Lead Generation for Small Businesses at #ILMWest #smb #smallbiz

This afternoon at ILM West in San Francisco, the topic focused on online lead generation.  Panel members included Adam Burrows (VP Business Development, ServiceMagic), Tom Higley (CEO, Local Matters), Pamela Springer (President and CEO, Manta), and Marco Zappacosta (CEO, Thumbtack).

What is a lead?

First question to the panel: what is considered a lead? The answer: anything really – including phone calls, emails, form, lead sheets, “likes”, and digital word of mouth. What a “lead” really means is the consumer expressing intent to buy.

Where do leads come from today?

Because I love data – let’s talk numbers.  According to a survey of small businesses:

• What is your primary source of leads offline? 68% say word of mouth.
• What is your primary source of leads online? 20% say search engines and 15% social media.
• What share of overall leads come from online? 33% say more than a quarter of their leads come from online.

Where can I find more leads?

Leads happen where the audience is. In the past that was the yellow pages. Then leads came from people going to your dot-com site. Next leads came from search engines.

Now leads are coming from a combination of search engines, social networks, and recommendation/review services.

What makes a quality lead?

Leads can be plentiful. But what makes a quality lead?

One factor is the context of the lead and the level of intent.  A “like” is different than clicking a targeted advertisement online which is different than following a friend’s recommendation.

Another factor is the size of the lead. Leads on larger purchases tend to convert more often than those for lower amounts. Leads for items that are not purchased very often (like a new roof) convert more often as well.

And of course… fresher leads are more successful than those that have been sitting for a while.

Measure!

It’s very difficult to determine the ROI from offline leads.  This is not the case with online leads!  Be sure to measure the effectiveness of your online leads.

Hope you found this information helpful.  Happy lead conversion!

Cheers!

David Kline | Microsoft Advertising