Lead generation

Lead generation ( prospecting ) is a term used in marketing. A lead is a qualified prospect, who is interested in a company or a product, and its address, and other contact information lets the advertisers of their own accord (Lead = record) for further dialogue structure and, in all probability is to the customer. Leads is to generate high quality a fundamental task for acquiring new customers. To build your own prospective databases in significant size, more and more companies take advantage of the way of lead generation.

Address potential prospects can generate online and offline target groups.

Origin and History

The modern concept of lead generation, ie prospecting has arisen out of the direct marketing. The origins of direct marketing companies to go back, who market their products through the post after the first world war, so mail order houses like Eduscho and source. Since the 80s, but the increasing competitive pressure by the customer focus has led to a stronger orientation towards direct marketing with other companies. Thus, advertisers reach their target audiences with reasonable economic effort, they need a professional direct marketing. Experience has shown that it is possible by directly addressing use almost any media as a sales medium. For example, on coupons, telephone callbacks or fax orders. About this direct customer contact to increase the chances of a long-term dialogue.

How Does Lead Generation

The following instruments are used in traditional direct marketing for lead generation:

• Coupon ads ( couponing )
• Display Includes phone counseling services
• Display with affixed order card
• Mailing, with info card to request further information

Is the interest of potential customers awakened, he wears his desired by advertisers contact information in predefined fields of the medium used, and passes it back to the advertisers. So The advertiser now gets a lead.

Online can be very diverse advertising materials ( banners, text links, etc. ) can be used for lead generation in virtually all available delivery channels (classical sites, e-mail, social networks, search engines, etc.). In these promotional materials to find the incentives ( Contests, coupons, product samples, etc.). If the user clicks it he is redirected to the so-called landing page of lead campaign, where he can enter his data on predetermined data fields and gives his consent that they may be saved by the advertiser ( web forms with the explicit consent for advertising ).

Quality of leads generated

The quality of the leads generated is determined by the following factors: accuracy, timeliness, voluntary, deliberate transfer of data by the (potential) customers and the customer's genuine interest on the relevant product or business.

Not all leads are qualitatively the same quality. There are, for example, the so-called "cold leads " and " hot leads ". In the "cold leads " is leads, in which data is entered in order to achieve a purpose, to be able to download for example an eBook. At the Publisher or its products and services consist not interested. The so-called " hot leads " are the higher quality leads, which is an independent interest in the service or product of a company. In the " hot lead " the data was entered voluntarily, without a reward - to get it - as in the Cold Lead. To ensure a high quality of leads generated, it is under the lead generation often requires the evaluation and qualification of leads. Goal for most advertisers, it is of course, generate leads in high quality. If there is no high quality given customer dialogue difficult or can not be done in the long term or the long term. Because it is usually for companies with large ( time and financial ) effort and expense, to identify and weed out incorrect or even invented records. Moreover, the risk that consumers may feel harassed by their respective companies when they send them without their consent specific advertising and use their data arises. This can lead to reactance in consumers and reputation of the company.

A high quality of leads generated can be achieved through various measures. These are just easy to realize the online lead generation, because the records are present here from the start in digital form and can be checked as simplified automatically. The online gained Leads can find almost countless levels and validation will not only automatically but also manually checked for correctness. Some examples of such validation steps include:

• Securing the consent of consumers to use of their data (eg by double opt-in method )
• Automatic checks of the generated data, eg obviously fictitious information (such as Mickey Mouse as name), remove duplicates, plausibility (for example, in Germany there is no city called New York), etc.
• Examination by human inspection (eg typos )
• Additional telephone contact by a call center to make sure whether there really is interest among the users, and for example, in an incentive such as a " sample workout in the fitness center " for appointment required

Using the generated leads

Companies generate leads for various purposes, eg

• To the establishment and development of a customer database
• For the initiation and development of a customer dialogue in the framework of their dialogue marketing, ie then contact you by phone so kind to send them your newsletter to potential customers, etc.
• In addition, companies can build campaigns for lead generation a positive image among consumers and promote the development of brand awareness (so-called branding). This can be called a positive side effect of such campaigns, because these effects occur once the consumer, the advertising agent perceives, even if he does not pass on its data.

The end result will be increased by the awakened and promoted customer interest the clearance sales of a company.

Privacy Policy

In the generation of customer data, companies must meet all (including data protection ) requirements of the so-called permission marketing in Germany. The data collection methods must be transparent and consumers give their explicit consent before they can be contacted in any form. All information must voluntarily provide to consumers.

Credentials

• Direct Marketing
• Online Marketing