Comments for TARGUSinfo Interactive Insights http://blog.targusinfo.com Opinions and Observations on Online Targeting and Lead Generation Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:56:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Comment on The First Step is Always Acceptance by TARGUSinfo Interactive Insights » Research: A Necessary Evil http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=495&cpage=1#comment-307 TARGUSinfo Interactive Insights » Research: A Necessary Evil Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:56:50 +0000 http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=495#comment-307 [...] gained acceptance from the top (see, “The First Step is Always Acceptance”) and your leadership has bought on to the idea that analytics is going to be the foundation of [...] [...] gained acceptance from the top (see, “The First Step is Always Acceptance”) and your leadership has bought on to the idea that analytics is going to be the foundation of [...]

]]> Comment on Clear as Mud: Transparency is Tricky! by TARGUSinfo Interactive Insights » Two Data Points Every Lead Should Have http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=509&cpage=1#comment-305 TARGUSinfo Interactive Insights » Two Data Points Every Lead Should Have Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:46:08 +0000 http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=509#comment-305 [...] my last post “Clear as Mud: Transparency is Tricky,” I posed a few questions for lead buyers and sellers to think about regarding their business [...] [...] my last post “Clear as Mud: Transparency is Tricky,” I posed a few questions for lead buyers and sellers to think about regarding their business [...]

]]> Comment on Trust Comes with Transparency by TARGUSinfo Interactive Insights » Clear as Mud: Transparency is Tricky! http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=568&cpage=1#comment-298 TARGUSinfo Interactive Insights » Clear as Mud: Transparency is Tricky! Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:15:09 +0000 http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=568#comment-298 [...] In my last post, I said what we’re all thinking–Trust Comes with Transparency.  [...] [...] In my last post, I said what we’re all thinking–Trust Comes with Transparency.  [...]

]]> Comment on Trust Comes with Transparency by Andi http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=568&cpage=1#comment-281 Andi Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:31:26 +0000 http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=568#comment-281 Hello Michael! I would ABSOLUTELY agree that the shift in focus has moved from quantity to quality. You have defined lead quality as lead to enrollment percentage. Perfect. As long as both entities in a partnership know the set expectations, there should be minimal discord in the lead exchange process. I imagine that your leads, students armed with financial aid knowledge, convert at a higher rate than others...just a hunch. :) So, it sounds like you have established a clearly defined process allowing you to provide high quality (likely to convert) qualified leads to schools AND you're able to charge more for those leads. Thus you can make the same (if not more) money on less leads....quality over quantity - which is a move toward optimization. Kudos! Hello Michael!

I would ABSOLUTELY agree that the shift in focus has moved from quantity to quality.

You have defined lead quality as lead to enrollment percentage. Perfect. As long as both entities in a partnership know the set expectations, there should be minimal discord in the lead exchange process.

I imagine that your leads, students armed with financial aid knowledge, convert at a higher rate than others…just a hunch. :)

So, it sounds like you have established a clearly defined process allowing you to provide high quality (likely to convert) qualified leads to schools AND you’re able to charge more for those leads.

Thus you can make the same (if not more) money on less leads….quality over quantity – which is a move toward optimization. Kudos!

]]> Comment on Trust Comes with Transparency by Michael Kirchmaier http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=568&cpage=1#comment-279 Michael Kirchmaier Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:26:26 +0000 http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=568#comment-279 EDU leads have never been as plentiful as in this financial market. Quality (qualified) leads verses quantity is becoming more and more important. While understanding most lead generation companies only signed up for supplying verifiable lead information, we all have to recognize we are ultimately measured, judged and priced solely on our lead quality (lead to enrollment percentage.) And that’s really funny when you try and think of any other industry that expects their customers (prospective students in this case) to sign a legally binding enrollment contract before finding out how they can pay for it? Would WE buy a car without knowing how much the payments will be or make an offer on a house without knowing if you were pre-approved for the loan? Yes, of course WE all know there’s something out there called financial aid – That’s because WE have all been to college!! Most of our EDU leads and just as importantly their buying committees at home, parents, not so supportive boy/girlfriends etc, don’t know that and are probably telling our leads... “You can’t afford the rent let alone college; we’ll have to sell your baby brother if you really want to go to college”!! Now even If our prospective student is lucky enough to have a rocket scientist in their family, he/she would give up at the mere thought of trying to complete a FAFSA and waiting for the financial aid dept to let them know where the money is coming from. But now, every lead can get a free estimate of their financial aid eligibility in less than 3 minutes. Call centers can send them the same in less than 1 minute while hot transferring them to the schools just as they are printing off their personalized, diploma looking, super easy to understand Financial aid pre-qualification certificate. If you believe, as we do that the number 1 objection to exploring college enrollment is “I can’t afford it” then go to www.fainnovations.com and see how that excuse just flew out the window. Schools are demanding more and more from their lead suppliers and that’s a good thing because… now we can charge even more money for the same leads, especially now WE know which ones are worth the most... What’s wrong with that? Michael EDU leads have never been as plentiful as in this financial market. Quality (qualified) leads verses quantity is becoming more and more important. While understanding most lead generation companies only signed up for supplying verifiable lead information, we all have to recognize we are ultimately measured, judged and priced solely on our lead quality (lead to enrollment percentage.)
And that’s really funny when you try and think of any other industry that expects their customers (prospective students in this case) to sign a legally binding enrollment contract before finding out how they can pay for it? Would WE buy a car without knowing how much the payments will be or make an offer on a house without knowing if you were pre-approved for the loan?
Yes, of course WE all know there’s something out there called financial aid – That’s because WE have all been to college!! Most of our EDU leads and just as importantly their buying committees at home, parents, not so supportive boy/girlfriends etc, don’t know that and are probably telling our leads… “You can’t afford the rent let alone college; we’ll have to sell your baby brother if you really want to go to college”!! Now even If our prospective student is lucky enough to have a rocket scientist in their family, he/she would give up at the mere thought of trying to complete a FAFSA and waiting for the financial aid dept to let them know where the money is coming from.
But now, every lead can get a free estimate of their financial aid eligibility in less than 3 minutes. Call centers can send them the same in less than 1 minute while hot transferring them to the schools just as they are printing off their personalized, diploma looking, super easy to understand Financial aid pre-qualification certificate. If you believe, as we do that the number 1 objection to exploring college enrollment is “I can’t afford it” then go to http://www.fainnovations.com and see how that excuse just flew out the window.
Schools are demanding more and more from their lead suppliers and that’s a good thing because… now we can charge even more money for the same leads, especially now WE know which ones are worth the most… What’s wrong with that?

Michael

]]> Comment on Whose Burden is it Anyway? by Andi http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=507&cpage=1#comment-277 Andi Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:06:09 +0000 http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=507#comment-277 @Ben - Thank you! I will do my best to keep enjoyable content flowing! @Paul - I like your statement and must agree that making contact is the first step of the sales process, not the last step of lead generation. Nevertheless, a lead must be contactable else the first step in the sales process cannot be taken. That said, I think that in traditional lead gen space we are working toward having the onus to determine whether or not the lead is valid/contactable fall with the lead generators. This leaves the lead buyers, those ultimately working the leads, with the responsibility of managing and contacting valid leads. Thus, the sunk costs associated with a lead where contact is made but does not result in a conversion stays with the buyer and is not pushed back on the generator. If terms are established stating that a lead generator will provide not only valid, but “qualified” leads – where “qualified” meets a predetermined set of conditions – this changes the game of who bears what burden. This is ostensibly a simple concept, yet we still have much of the he said she said between lead generators and buyers. I believe that clear definition and transparency are the first steps to harmony in bearing the burden. @Ben – Thank you! I will do my best to keep enjoyable content flowing!

@Paul – I like your statement and must agree that making contact is the first step of the sales process, not the last step of lead generation.
Nevertheless, a lead must be contactable else the first step in the sales process cannot be taken. That said, I think that in traditional lead gen space we are working toward having the onus to determine whether or not the lead is valid/contactable fall with the lead generators. This leaves the lead buyers, those ultimately working the leads, with the responsibility of managing and contacting valid leads. Thus, the sunk costs associated with a lead where contact is made but does not result in a conversion stays with the buyer and is not pushed back on the generator. If terms are established stating that a lead generator will provide not only valid, but “qualified” leads – where “qualified” meets a predetermined set of conditions – this changes the game of who bears what burden.
This is ostensibly a simple concept, yet we still have much of the he said she said between lead generators and buyers. I believe that clear definition and transparency are the first steps to harmony in bearing the burden.

]]> Comment on Whose Burden is it Anyway? by Paul Baudisch http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=507&cpage=1#comment-274 Paul Baudisch Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:40:32 +0000 http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=507#comment-274 In our business, a qualified lead is a homeowner in our client's defined marketing territory who has specifically expressed interest in our client's product. We provide our client with at least one, often more, means to contact the homeowner. But actually contacting (or not contacting) the homeowner is the responsibility of our client. That's because making contact is actually the first step of the sales process, not the last step of lead generation. That said, the quality and speed of that first contact is terribly important. See "Your Phones: The Painful Truth That Costs You Money" (http://www.keywordconnects.com/blog/your-phones-the-painful-truth-that-costs-you-money/). That first contact is so critical to reaping maximum value from leads that we've added this capability to our service mix: we now set appointments with homeowners for our clients' sales reps. Interest in this service has been strong. In our business, a qualified lead is a homeowner in our client’s defined marketing territory who has specifically expressed interest in our client’s product. We provide our client with at least one, often more, means to contact the homeowner.

But actually contacting (or not contacting) the homeowner is the responsibility of our client. That’s because making contact is actually the first step of the sales process, not the last step of lead generation.

That said, the quality and speed of that first contact is terribly important. See “Your Phones: The Painful Truth That Costs You Money” (http://www.keywordconnects.com/blog/your-phones-the-painful-truth-that-costs-you-money/).

That first contact is so critical to reaping maximum value from leads that we’ve added this capability to our service mix: we now set appointments with homeowners for our clients’ sales reps. Interest in this service has been strong.

]]> Comment on AdAdvisor partner and client event @ Soho House by David Helmreich http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=233&cpage=1#comment-10 David Helmreich Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:04:05 +0000 http://blog.targusinformation.com/?p=233#comment-10 Mike - We'd like to see one in SoCal as well. You will see a strong west coast presence from us in San Francisco by the end of this year (in additional to our current San Diego office). When we have an event near you, we'll definitely give you a heads up. Mike -

We’d like to see one in SoCal as well. You will see a strong west coast presence from us in San Francisco by the end of this year (in additional to our current San Diego office). When we have an event near you, we’ll definitely give you a heads up.

]]> Comment on AdAdvisor partner and client event @ Soho House by Mike http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=233&cpage=1#comment-9 Mike Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:43:43 +0000 http://blog.targusinformation.com/?p=233#comment-9 Can't wait to see one of these event in SoCal! Can’t wait to see one of these event in SoCal!

]]> Comment on Facebook Needs to Focus on Content and Engagement by Ross Shanken http://blog.targusinfo.com/?p=27&cpage=1#comment-7 Ross Shanken Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:58:23 +0000 http://www.blog.targusinformation.com/?p=27#comment-7 Good article Paul. It's amazing to me that Facebook seemingly hasn't figured out how to make money on advertising. All of the ingredients are there - the audience, some insight into their user base, and access to information providers to figure out more, in order to target advertising and increase click-through rates & revenue. If I see another ad on Facebook about how I can make $$ "posting links" to Google, I may be part of the 35-44 group that drops off - why don't they advertise what I might actually be interested in? Good article Paul. It’s amazing to me that Facebook seemingly hasn’t figured out how to make money on advertising. All of the ingredients are there – the audience, some insight into their user base, and access to information providers to figure out more, in order to target advertising and increase click-through rates & revenue. If I see another ad on Facebook about how I can make $$ “posting links” to Google, I may be part of the 35-44 group that drops off – why don’t they advertise what I might actually be interested in?

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