Online Lead Generation B2 C Report 2009

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Online Lead Generation (B2C) Report 2009

in association with Clash-Media

Online Lead Generation (B2C) Report 2009 in association with Clash-Media

Econsultancy London

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Published July 2009


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Contents

1. Executive Summary and Highlights ................................ 1

2. About Econsultancy ......................................................... 4

3. About Clash-Media .......................................................... 5

4. Methodology and Sample ................................................ 6

4.1. Methodology ............................................................................. 6

4.2. Respondent profiles .................................................................. 6

4.2.1. Annual company turnover ......................................................... 7

4.2.2. Geography ................................................................................... 8

4.2.3. Business sector ........................................................................... 9

4.2.4. Channel to market / audience ................................................. 10

5. Findings .......................................................................... 11

5.1. Growth and importance of online lead generation ................... 11

5.1.1. Use of online lead generation to grow B2C businesses .......... 11

5.1.2. Benefits of online lead generation ........................................... 13

5.1.3. Use of online lead generation in the last year ......................... 15

5.1.4. Importance of online lead generation in the next year ..........16

5.2. How companies generate consumer leads ............................... 17

5.2.1. Offline methods to generate consumer leads .......................... 17

5.2.2. Online methods to generate consumer leads ......................... 20

5.3. Lead Generation budgets ........................................................ 23

5.3.1. Online lead generation spend ................................................. 23

5.3.2. Split of budgets for online lead generation ............................ 26

5.3.4. Change in overall marketing spend ........................................ 28

5.3.5. Split of lead generation budget ............................................... 30

5.3.6. Change in online lead generation budget ................................ 31

5.3.7. Reasons for change in budgets ................................................ 32

5.4. Effectiveness and measurement .............................................. 33

5.4.1. Effectiveness of online lead generation methods .................. 33

5.4.2. Offline conversion of online leads........................................... 36

5.4.4. How online leads are converted .............................................. 38

5.4.5. Measuring the effectiveness of online lead generation ......... 40

5.4.6. Assessing online lead generation campaigns ..........................41

5.4.7. Problems encountered with online lead generation .............. 42

5.5. Online lead generation in international markets .................... 43




5.5.1. Selling in other markets outside of home country................. 43

5.5.2. Online lead generation campaigns in international markets ..................................................................................... 44

5.5.3. Has the recession encouraged international sales? ............... 45

5.5.4. Factors preventing companies from selling internationally .......................................................................... 46

5.5.5. Problems encountered with lead generation in other countries ................................................................................... 48

Online Lead Generation (B2C) Report 2009 in association with Clash-Media Page 1



1. Executive Summary and Highlights

This is the third annual Online Lead Generation (B2C) Report published by Econsultancy in

association with lead generation specialist Clash-Media.

There were more than 600 respondents to our 2009 research request, which took the form of an

online survey in May and June 2009.

Respondents included both client-side (in-house) organisations who are trying to get new leads

for their B2C products or services, and agencies or consultancies (supply-side) who are involved

in trying to generate leads for their clients.

Key results are broken down into the following regions: UK, Europe (non-UK) and US.

Key findings:

Online lead generation (OLG) is becoming more important for companies who are

increasingly using digital channels to generate business.

Two thirds of company respondents (65%) say that their use of online lead generation has

increased in the last year, compared to only 11% who say that it has decreased. Furthermore,

88% of responding organisations say that this activity will become more important to their

organisations over the next 12 months.

The most widely perceived benefit of online lead generation is the ability to increase the

prospect list and customer base, seen as a benefit by 73% of company respondents.

The majority of client-side respondents also see cost effectiveness (72%) and the ability to

target (60%) as benefits. For supply-side respondents, the most widely perceived benefit is its

cost-effectiveness.

However, fewer than half of companies (47%) say they are effectively exploiting online lead

generation as a way of growing their B2C business. This compares to 44% last year and 48%

in 2007. Respondents in Europe (53%) are mostly likely to be using OLG effectively.

There has been a significant 12% drop in the proportion of companies using paid search for

generating consumer leads, from 71% (in both 2008 and 2007) to 59% in 2009. Natural

search (SEO) and email marketing (in-house lists) are still the most widely used methods and

have held steady at 76% and 74% respectively.

Surprisingly, despite the recession, there are still more companies who, in the last year, have

increased their overall marketing budget rather than decreased it (53% compared to 27%).

Other findings:

How companies generate consumer leads

There is a continued trend towards decreased use of offline channels for generating consumer

leads. The proportion of companies using newspapers and magazines to generate leads has

decreased from 65% in 2008 to 54%. Figure 18 shows the change in offline methods used

since 2007.

The biggest decrease is for direct mail where there has been a 12% drop from 50% of

businesses in 2008 to only 38% of businesses. Radio has fallen from 21% in 2008 to just 12%

of companies.

Apart from paid search, the online channels which have seen a fall in use for lead generation

since 2007 are online display advertising (down 7%) and viral marketing (down 20%).

Effectiveness of lead generation

There have been slight decreases since 2007 in the proportion of company respondents saying

that SEO (-6%), paid search (-7%) and email marketing in-house




lists (-6%) are very effective for generating leads. There has been a larger (15%) drop for rich

media.

Companies are more likely to be generating leads online with the intention of converting

them offline. The percentage of respondents who say this is „very much part of our strategy‟

has increased from 40% last year to 45% in 2009.

Companies are still struggling to measure the effectiveness of their lead generation activity,

with only a third saying they are „excellent‟ (7%) or „good‟ (26%) at this. This compares to 43%

who say they are „average‟ (26%), „poor‟ (15%) or „very poor‟ (2%) at this.

Quality of leads and return on investment are seen as the most important factors when

assessing online lead generation campaigns.

Budgets

The average proportion of lead generation budget which is spent online has increased to 61%

from 53% in 2008.

Half of UK companies are spending at least £10,000 a year on online lead generation.

On average, paid search gets 22% of online lead generation budgets, still the highest

proportion for any digital channel but a 6% drop since 2007 and an 11% drop since last year.

SEO gets 17% and, again on average, 16% goes to email marketing in-house lists. Five per cent

of budget goes to online lead generation specialists.

International markets

Just over two thirds (68%) of companies who sell in international markets carry out online

lead generation in other countries, but around a third (32%) do not.

38% of company respondents say that the recession has encouraged them to sell in other

international markets.

The biggest factors preventing companies from selling in other international markets are:

products and services not relevant abroad (32%), the cost of building a team (23%) and lack

of understanding about local markets (17%).




1. Introduction by Clash-Media (survey

sponsor) Online Lead Generation (OLG) is a critical digital marketing activity for businesses in a wide

range of sectors. SMEs, prominent charities and global blue chips all rely on OLG to acquire

potential customers and boost the performance of their marketing campaigns.

Marketing budgets are scrutinised at any time, but even more so at a time when cost containment

is a high priority. Because of this pressure, it is essential that any investment in marketing can

show clear paths to a strong return.

Online Lead Generation has a very transparent cost structure. It is straightforward to see each

lead's origins and quality – and companies can then pay only for data on interested consumers

that meet their criteria. This makes the service highly cost-effective and gives each lead higher

value. Increased data quality will help companies drive down their cost per acquisition (CPA)

which is a clear indicator of ROI.

OLG provides organisations the ability to quickly set up and gather leads; it has the advantage of

being highly results-driven, which is one of the reasons overall spend is up on last year.

In a difficult financial climate, companies, regardless of size, need good quality data on interested

consumers in order to generate new business and revenue. We are finding now that major global

blue chips are placing an increased importance on our performance-based approaches.

This report looks at the wide range of digital marketing strategies – such as SEO, Paid Search,

Affiliate Marketing, Email Marketing and Online Display advertising. Clash-Media specialises in

Ad-based OLG which is highly flexible and targeted compared to many of the other methods

talked about. It combines elements of affiliate marketing, email marketing and display

advertising.

It is important to remember that Online Lead Generation can be used as an independent

campaign – standing on its own to find new potential customers based on a specific offer that is

promoted only on the Internet – or alternatively, it can be used very effectively, particularly ad-

based OLG, as part of a wider campaign. For example large traditional campaigns – TV,

Newspapers and Posters – can be boosted by tying in an OLG campaign, because they are results-

driven and can give a directly measurable return for the advertising spend.

OLG campaigns are tailored to suit each advertiser‟s individual requirements, allowing full

control over delivery, quantity and the quality of interested consumer data received.

We feel that this Econsultancy research report, which Clash-Media is delighted to sponsor, shows

that companies are becoming much more familiar with the broad range of digital marketing

services available and are starting to reap the real benefits. The signs are that 2009 should be a

really exciting year for marketers to use a wide range of rapidly developing Online Lead

Generation options and enhance their customer conversion rates.

Simon Wajcenberg, CEO, Clash-Media

[email protected]




2. About Econsultancy Econsultancy is the leading source of independent advice and insight on digital marketing and e-

commerce.

Our reports, events, online resources and training programmes help a community of over 80,000

registered marketers make better decisions, build business cases, find the best suppliers, look

smart in meetings and accelerate their careers.

Econsultancy is an award-winning online publisher of reports covering best practice, user

experience benchmarking, market data, trends and innovation, and supplier selection aimed at

internet professionals that want practical advice on all aspects of e-business.

Econsultancy also operates a highly popular training division, used by some of the world‟s most

prominent brands for staff education, both in-house and via public courses. We provide training

across all areas of digital marketing and at all levels from one day courses to diplomas to Masters

in Digital Marketing.

In addition, we host more than 100 conferences and events a year, such as The Online Marketing

Masterclass, regular Supplier Showcases and Roundtables, an annual Future of Digital Marketing

event, Digital Cream and a range of social events.

The Econsultancy site now attracts 175,000 unique users per month where they access research,

read the blog and take part in discussions in the forums. And as a portal to the digital marketing

community, Econsultancy members can also link up with other members and digital suppliers

through our directories, as well as find a new job or new digital talent using the job listings.

Some of Econsultancy‟s client-side members include: Google, Yahoo, MSN, MySpace, BBC, BT,

Shell, Vodafone, Yell.com, Dell, Oxfam, Virgin Atlantic, TUI, Barclays, Carphone Warehouse, IPC

Media, Deloitte, T-Mobile and Estée Lauder.

Join Econsultancy today to learn what‟s happening in digital marketing – and what works.

Call us to find out more on +44 (0)20 7269 1450 or contact us online.

http://econsultancy.com

http://econsultancy.com/reports

http://econsultancy.com/training

http://econsultancy.com/training

http://econsultancy.com/

http://econsultancy.com/membership_plans

http://econsultancy.com/about/contact

http://econsultancy.com/




3. About Clash-Media Clash-Media, the sponsor of this research, has achieved significant growth over the last three

years, positioning itself as the global market leader for Online Lead Generation. The company was

recently named as one of the Top 15 fastest growing digital media companies according to GP

Bullhound, the leading technology investment bank.

Clash-Media delivers a global and fully transparent Online Lead Generation service that connects

advertisers with consumers. It is a full-circle customer acquisition solution that collects and

manages prospective customer data for its clients, producing qualified leads in line with

advertisers‟ exact specifications to deliver a strong return on investment.

Clash-Media provides its clients with a centralised managed service to support any lead

generation campaign. It has established a wide global network of partners that enables it to

operate in any market around the world, and its quality control processes and technologies

maintain the highest standard of lead generation.

Clash-Media, based in London, launched in the UK in 2006. Clash-Media currently has offices in

London, New York, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Munich and Paris, with plans to expand into Spain

and Italy, followed by Asia-Pacific.

Clash-Media works with partners that include MSN, Tiscali and MySpace, generating leads for

global brands including O2, MBNA and T-Mobile.

More information about Clash-Media is available at:

http://www.clash-media.com/

http://www.clash-media.com/




4. Methodology and Sample

4.1. Methodology This is Econsultancy‟s third Online Lead Generation (B2C) Report carried out in association with

Clash-Media. There were more than 600 respondents to our research request, which took the

form of an online survey1 in May and June 2009.

Respondents included both client-side (in-house) organisations who are currently trying to get

new leads for their B2C products or services, and supply-side respondents (agencies and

technology companies) who are involved in trying to get new leads for their clients.

The findings are shown for client-side (i.e. „company respondents‟) and supply-side („agency

respondents‟) separately.

Information about the survey, including the link, was emailed to Econsultancy‟s user base and

promoted online via Twitter and other channels. The incentive for taking part was access to a

complimentary copy of this report just before its publication on the Econsultancy website.

If you have any questions about the research, please email Econsultancy‟s Research Director,

Linus Gregoriadis ([email protected]).

4.2. Respondent profiles Just over a third (37%) of respondents work for companies involved in trying to get new leads for

B2C products or services compared to 41% for the supply-side. There were 237 client-side

respondents and 261 agency respondents. The remainder did not fall into either of these

categories.

Figure 1: Which of the following most accurately reflects your involvement with

B2C lead generation?

Response: 633

1 Econsultancy uses Clicktools for its online surveys

mailto:[email protected]




4.2.1. Annual company turnover

Two thirds (65%) of respondents work for companies with annual revenues of at least £1 million.

A fifth of companies (20%) have an annual turnover of more than £150 million. The supply-side

respondents [Figure 3] typically work for smaller businesses, with half saying that they have

annual revenues of less than £1 million.

Companies

Figure 2: What is your annual company turnover (revenue)?

Response: 167

Agencies

Figure 3: What is your annual company turnover (revenue)?

Response: 189




4.2.2. Geography

Just over half of company respondents in this survey are UK-based, with most of the remainder

based in the United States or mainland Europe. „Other‟ countries represented include Australia,

India and South Africa. The agency sample is slightly more UK-centric with just under half of

respondents (47%).

Companies

Figure 4: In which country/region are you (personally) based?

Response: 189

Agencies

Figure 5: In which country/region are you (personally) based?

Response: 238




4.2.3. Business sector

The most strongly represented sectors among the company respondents are consultancy and

marketing services (35 respondents), retail (26 respondents), financial services (18 respondents)

and travel (13 respondents).

„Other‟ in this context includes educational services, professional services and software vendors.

Figure 5: In which business sector is your organisation?

Response: 172




4.2.4. Channel to market / audience

The majority of companies surveyed are multichannel organisations, using both offline and online

channels to market. Just under a third of respondents (30%) are online only, compared to 6%

who are offline only . There are slightly fewer multichannel companies surveyed compared to last

year; 65% compared to 73% in 2008.

Companies

Figure 6: Which of the following best describes your organisation in terms of

channel to market / channel to audience?

Response: 236




5. Findings

5.1. Growth and importance of online lead generation

5.1.1. Use of online lead generation to grow B2C businesses

Since 2008, there has been a slight increase in the number of respondents who say that their

company is effectively exploiting lead generation as a way of growing B2C business (47%

compared to 44% last year). But despite this slight increase, it is apparent that the majority of

organisations are still failing to get the most out of online lead generation.

The agency results [Figure 8] show that more agencies now think their clients are making

effective use of online lead generation, as this has increased to 48%, up from 38% last year. While

this is good news for the industry, 52% of agencies still think that their clients could be using this

type of marketing more effectively.

Figure 9 shows these results split by geography. Companies in Europe are most likely to believe

that they are effectively using online lead generation.

Companies

Figure 7: Would you say that your organisation is effectively exploiting online lead generation as a way of growing B2C business?

Response: 209




Agencies

Figure 8: Would you say that your clients are typically exploiting online lead

generation effectively as a way of growing B2C business?

Response: 237

Figure 9: Breakdown by geography

Note: Differences between geographies may not be statistically significant due to smaller sample sizes outside the UK.




5.1.2. Benefits of online lead generation

Online lead generation is perceived to offer a wide range of business benefits. The ability to

increase the customer base and build a prospect list is the most widely understood benefit of

OLG, as cited by 73% of companies surveyed. Cost effectiveness (72%), the ability to target

consumers (60%), and the ability to qualify leads (50%) are the next most widely perceived

benefits.

According to supply-side respondents [Figure 11], cost effectiveness (69%) is the most significant

benefit, followed by the ability to target (63%).

The performance-based nature of online generation is more „front of mind‟ for agencies than for

companies, as 55% of supply-side respondents see this as a key benefit, compared to 35% of the

client-side sample.

Figure 12 shows the variations by geography.

Note: respondents could check multiple options

Company

Figure 10: What do you see as the benefits of online lead generation?

Response: 210




Agencies

Figure 11: What do you see as the benefits of online lead generation?

Response: 238

Figure 12: Benefits of online lead generation – breakdown by geography





5.1.3. Use of online lead generation in the last year

Two thirds of companies (65%) say that their use of online lead generation has increased in the

last year. This is a positive development for the industry, and indicates that more companies are

experimenting with online lead generation, even though the majority still feel that they are not

exploiting it as well as they could. Even more agencies (78%) say that their clients have started to

use online lead generation more in the last year [Figure 14].

Companies

Figure 13: Has your use of online lead generation increased or decreased in the last year?

Response: 210

Agencies

Figure 14: Has the use of online lead generation by clients typically increased or decreased in the last year?

Response: 236




5.1.4. Importance of online lead generation in the next year

Following on from the results above, the vast majority of companies (88%) expect online lead

generation to become more important in the next 12 months, and this proportion has slightly

increased since 2008. The results for agencies [Figure 16] are similar, and again shows only a

very small minority (2% of agencies surveyed) expecting online lead generation to become less

important.

Some 10% of companies and agencies expect the importance of lead generation to remain static

over the coming year.

Companies

Figure 15: Do you expect online lead generation to become more or less important to your organisation over the next 12 months?

Response: 238

Agencies

Figure 16: Do you expect online lead generation to become more or less important to your clients over the next 12 months?

Response: 238




5.2. How companies generate consumer leads

5.2.1. Offline methods to generate consumer leads

Figure 17 shows the different offline methods used by responding companies to generate

consumer leads, whilst Figure 18 shows the net change in the use of different methods since

2007.

Press (i.e. newspapers and magazines) is still the most frequently used offline method to generate

consumer leads, as specified by 54% of companies. However, as Figure 18 shows, this has fallen

by 7% in the last two years.

Direct mail (postal data) is currently used by 38% of companies of surveyed, but has shown the

biggest fall in the last couple of years. There has been a sharp drop of 13% since 2007 in the

number of companies using direct mail to generate consumer leads.

Radio has also fallen significantly (by 10%) but television has been more resilient with a fifth of

companies (20%) still using this medium to generate leads. TV is up 3% since 2007 but down 3%

compared to last year.

Around 20% of companies do not use any of these methods to generate leads. Companies are

increasingly looking for demonstrable cost-effectiveness from media channels, which may explain

why companies are focusing more on online methods where there is typically a greater ability to

measure success.

Figure 19 shows the equivalent results for agencies surveyed, whilst Figure 20 shows the change

in these agency results since 2007. More encouragingly for offline media, there have been

increases for direct mail (up 7%), television (up 16%) and radio (up 4%).

Companies

Figure 17: Which offline methods do you use to generate consumer leads?

Response: 179




Companies

Figure 18: Change in offline methods used since 2007

Agencies

Figure 19: Which offline methods do your clients typically use to generate

consumer leads?

Response: 208




Agencies

Figure 20: Change in offline methods used since 2007

Figure 21: Breakdown of offline methods used by geography





5.2.2. Online methods to generate consumer leads

There has been a significant 12% drop in the proportion of companies using paid search for

generating consumer leads, from 71% (in both 2008 and 2007) to 59% in 2009.

Natural search (SEO) and email marketing (in-house lists) are still the most widely used

methods and have held steady at 76% and 74% respectively.

In general, as Figure 23 highlights, the use of online methods has fallen slightly over the last two

years although, apart from PPC and viral marketing (-20%), the decreases are typically small.

The use of email marketing in-house lists has risen by 2% and content distribution and RSS has

increased by 8%.

Companies

Figure 22: Which online methods do you use to generate consumer leads?

Response: 182




Companies

Figure 23: Change in online methods used since 2007

Response: 182

Agencies

Figure 24: Which online methods do your clients typically use to generate

consumer leads?

Response: 208




Agencies

Figure 25: Change in online methods used since 2007

Figure 26: Breakdown of online methods used by geography





5.3. Lead Generation budgets

5.3.1. Online lead generation spend

Figure 27 and Figure 28 show the amount of money being spent on online lead generation by UK

companies and non-UK companies respectively. For the UK, half of companies are spending at

least £10,000 a year. Outside the UK, 72% of companies are spending at least $10,000 a year.

Even taking the exchange rate into account, UK companies appear to be spending slightly less on

online lead generation than abroad.

Companies - UK

Figure 27: How much do you spend on online lead generation per year?

Response: 177




Companies – non UK


Response: 97

Supply-side respondents [Figure 29] report higher levels of spending on OLG and this may be

because they typically represent larger organisations with bigger budgets. A third of UK agency

respondents (34%) say that their clients typically spend more than £100,000 a year.

Agencies - UK

Figure 29: How much do your clients typically spend on online lead generation

per year?

Response: 93




Agencies – non UK


Response: 109




5.3.2. Split of budgets for online lead generation

On average, paid search gets the biggest proportion of OLG budget with 22% going to PPC. This

represents a 6% drop since 2007 and an 11% drop since last year. This fall is consistent with the

agency findings [Figure 34].

Natural search gets 17% of budget (down 1%) and email marketing in-house lists get 16% (up

6%). Online display advertising (down 1%) has been more resistant than might be expected and

this is probably because online display advertising budgets are more likely to have been cut for

branding rather than for direct response.

Figure 31: Approximately if necessary, how is your online lead generation budget

split?

Response: 140

Companies

Figure 32: Change in split of budgets since 2007




Agencies

Figure 33: Typically, how is a client's online lead generation budget split?

Response: 169

Agencies

Figure 34: Change in split of budgets since 2007




5.3.4. Change in overall marketing spend

Surprisingly, despite the recession, there are still more companies who, in the last year, have

increased their overall marketing budget rather than decreased it (53% compared to 27%). A fifth

of responding organisations say the budget has stayed the same.

This suggests that companies are taking note of the well-worn mantra that it doesn‟t pay in the

long run to slash marketing budgets during a downturn. However, the supply-side verdict is a bit

more gloomy, with respondents more likely to say that clients are typically cutting overall

marketing spend [Figure 36].

Respondents in mainland Europe are most likely to have increased their overall marketing

budgets [Figure 37]. And looking at this data by sector [Figure 3871%( in both 2008 and 2007],

financial services is the area where there is most likely to have been an increase.

Companies

Figure 35: Has your overall marketing spend increased or decreased in the last

year?

Response: 172

Agencies

Figure 36: Typically, has overall client marketing spend increased or decreased in

the last year?

Response: 193




Figure 37: Breakdown by geography


Figure 38: Breakdown by industry sector

Note: Differences between sectors may not be statistically significant due to small sample sizes.




5.3.5. Split of lead generation budget

The average proportion of lead generation budget which is spent online has increased to 61% from

53% in 2008 [Figure 39]. As seen earlier, the use of offline channels has typically decreased,

sometimes drastically, whereas online channels have generally been more resilient during the

recession.

This trend is reinforced by Figure 40 below which shows that 59% of responding organisations

have increased their budgets for online lead generation in the last year, compared to only 19%

who say they have increased their budget for offline lead generation.

This contrast between the fortunes of online and offline lead generation is even more apparent in

Figure 41 which shows the supply-side responses. Three-quarters of agency respondents say their

clients have typically decreased their offline budgets, compared to just 20% for online.

Companies

Figure 39: Approximately if necessary, how much of your lead generation budget

is spent offline and how much is spent online?

Response: 155




5.3.6. Change in online lead generation budget

Companies

Figure 40: Have your budgets for online and offline lead generation increased or

decreased in the last year?

Response: 176

Agencies

Figure 41: Have your clients' budgets for online and offline marketing typically

increased or decreased in the last year?

Response: 188




5.3.7. Reasons for change in budgets

The economic downturn has resulted in companies becoming more focused on where they

allocate budgets. Consequently, there has been a shift towards online channels, which are

perceived to be more cost-effective. One company mentioned that the decision to market online in

addition to offline was a new approach in response to the current recessionary climate.

According to companies surveyed, the advantages of online channels are the inherent

measurability, the ability to scale and ease of management.

Compared to offline channels, online is also more effective in delivering leads and lower cost per

acquisition (CPA). In the recession, more than ever, marketers need to invest in channels that

deliver tangible, demonstrable return-on-investment.

A handful of respondents also mentioned a shift towards using social media for online lead

generation, as these are thought to be more cost-effective.

Why has there been a change in where you are allocating budget?

“The economic downturn has caused businesses to be much more focused into where spend is going to be. In

some cases, we are spending in areas where we haven't before, and in other cases, we are spending as little as

possible and trying to manage as much as possible in-house.”

“The online channel increasingly viewed as the most effective, and also allows for indirect generation of leads

through the avoidance of „direct to‟ techniques such as search optimisation.”

“Offline not effective in generating leads or measurable mind-share.”

“Offline methods are expensive and don't work well.”

“There has been increased momentum towards social media marketing because of its increase in popularity. The

economic downturn has also encouraged this shift because online marketing is less expensive.”

Company respondents

If relevant, why has there been a change in where your clients are allocating budget?

“Better comparability between online and offline cost per lead has enabled our clients to shift budgets from off-

to online.”

“Offline is too expensive and doesn't get the same speed of responses as online. Faster calls to action and results

too.”

“Online - increased ease of use and confidence in capabilities. Offline - economic pressures to reduce costs, even

as the alternative. Online has increased appeal and cost effectiveness.”

“They see the internet as a potentially more cost effective way of reaching their audience.”

“It has become more important to measure the return on investment, considering typical advertising/marketing

budget cuts.”

Agency respondents




5.4. Effectiveness and measurement

5.4.1. Effectiveness of online lead generation methods

While online methods for lead generation are seen as more effective than offline methods, it is

clear that online lead generation is getting more difficult.

Compared to 2008 [Figure 43], fewer respondents are saying that the most commonly used

online channels (i.e. PPC, SEO and email marketing to in-house lists) are „very effective‟ for

getting consumer leads for their business.

This reflects a more competitive online environment where there are fewer quick wins for

businesses. There is more competition for natural and paid-for search engine visibility, while at

the same time it is harder to get consumers‟ attention with email. That said, there are still

opportunities for businesses marketing online, and the overwhelming majority regard online

channels as either „very effective‟ or „quite effective‟.

Rich media has seen the biggest drop in the proportion of respondents regarding this channel as

„very effective‟ for online lead generation (down from 26% in 2008 to 11% in 2009). It may be that

the novelty for consumers is wearing off, and the increasingly prevalent nature of online video

means that it is less effective as a lead generation tool.

The agency findings show as similar story although, since last year, there have been slight

increases in the proportion of respondents saying that SEO and email marketing rented lists are

„very effective‟ [Figure 44].

Companies

Figure 42: For those which are relevant, how effective are these online methods

for getting consumer leads / prospects for your business?

Response: 208




Companies

Figure 43: Change in proportion of respondents saying „very effective‟ since 2008

Agencies

Figure 44: How effective are these online methods for getting consumer leads /

prospects for your clients?

Response: 200




Agencies

Figure 45: Change in proportion of respondents saying „very effective‟ since 2008




5.4.2. Offline conversion of online leads

Companies are more likely to be „generating leads online with the intention of converting them

offline‟. The percentage of respondents who say this is „very much part of our strategy‟ has

increased from 40% last year to 45% in 2009.

UK organisations are more likely to have a strategy of using offline channels to convert leads

generated online [Figure 48]. In the US, 37% say this is very much part of their strategy, and this

figure drops to only 23% for European respondents (excluding the UK).

Companies

Figure 46: Do you generate leads online with the intention of converting them

offline?

Response: 172

Agencies

Figure 47: Do your clients typically generate leads online with the intention of

converting them offline?

Response: 192




Figure 48: Converting leads offline - breakdown by geography





5.4.4. How online leads are converted

Three quarters of organisations (75%) say they convert online leads via email and online

transactions, and this compares to 58% who say they do this by telephone, 12% for stores and 9%

for mail order. „Other‟ ways of converting leads include meetings, face-to-face sales and through

consultancy services.

Companies

Figure 49: How do you convert leads generated online?

Response: 164

Agencies

Figure 50: How do your clients convert leads generated online?

Response: 192




Figure 51: Converting leads online – breakdown by geography





5.4.5. Measuring the effectiveness of online lead generation

Companies are still struggling to measure the effectiveness of their lead generation activity, with

only a third saying they are „excellent‟ (7%) or „good‟ (26%) at this. This compares to 43% who say

they are „average‟ (26%), „poor‟ (15%) or „very poor‟ (2%) at this. The agency findings [Figure 53]

also show no real discernible improvement in measurement of OLG effectiveness.

Figure 52: How good are you at measuring the effectiveness of your online lead

generation activity?

Response: 172

Figure 53: How good are your clients at measuring the effectiveness of their

online lead generation activity?

Response: 194




5.4.6. Assessing online lead generation campaigns

The quality of leads and return on investment are the two most important factors when assessing

the quality of online lead generation campaigns.

Figure 54: What is most important when assessing online lead generation

campaigns?

Response: 167

Figure 55: What is most important when assessing online lead generation

campaigns?

Response: 190




5.4.7. Problems encountered with online lead generation

Respondents were asked to explain what the main problems were with Online Lead Generation.

Poor quality leads were deemed to be the main problem with online lead generation, followed by

the lack of quality data. A handful of respondents mentioned the inability to track leads through

to conversion as a significant factor.

There is also a lack of co-ordination between online and offline channels, particularly if

conversion of leads generated online occurs offline. The lack of experience and expertise with

online channels is also perceived as a significant threat.

From the agency perspective, a lack of specific skills and knowledge is preventing many

companies from exploiting leads generated online as well as they could.

Problems encountered with lead generation

“Awful quality, non-qualified, non-converting leads from incentivised consumers. Cowboy salesmen. Lack of

trust in collection methods especially relating to privacy.”

“Lack of quality of leads if not checked properly.”

“Extreme variation in data quality.”

“It‟s hard to track conversions - lack of communication between sales and marketing.”

“Poor quality leads, which invariably means cost goes up. Lack of transparency.”

“Complexity of online, offline integration of campaigns, particularly as full conversion of leads always takes place

offline. Regulatory restrictions in what is allowed or allowable.”

“Lack of marketing expertise in exploiting online channels and techniques.”

“Company staff have poor knowledge of the rapidly developing skills required to do the job.”

“Lead quality - it is easy to capture a lead but they have to be the right type in order to convert for a client. All

client factors must be assessed and filtered (including „hidden‟ factors that may not be apparent) before you can

decide on a rate and volume.”

“Clients‟ inability to understand initially the importance of testing website changes for conversion

improvements.”

Company and agency respondents




5.5. Online lead generation in international markets

5.5.1. Selling in other markets outside of home country

58% of company respondents say they typically sell in other markets outside their own country.

Figure 56: Do you sell in other markets outside your own country?

Response: 171

Figure 57: Do your clients typically sell in other markets outside their own

country?

Response: 188




5.5.2. Online lead generation campaigns in international markets

Just over two thirds (68%) of companies who sell in international markets carry out online lead

generation in other countries, but around a third (32%) do not.

Figure 58: Does your organisation run online lead generation campaigns in other

international markets? [Companies selling in foreign markets]




5.5.3. Has the recession encouraged international sales?

38% of company respondents say that the recession has encouraged them to sell in other

international markets. [Figure 59]

Companies

Figure 59: Has the recession encouraged you to sell in other international

markets?

Response: 171

Agencies

Figure 60: Has the recession encouraged your clients to sell in other international

markets?

Response: 188




5.5.4. Factors preventing companies from selling internationally

The biggest factors preventing companies from selling in other international markets are:

products and services not relevant abroad (32%), the cost of building a team (23%) and lack of

understanding about local markets (17%).

Figure 61: If relevant, what is the biggest factor preventing you from selling

internationally?

Response: 130

Figure 62: If relevant, what is the biggest factor preventing your clients from

selling internationally?

Response: 148




Figure 63: Factors preventing companies from selling internationally –

breakdown by geography





5.5.5. Problems encountered with lead generation in other

countries

There are many reasons for why undertaking online lead generation in other countries is

problematic. The expense associated with international online lead generation campaigns was

mentioned as a problem for many companies surveyed.

Cultural differences and understanding user behaviour can also have a significant impact, but this

is problematic for any company undertaking business abroad. Related to this are language

barriers, as optimising landing pages for specific international markets in the local language can

be problematic.

In terms of lead generation, it is also important to take into account time difference, particularly

when it comes to contacting and closing leads generated online.

International markets also may have different regulatory restrictions, especially regarding privacy

and how to store data and personal information.

The quality of the leads as a barrier was also mentioned by a handful of respondents, but this may

require greater knowledge of the international market, which develops as companies enter the

market.

What problems, if any, have you encountered with Online Lead Generation campaigns in other countries?

“Understanding cultural differences and user behaviour, in the international market.”

“Language barriers and legislations.”

“Local regulatory restrictions particularly in and around storage and transfer of personally identifiable data.”

“Localization of campaign and messages.”

“Such widely varying cultural and market dynamics make it difficult to organise a campaign from a central

perspective. It needs more local knowledge and focus.”

“Too expensive to ship using regular carrier, too many customs headaches, fraud, unreliable tracking

information.”

Company and agency respondents

Online Lead Generation B2 C Report 2009

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