Lead Gen 101
It’s not Rocket Surgery
Some marketers make a living based on having a complex job. This is unfortunate as it incentivizes overcomplicating instead of efficiency.
Good marketers know better. We know the job is complex but we are chasing the result. We know that breaking a problem down to its simplest roots is the best way to solve it.
What’s that have to do with Lead Gen?
Lead Generation comes down to two factors;
Finding your customer
Qualifying their level of interest in your product
There are as many ways to acquire leads as there are to do anything. There are many, many platforms, methods, services, and agencies one can use. Exactly which of these methods works for you will, as always, depend on many factors.
Do I even need to buy leads?
Generally, running some kind of advertising is the most efficient way to garner new customers. Meet your buyer where they are. For example, if your product is golf clubs, a fancy display at a local pro shop will be the most valuable ad space you can buy. Second to that, you may want to invest in Facebook Shopping Ads, where your customers can easily order a new sand wedge from their phone.
Lead Generation is more effective for sales that requires a “closer,” generally a salesperson that will convert the lead into a customer. A car dealership, for example, could pay a premium for leads who recently expressed interest in a certain model. A sign at the dealership is less effective, because we need to get the customer in the dealership first.
Dealerships may make upwards of $1,000 for every car that they sell, and a good salesperson should be closing at least 5% of his leads. That means they can pay a max of $50 per lead to make a positive return on ad spend. In other words, contact with his customer is worth roughly $50.
Once you know how much your customer is worth, you may be ready to start purchasing leads in bulk, or sourcing them yourself.
Before embarking on any lead generation campaign, be it Google Ads, Facebook, Pinterest, whatever, the most important question is this. How much is contact with my customer worth? This is a key factor in how much you can spend per lead.
Now that you have an idea how much contact is worth, you can start bidding on that contact in different forums. At ALC, we specialize in running digital media campaigns with a goal of lead form completions. Our forum is typically an Ad Server such as Google Search. However, there are many forums for bidding directly on leads, such as Thumbtack.com for local services.
An emergency plumber might forego any lead generation efforts and use a service like Thumbtack since his customer is very likely to convert if he can get to him before the competition.
For more complex client-firm relationships, some kind of online lead gen effort is necessary.
High-tech businesses are well served by purchasing leads because they are selling a high ticket product to a specific group. They are inclined to let an agency do the grunt work and hand over a leads list on a regular basis. This might also be a good setup for a realtor, mortgage broker, or yacht salesman. Anyone who’s time is better spent closing than toying with an ad server should look to outsource their lead generation.
But how can I source leads?
That’s the million dollar question and there is no one size fits all answer. if you’re a new entrepreneur, the best advice is to save your money and run your digital campaigns yourself. You’ll learn more this way and have greater control over your results. Look into Google Ads certifications and stay on top of your campaigns until you are getting returns on your spend. For those just starting out, ALC can help with this for free.
For medium to large businesses, it’s more efficient to outsource media buying for lead generation.
That’s due to economies of scale. Additionally, time is money. Time saved sourcing your leads is time gained to actually close sales. Look to hire a partner that pays for themselves in added value.