Friday 28 January 2011

Lead Generation - Marketing's Poor Cousin

Lead Generation has somehow been denigrated to the ranks of marketing's poor cousin. Agencies (even specialist Direct Agencies) seem to have have little respect for lead generation these days.

In my more cynical moments, I do sometimes wonder whether this is because lead generation is so inconveniently measurable.

The client immediately knows whether or not a lead generation campaign has worked. There are no convenient measures (e.g. so-called 'buzz') to hide behind. The campaign is either generating leads, or it's not.

Of course, I think the real reason why professional marketers seems uninterested in lead generation these days has more to do with what's sexy. And right now, marketing people are in love with social media.

Forgive for me being blunt. Social media is a wonderful thing. But from a business perspective, it's completely and utterly pointless if it's not contributing to the bottom line.

I don't care how much 'buzz' I'm generating on social media. I'm interested in...
  • The number of business enquiries I'm getting from the web
  • The nature of those enquiries
  • The quality of those enquiries
My focus is not blinkered. I'm not obsessed with lead generation to the exclusion of anything else. I'm merely concerned that marketing do what it's meant to do. And that's to generate income for the business.

Right now, I don't think that's the main focus of professional marketing people. And that's why the rest of the world regards us as charlatans
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10 comments:

Lead Generation said...

Lead Generation is truly a necessary activity in marketing, thanks for sharing the information and tips... Lead Generation

Lead Generatoin said...

Indeed, Lead generation is probably the most important factor in improving business leads, thanks for sharing...

Joe Brand said...

The trouble with lead generation is that it's so inconveniently measurable. Most marketing campaigns don't work, but it's much harder to obfuscate the outcome of a lead generation campaign.

Maegan Anderson said...

I agree with you there. Social Media is a great help for companies. But to maximize profits, lead generation activities should not set aside. It is still one effective marketing strategy.

Maegan Anderson said...

I agree with you on that. People nowadays are too focused on social media that take for granted other marketing strategy. Lead generation is reliable. Even if the campaign does not produce leads, it is still a success. Why? Because now, people know that the company exists.

executive car said...

Great article you have here. It's worth reading it. I've learned something from your post thanks a lot!

eims said...

You got so many points here, that’s why I love reading your post. Thank you so much!
Sales Lead Generators

Virtual Office 4 U said...

We specialise in this area and I have to say that your blogs are great.
Lead Gen is a tough market, it entirely depends on the leads you are looking for, we have had a lot of success so far but we do pick carefully who we want to generate leads for based on just how hard or easy it will be.
Your blogs are well constructed, they're a refreshing read when it comes to the end of the week of generating leads.

Nadine Stevens said...

Excellent points and post here. Way better to have a targeted marketing/lead generation than a spray of different marketing techniques that do not contribute to the bottomline.

Thanks Wayne.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for writing this piece. Social media is a great tool, but there is no stand-alone marketing tool. Lead generation is a front line aspect of marketing in B2B and we at Lead to Market have not seen any of our customers lowering budgets from their leadgen activities.

Darren Riz
VP Business Development
www.leadtomarket.com