I know I have gone out of order with my LeadsCon recaps posts, but I think by now you all know I do things my own way and a little out of order. Day two, I must admit was a little slow moving, but included some very good session.
I am not going to go through each session for this post and am only going to highlight a few them. The first session I want to discuss with you is the “Lead Buyer Perspective” session. The panel included Chris Meerschaert formally of Quicken Loans and now with Adchemy. Adam Graff of Career Education Corp, Jordan Drew of findalocalagent.com, Todd Davison of Bulldog Solutions. The session was moderated by Rick Natsch of Potreto Media Corporation.
Let me first say that it seemed like there were only two buyers on the panel and that was Chris M. and Adam G. The others seemed to have a strong sellers point of view instead of a buyers point of view.
The first question was if the closed loan fee work.
Chris pointed out that it can be used very successfully because it’s focuses on quality and not quantity. He also added that providers should focus on improving the consumers experience rather than only trying to monetize a click. This added user experience, in my opinion comes from added content and ease of navigation. A site that educated the clients while walking them through the process will generate less leads, but will absolutely create a better lead with a higher intent.
The panelist also a chance to discuss whether they preferred shared or exclusive leads.
Adam mentioned that in the EDU space that they were more flexible with the amount of times a lead would be sold. Typically leads were sold 3-5 times, but he could choose to purchase leads that were only sold twice.
Chris claimed that he would prefer to purchase shared leads and I would have to agree. Exclusive leads, in my experience never showed a increase in conversion relative to the increased price. Chris brought up the fact that consumers typically visit multiple sites anyway and even when they do only visit one site you never really know how many times the lead is sold. Plus, with action of pulling credit on a lead you instantly create more competition by activating a trigger lead.
A question from the audience was directed to Chris, “Is there something that you know now, being at Adchemy that you wished you knew when you were at Quicken Loans?”
Chris responded by saying that he wish he new more about the revenue model. His perception was that lead-gen was easy and was extremely profitable with not a lot of work. I found this interesting and true. In today’s market it is harder to attract the right lead quality and margins have slimmed dramatically. It is truly a buyers market for leads. Prices are down and quality has yet to be effected.
Overall it was a good session that buyers and sellers benefited from.
Throughout the week I will continue to recap sessions from day 2.
.
.
.
