Three lead gen options for building databases

When building a database the first stage is to combine your customers and prospects collected from your own website, stores and mail order communications. Once this is taken care of your marketing can gather more prospects and customers. CPC, affiliate marketing, SEO, social media are all effective - but email, of course, is the favourite channel.

Lead generation - three options

Then, of course, there’s the option of lead generation. There are many ways to carry out lead generation, but the three main types are:

Integrated lead generation: This is where a question with your branding is shown during a user journey on another website. The user is then given the opportunity to register to hear from you.

Co-registration: This is can be branded or non-branded and usually consists of a number of companies’ opt-in questions or registrations presented together. Alternatively, the permission for a number of companies to register an individual is collected at the same time.

Email lead generation: This is where a bespoke landing page for your company is provided and then companies send emails to it. You then receive the leads of the people who register with your company.

All of these methods can be effective when marketing your company, but it is important to make the right decision for your company and to consider the negatives as well as the positives.

Things to ask and consider include:

• Where will the question be seen? Avoid companies who have hidden ways of data capture; you should be able to see clearly where all the data is collected from.
• Is there an incentive to sign up? Generally speaking, the incentive - if there is one - should be from your company and only appeal to the people you want to attract. For example, if you’re selling organic fruit and the offer is to win an iPad, then you might get some people who also want to buy organic fruit. However, if the offer is to receive free delivery on organic fruit, then it will attract only people generally interested in buying organic fruit.
• Duplication. Figure out with the company a way to ensure your existing customers don’t see any new customer offers. If using multiple companies or providers, then ensure there’s no duplication. One of the worse mistakes here is seen particularly with email lead generation. If you have lots of companies sending emails directed at a sign-up landing page, then you are not in control of who’s receiving the information. This can lead to existing customers receiving the opportunity to receive information from you multiple times. If they already have a relationship with you, then this can cause a negative brand association. In some cases this can even turn customers away from your brand.
• Monitor. Continue to check the source of the leads and the conversions and responses you receive from each source.

Which is the best lead gen method?

All of these methods can work really well when used appropriately and as part of a well planned approach with a reputable company. However, integrated lead generation is the most effective method.

Integrated lead generation portrays your brand in a positive manner, associating it with the brands that are showing the question to their members or users. It’s in the publisher’s best interest to use the limited space wisely and show it to targeted individuals who’ll be genuinely interested. This means a higher chance of positive brand awareness both from the individuals who say ‘yes’ and sign up to your service, as well as those who don’t answer ‘yes’ but have read and seen the brand.

The uplift of direct-entry traffic occurs when using this method of advertising (and you don’t pay for it). However, be cautious. Publishers who undertake email lead generation can be tempted to send the email to as many individuals as possible in order to maximise the payout and response. As a result, this same list will receive many untargeted messages based on the same premise (the end desire being to get as many people to sign up).

This can lead to negative brand impact both from existing users (who aren’t happy with the fact your brand is associated with ‘spam’) and potential new users who aren’t clear why they keep receiving lots of untargeted offers via email.

Find out more

To find out more about lead generation and data capture download the DMA’s white paper on 3rd party list rental and lead generation. (Available to DMA members only)

Sara Watts is a member of the DMA Email Marketing Council and operations director at DMRi

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