Lead Quality and Long-Term Success
LEAD QUALITY AND LONG-TERM SUCCESS
Jason Bahamundi
March 21, 2007
The quality of a lead has been debated for years and will continue to be debated for the foreseeable future.
Why?
Because there is no standard definition for a quality lead. Advertisers and marketers typically try to define lead quality by asking questions like: Is a quality lead defined by conversion based on time? Is it based on Return on Investment (ROI)? These questions will continue to go unanswered because different businesses have different benchmarks when considering lead quality.
Another prominent question is: Does lead quality diminish over time because of over-exposure?
Again, there is no definitive answer, but I believe lead quality diminishes over time for 2 reasons: because most advertisers don’t “refresh” or “re-adjust” the ad; and because consumers become desensitized to the ad content due to over-exposure.
How can this problem be addressed?
I believe lead quality can be improved by changing the advertising message consistently. If the message is changed 4 times a year, it will stay fresh. Very few ad campaigns can run forever without change. For every “Just Do It “and “Priceless”— campaigns that have been continuously refreshed and re-adjusted—there is a “Where’s The Beef?” or a “Pizza!, Pizza!” –branding phrases that were extremely popular, but have fallen by the wayside because they were not updated.
Another component that keeps lead quality from deteriorating over time is “incentivizing” the consumer. Incentivizing the consumer doesn’t necessarily mean leveraging money—in fact, a recent report that the IAB released shows that the best incentives are free information, or newsletters:
Advertiser Incentive | Definition | Quality rating (1-10) |
Sweepstakes entry | Get entry into sweepstakes with submission | 2 |
Free sample | Get free sample with submission | 2 |
Free gift for free trial | Get free gift with product trial (i.e. continuity club) with submission | 3 |
Free coupon | Get coupon sent in mail or immediately with submission | 4 |
Free trial | Get free trial (i.e. magazine) with submission | 5 |
Free quote | Get free quote (i.e. mortgage, auto) with submission | 7 |
Free information | Get free information (i.e. tourism guide) with submission | 9 |
Newsletter sign-up | Get periodic newsletters with submission | 9 |
Lead quality does not have to diminish over time, but it takes the right message at the right time to keep that from happening. Advertisers that fail to change marketing messages, or over-expose consumers to ad content can expect lead quality to fall dramatically over time.
If you are in the online lead generation business I have two pieces of advice for you: First, provide your users with content-rich incentives; and second TEST! Test your message, test your creative. Keep everything from going stale, and your lead quality will not diminish.
Stay the course without change and say hello to your neighbor: Little Caesar.
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About the author.
Jason Bahamundi has over 13 years of media buying and planning experience. After purchasing Media on Canadian television and radio for Active International he moved to ITN Networks. At ITN he worked as a Planning Supervisor, and managed a team of four people responsible for $125M in yearly revenue. Jason is currently the Director of Client Services at Innovation Ads, Inc. An Enrollment Management Solutions provider that helps colleges and universities to increase applications and enrollments by leveraging a network of over 300 proprietary and affiliate internet portals, and the second largest DRTV media buying capacities in the USA.