Let’s talk a bit about one of the biggest trends in online advertising today - lead generation. If you haven’t heard of it by now, you’re missing out, since it has become one of the most prominent methods of achieving campaign goals via the internet. There’s a reason more and more advertisers are choosing this path, and it has to do with the fact that the old way of advertising online doesn’t seem to have the same effect anymore. Confused? Let’s try to break it down and understand.
Lead generation, in its essence, is about campaigning online with the goal of having as many viewers of your ad leave contact information (such as an email address or a phone number) after clicking on it. Why has it become so successful lately? Experts estimate that it has to do with a lot of mistrust towards web content. In other words, if an ad doesn’t lead to a purchase, simply because the person behind the computer screen has become skeptical of anything they see online, shifting the sales process to a different sphere – like a phone call – may do the trick.
To inject or not to inject?
The wonders of lead generation as an online marketing tool are not limited to businesses, though. We are witnessing a great example these days, of how this system is helping governments around the world with their fight against COVID-19. This may sound a bit far-fetched, but it actually happens to be a great study case, to help understand the power of lead generation.
Even back when the vaccine to COVID-19 was just in its experimental phases, there was already a massive amount of resistance to it. Take the usual anti-vaccine crowd, add all of those who were deterred by the fact that it took very little time to create and approve this vaccine, and you get a recipe for a lot of fake news being spread. Health bodies had to come up with creative ways to convince the public that this vaccine is safe and effective.
How about the internet? On one hand, it is a good place to spread the word and call on people to go get the shot. On the other hand, there’s a whole lot of information online, and most of it is not monitored by anyone, so it’s only natural that people don’t believe what they read. The challenge of authorities around the world, therefore, is to use the internet’s advantage, while avoiding its disadvantage, and to get people out to clinics and vaccination centers.
Enter lead generation
How can lead generation help here? We asked Jonathan Greenwood from the reputed marketing platform Crystalead to explain. “Basically, health officials know that they won’t convince someone to roll their sleeves up just by campaigning online. What they do instead is publish ads online with a purpose of convincing people to leave a phone number, so that a doctor or health expert can call them up and talk to them in person.
“From here, the path to success in getting people vaccinated is smoother, since a doctor you talk to on the phone can provide reliable information and address any specific question or doubt you may have,” summed up Greenwood. However, one must remember that people opposing vaccines can also use this tactic to spread disinformation and persuade others to stay at home. The question here is who has a bigger budget to spend on campaigning and on call centers - and the answer here is quite obvious.
Is lead generation for everyone?
Now, back to the business model behind lead generation. Greenwood commented that “while it seems like an ideal solution, based on the case we’ve reviewed here of the vaccines, it’s not the best tactic for everyone. We at Crystalead offer lead generation services for businesses in all kinds of industries, but before you sign up, you need to remember that collecting a lead isn’t enough. You also need the ‘traditional’ sales skills of closing sales through a phone call or email.”
Another option, especially relevant for smaller businesses or freelancers, is to hire a marketer to take care of the whole process for them. This probably won’t come cheap but may be worth it on a cost-benefit scale. Also, you can always hire someone to do part of the work (the first or the second phase), according to your strengths and weaknesses.
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Community manager at Visual Contenting. Jacqueline loves to talk about social media trends, new technology and how they help businesses accelerate their marketing efforts.
