accountable and where return on investment is easily calculable. Lead generation takes an advertiser a step closer to a converted customer than many traditional forms of online marketing. Ultimately online lead generation is about customer acquisition. Lead generation is categorised as performance marketing and a business model which was introduced in Europe in year What is a lead? A lead is a piece of information about a consumer who has stated they are interested in a product or service and given their express consent to be contacted about that product or service. This person has responded to some form of response-geared marketing because they are in the market for the advertiser s product or service. A lead can in its simplest form be a consumer s name and address but may also contain full contact details as well as a suite of information about the product or service the consumer is interested in. Lead generation can also allow the marketer to define what profile of prospective customer they want to target - only paying for each lead as it is received and returning leads which do not match the pre-defined criteria. Lead generation campaign objectives 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 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. 2 Lead Generation

3 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. Business and payment model Payment should be on a per lead (Cost Per Lead) basis and advertisers should only pay for the leads that they receive. Some online lead generation companies allow the return of duplicate leads at no extra cost. It is important to emphasise that the lead generators are carrying the media risk as the advertiser is only paying for the leads they get. Therefore, lead generators have an objective to optimise every impression and only serve advertising where there are good conversions. This may or may not be the same ad spots as where the advertiser normally buys in to support branding related campaigns. The advertiser buying a lead programme on CPL basis should not expect to get free branding or an additional search campaign but this is often a side-effect, with corresponding benefits. Types of Lead Generation Leads can be generated from a range of different marketing channels with the ultimate aim of getting consumers to submit their information to be contacted by the advertiser. Lead generation can be categorised depending on how targeted it is and this will have an impact on variables such as lead quality and lead price. Premium Lead Generation This type of lead generation is where there is complete transparency between how the consumer is marketed to and the product or service offered by the advertiser. There should be no incentive for the consumer to leave their information apart from the fact that they will be contacted by the advertiser about the product or service in question. Unincentivised Marketing for Product/Service A Consumer responds to marketing about Product/Service A to be contacted about Product/Service A Advertiser providing Product/Service A receives lead of consumer wanting to be contacted about Product/Service A Incentivised lead generation This type of lead generation is where the consumer has responded to some form of incentive to submit their information. This can be related to the advertiser s product or service e.g. a 3 Lead Generation

4 free sample or unrelated such as the offer of a free prize in exchange for the consumer leaving their contact details. Incentivised Marketing for Product/Service A Incentivised Marketing for unrelated product Consumer responds to incentivised marketing in order to be contacted about Product/Service A Advertiser providing Product/Service A receives lead of consumer wanting to be contacted about Product/Service A Co-registration This is the process by which consumers are responding to some form of marketing (usually incentivised) to register their information for a specific offer, often a competition or prize draw. They are then presented with other offers from advertisers and asked if they would like to receive further information from them which they can do simply by ticking a box. They do not need to submit their data for each advertiser, as the data gathered for the first offer is on record and can be distributed later. Marketing (usually incentivised) to drive consumer to registration page where they submit their information Consumer submits their contact information on registration page in order to be to be eligible for initial offer Consumer presented with a series of offers from advertisers for their services. No need to re-register to be contacted. Advertiser on offer page receives lead of consumer opting in for their offer Advertiser considerations How to turn leads into customers Before starting a lead generation program, marketers should consider their processes in place to convert leads into customers. It is up to the advertiser to cultivate the lead and offer the service and product which he needs at competitive prices etc. Lead generation is lead generation and not customer generation. Thinking through what is the ideal method to transform prospects is key for a successful lead generation campaign. Paths may consider which means and methods and time frame are best to convert leads into a customer. 4 Lead Generation

5 This is just as important a parameter as getting the right leads as the client return on investment (ROI) calculation takes account of how, when and what is done to convert a lead. Targets for conversations on every step of the path allow you to evaluate campaign success. Most common follow-up methods are call centres, newsletter, customer relationship manager (CRM) programme and postal services but a varying mix between verticals. Data capture form An advertiser should distinguish between whether lead collection is done through a registration form on the advertiser s own website or a microsite hosted by the lead generator or a third party. This split fundamentally affects the way lead generators are able to collect data and which sources can be used to drive the traffic to the page. Advertiser data capture form - in this case lead generators send traffic to the advertiser s own website and the advertiser collects the data and is responsible for cleaning, validation etc. Lead generators are paid on a price per lead but have less control to optimise, track and use various channels to drive traffic (this is technically closer to how the affiliate networks operate). Non advertiser hosted data capture form - Lead generators offer to build a custom landing page where the user can register. Data is captured, cleaned and sent to the advertiser. This gives the advertiser the possibility of running lead programmes even if their own website/database is not suitable and also to quickly initiate a campaign targeted at specific events/promotions. These two approaches determine how the leads can be generated and therefore affect price and volume targets. Exclusive or Non Exclusive lead generation When buying and selling leads it is important to find out whether the leads will be exclusively supplied to one advertiser, or whether it will also be supplied to or acquired by another advertiser at the same time. Take for example, an internet prospect who requests product brochures from four automotive manufacturers. Such a lead may not be deemed as valuable to each manufacturer as a prospect who requested only one brochure from a specific advertiser. Conversely, if four advertisers pay for a lead, then the supplier may well be able to sell a valid and genuine car buying prospect to four manufacturers, each of whom need to pay less for the lead than they would for an exclusively generated and supplied lead. The exclusivity of the lead should be relevant to the advertiser, and therefore the business model of the lead provider will impact on the market value of the lead. Delivery channels and formats Leads can be generated through a variety of marketing channels, even for the same campaign. The channels work together to drive consumers to landing pages where they can request to be contacted about the product or service which provoked the initial response. Search (paid and natural) 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. 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 5 Lead Generation

6 contacted about the product or service. Once they have submitted their information a lead is created (suitable for advertiser and hosted data capture form). Consumers on an opt-in list are sent an 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 (suitable for advertiser and hosted data capture form). Display advertising 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 or even register in the banner creative. By clicking on the creative they will typically arrive at a landing page with a data capture form (or be presented with an integral 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 (suitable for advertiser and hosted data capture form). Contextual placements Contextual placements are context sensitive links to promotions relevant to the content of the page on a publisher s website (i.e. an article on retirement will link to pension products etc) ensuring the advertiser s promotion is displayed to the target user and in the right place. Consumers are presented with a text link or display creative that is relevant to the editorial they are reading The logic being that if a consumer is interested in the underlying content of the article they can click on a relevant link to request more information about the specific product, offer or service whether it be a guide, quote or test drive for example. By clicking on the link they will arrive at a hosted data capture form which invites the consumer to submit their details in order to be contacted. Once they have submitted their information a lead is created. (Suitable for advertiser and hosted data capture form). Build in pages (co-brand or white labels) Data capture forms can be served through sub pages on publisher websites giving the user the feeling of signing up to the advertiser s product or service within the same environment (look and feel) of the host website. These are known as co-brands or white-label offerings as they appear in the colours of the host s website. This can help to engender more trust in the product as the promotion has the backing of the host website (rather than a direct banner ad). It can also be a more convenient way for publishers to monetise their content without having to build bespoke lead generation platforms that securely handles the capture and delivery of premium leads for blue chip advertisers. When an advertiser s lead generation campaign is relevant to the content of the website (either contextual placement or by ) there is a synergy for the user, advertiser and publisher. (Suitable for hosted data capture form only). Applications and widgets As the internet evolves, applications and widgets are an increasing source of lead generation. This may include registration forms as part of online games, quizzes, social forums, chats etc. 6 Lead Generation

7 Traffic from applications and widgets may be directed to 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. Or lead registration can happen as part of a path within the game/widget/chat flow (suitable for hosted data capture form only). Other There are other popular channels available too like text links (e.g. on price comparison sites), forms served via iframes and pop-unders (suitable for either advertiser and/ or hosted data capture form). It s important to re-iterate that a campaign can encompass all channels and advertisers don t have to be involved in micro-managing which ones, because lead generators take the risk and pay for the impressions whereas advertisers only pay for the leads. Creative impact and incentives For lead generation campaigns, the main objective is always to get new leads and therefore leading the user directly to the registration form. Gathering leads should not be incidental. Any other content or out-going links disturb the campaign objective. E.g. intros, heavy animations, required download or scrolling on a page only increases drop-offs and damages performance. The design of the creative for a lead generation campaign needs to reflect campaign objectives by simply and clearly informing the user about the action required and what the user can expect from their action. Creative for a lead generation campaign often reflects the design of the landing page as well as supporting creative material such as creatives, banners, logos etc. Lead generation campaigns are often incentivised in order to stimulate user attention and make the advertiser s offer stand out. Advertisers should consider use of incentives and balance it with an understanding of the user s motivation to register for the product or service. Data cleaning and lead qualification Online data capture leads should always be cleaned and qualified, even if captured on the clients' own website. This is because many fake and false datasets can be submitted. At the simplest level, data cleaning should remove all duplicate leads and also remove "fake" leads (eg: mickeymouse@disneyland.com) before they are entered into the conversion process or client database. De-duplication should be conducted according to a strict "time stamp" process, such that the first valid dataset to be secured is considered the lead, and any subsequent copies are deemed the duplicate. Removing fake data requires a more sophisticated approach, including a final "validation" stage in which human operators run checks over the data to apply a final human intelligence filter. Critical to the data cleaning and qualification process is the adherence to the data protection laws, because data should not be handled in an unsecure environment at any time during this process. Irrespective of how a lead is generated, once a lead is created, there are a few important processes that must be adhered to: Real-time Real-time leads are those that are generated and delivered to the lead buyer in real-time which means that the advertiser will receive the information of the consumer that has requested to be contacted within seconds of them submitting their information online. Lead 7 Lead Generation

8 providers selling real-time leads should have real-time data validation. These systems run filters to remove known fake details such as swear words and nonsense character strings (eg: mr asdf dfgdfg), de-duplicating data as it arrives from different suppliers, before delivering the data directly to the client database via encrypted file transfer or secure transfer protocols. Advanced versions of these systems can complete a range of checks across the data to guard against fraudulent activity, and some even guarantee a validity rate of 99% on data that has been qualified in real-time. 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. Non Real-time Advertisers may also choose to purchase leads that are non real-time. Often this means that although the leads are generated in real-time - in that the consumer is responding to some form of online marketing and requesting to be contacted - the leads may be delivered to the advertiser in a batch at a later date (for example at the end of a business day).the lead type and processes in place to follow up the lead will determine which method is better for the advertiser. For example, not every advertiser will have a system to automatically receive leads, meaning that there is no way to follow up the leads quickly or to de-duplicate newly collected leads in real-time making real-time lead generation less valuable to them. An advertiser using a number of different lead sources may also want to receive non real-time leads in order to take advantage of extra data validation and de-duplication etc. Quality Lead Quality should be determined by campaign objectives and pre-defined performance metrics. For example, if leads are being delivered to an outbound call centre then contact rates are crucial and the accuracy of telephone numbers will largely determine success of a campaign. As a minimum, lead providers should have robust data validation tools to screen out invalid leads. Data management and analytics The processes used to manage leads will affect the overall conversion rates and return on investment from lead generation campaigns. Effective data management will enable lead buyers to follow up on leads efficiently and allow them to extract a lifetime value from their lead generation campaigns. As with any form of online marketing, lead generation campaigns should be optimised to continually improve campaign performance and ROI. Lead providers should provide analytical tools to help advertisers monitor and track key metrics to help shape any future campaign activity and deliver on-going return on investment. Why use lead generation? Lead generation has many advantages: Return on investment (ROI) Online lead generation provides a direct and simple channel, which enables the advertiser to calculate their return on investment. For example, if 100 leads are bought for 1.00 per lead, and these leads then become customers producing 200 of sales revenue, it would be easy to track the lead back to the supplier and calculate the ROI for each lead acquired. However, it is also important to note that if a car brochure request may take longer before a test drive and subsequent purchase is completed. Whilst a ROI can be calculated for the online lead 8 Lead Generation

9 generation spend, the brand spend, the billboards, and all the other advertising activity that led to the sale needs to be factored into the trading result and ultimate ROI. However, online lead generation demonstrates to advertisers that their marketing activity is achieving a definite and immediate ROI providing the definitions are clear. It is for this reason that online lead generation is currently the fastest growing sector of online advertising, which itself is the fastest growing sector of advertising activity. Transparency Any advertiser that knows their CPA target can calculate in advance whether buying leads will generate a positive ROI but they should still monitor the process and be able to drill down into specific areas. Seeing what's working and what's not whilst the campaign is still going lets advertisers optimise the campaign. Performance-based services work best when you don't have to wait until the end of the project before determining whether it has worked. Cost effectiveness Advertisers determine how many leads they want and the price per lead which enables them to budget better and keep costs down. The quality of lead that can be collected through these campaigns also helps to ensure the cost effectiveness by giving 'more bang for your buck'. Targeting Advertisers can get closer to the customers that are right for their business by using filters to narrow the customer profile. Any method of lead generation has the capability to capture very specific data to help focus the campaign on precisely the right demographics so any buyer can access leads that are selected by gender, age and geography on top of their interest in the product. Stability Lead generation enables advertisers to generate a steady flow of new business and set lead and sales targets in line with budgets and available resources. For example, a company may only require 1,000 leads for men aged living in London; as soon as they reach that threshold then the campaign stops. If they need 200 more leads, the campaign can be quickly started up again. Qualification Advertisers pay for qualified prospects that want to find out more about their product or service. Flexible Filtering enables advertisers to adjust their campaigns quickly as market conditions change. Build your customer database Every lead is an engaged consumer that has expressed an interest in the advertiser that contacts them and should be put into a CRM system for future campaigns, which can include campaigns and voucher promotions. 9 Lead Generation