Over the last few years, marketing has turned on it's head.
Consumers now drive the marketplace, searching for products and services. The agency of yesterday is left powerless until they understand the emerging market of lead generation.
For the informed buyer and the prepared seller, lead generation is a 'win-win'. A buyer is able to search for, find and request information (often for free) from one of the many businesses that offer the exact product or service that they are searching for. The seller (if prepared) is given the opportunity to pitch their product or service to the exact someone they are looking to sell to. This is the marketplace of Lead Generation. Companies with the ability to drive more focused leads already leading the pack (Google, Yahoo). Expert agencies using these companies to maximize relevant leads at lower prices show their similarities to the Advertising Agencies using TV or Cable media outlets of the past. The leaders of Lead Generation are also beginning to emmerge.
Conversion rates on leads from lead generation often have a higher success rate than cold contacts, traditional media or even SPAM, because the prospect is not only prequalified, but specifically seeking the product you are marketing to them. Often, they are further along in the sales cycle, and nearly ready to make a purchase.
Some of the integrated methods The Schafer Group uses for lead generation include:
Lead generation has become popular with businesses because it enables a business to:
- Develop a more accurate ROI on a per lead basis
- Choose the product/service and the time they wish to offer to prospects
- Control the geographical area that the business focused to reach
- Control the budget on leads a business wishes to receive per day
- Pay only for the leads that are received
- View detailed analytics on the leads in order to realign it's business to the market.
CAN'T I JUST BUY A LIST?
Buying lists is simply backwards to the way consumers want to be addressed in today's marketplace. It's called spam, no matter how you phrase it. We believe that Email Marketing fits perfectly into the Lead Generation continuum as part of 'Relationship Management'. You should treat every email you send out like showing up at someone's personal residence. Only do it only when your invited, and bring a gift when you show up.
So where do you start then? Email gathering, from interested parties, driven to your site from targetted advertising. Just like you got here. No matter how you look at Lead Generation, no lead is free. Organic listings are not free, they are the result of persitent, educated, deliberate marketing efforts.
HOW MUCH DOES A LEAD COST?
Web Lead generation can be extremely cost effective. Par Per Click leads range anywhere from $0.05 to $8. The price often depends on the amount of players in the field and the potential profit margins involved. The good news is, the more niche the market, the lower the price seems to be. Also, when combined with SEO techniques the cost of converting leads is reduced significantly.
WHAT ABOUT FREE LISTINGS?
Free listings (sometimes called 'organic') is just one focus of the Search Marketing prong of lead generation. Organic listings take time to develop and require continual cultivation. Organic listings are cultivated by two major techiniques: On-page, and Off-page optimizations. It is not rocket-science, but is does require constant observation and manipulation. Therefore, we recommend our MSEO or Managed Search Engine Optimization for clients seeking the long term benefit of free organic listings. We use only white-hat techniques and keep abreast of the latest changes in the search engine world.