Some advice from someone on the lead generation side of the business for a long time... here are some simple suggestions to getting better lead deals:
1) go to the SOURCE of the leads, not the networks. Find the little mom and pop sites running on Google/Bing/Yahoo/Facebook and navigate to the contact-us page. NOT the sale phone number or lead form, as that will turn into a sales lead. You are looking for the site owner
2) If you can't find the site owner email or phone number, then navigate to whois and lookup who owns the domain. It will have a phone or email - send them a note and ask if they sell leads or calls
3) People who BUY leads also often SELL leads. In other words, if you have a "competitor" generating leads, talk to them since they likely have out-of-territory that may be your in-territory leads. One mans trash is another mans treasure
4) Lead vendors hate dealing with returns. If you buy on a no-return basis then the vendor doesn't have to price in a fake return%. E.g. if you plan to pay $10/lead with a 20% return rate, your effective rate is $8/lead. Tell the vendor you buy at $8 with no returns and, depending on the vendor sophistication, you could come out ahead of the guy bidding $10/20% return since your risk to the vendor is lower.
5) Ask the lead vendor to put your name and contact info on the thankyou page. Most lead vendors can do this. As a consumer who fills out a lead on a generic site, when the thankyou page says who will be calling, your yield will go up
6) Unless you are sophisticated dialing within <3 seconds after lead post, buy exclusive 1x delivered leads even if you pay a little more. Shared leads work best for the companies with fancy dialers, and the little guy gets the short stick
7) Get multiple sources so you're not depending on one source. Track them in a spreadsheet. Compare them and make them compete for your dollar. Pause the stinkers and raise bids on the winners
Lead buying is an art. If you know what you're doing you can get a big edge against the other buyers in your vertical.
1) go to the SOURCE of the leads, not the networks. Find the little mom and pop sites running on Google/Bing/Yahoo/Facebook and navigate to the contact-us page. NOT the sale phone number or lead form, as that will turn into a sales lead. You are looking for the site owner
2) If you can't find the site owner email or phone number, then navigate to whois and lookup who owns the domain. It will have a phone or email - send them a note and ask if they sell leads or calls
3) People who BUY leads also often SELL leads. In other words, if you have a "competitor" generating leads, talk to them since they likely have out-of-territory that may be your in-territory leads. One mans trash is another mans treasure
4) Lead vendors hate dealing with returns. If you buy on a no-return basis then the vendor doesn't have to price in a fake return%. E.g. if you plan to pay $10/lead with a 20% return rate, your effective rate is $8/lead. Tell the vendor you buy at $8 with no returns and, depending on the vendor sophistication, you could come out ahead of the guy bidding $10/20% return since your risk to the vendor is lower.
5) Ask the lead vendor to put your name and contact info on the thankyou page. Most lead vendors can do this. As a consumer who fills out a lead on a generic site, when the thankyou page says who will be calling, your yield will go up
6) Unless you are sophisticated dialing within <3 seconds after lead post, buy exclusive 1x delivered leads even if you pay a little more. Shared leads work best for the companies with fancy dialers, and the little guy gets the short stick
7) Get multiple sources so you're not depending on one source. Track them in a spreadsheet. Compare them and make them compete for your dollar. Pause the stinkers and raise bids on the winners
Lead buying is an art. If you know what you're doing you can get a big edge against the other buyers in your vertical.
