I am going to give a shot at live blogging LeadsCon. I am not sure how this is going to turn out or if it will be at understandable, but lets give it a shot. Please accuse the spelling and grammar.

First Session:

What’s in Store for 2010 – Industry Leaders

Despite the lackluster economy, the online lead generation space had no shortages of successes in 2009. From companies going public, to already public companies deciding to shake up the world of online lead generation. To help us look into what the future holds, we have gathered a group of industry leaders, those who have been through good time and bad, to help us all read the lead gen tea leaves.

Moderator: Bruce Eatroff, Partner, Halyard Capital
Panelists: Matt Coffin, Investor, Coffin Capital
Thomas Evans, President & CEO, Bankrate, Inc.
Ronald Pruett, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, MercuryMedia
Ty Taylor, Group President, Experian Interactive

Notes:

Fist, companies that were able to diversify in the mortgage industry fared better then those that did not. No Duh, but this needs to be reiterated over and over because management, in many cases get caught looking at their shoes all day.
Matt Coffin – Be in more then one vertical. There will be increase in companies wanting to do this for obvious reasons. The great debate will continue about being Horizontal or Vertical with your business model. From a pure financial standpoint we will see increased consolidation within the industry. From a product standpoint there were companies with great product offerings that did not get traction. Marketing power was key to success for companies, despite the product offering. Mobile and Facebook continue to be the rising tide in the industry.

Ron – While social media does not drive volume, it does seem to be driving quality. You must play the whole marketing field.

Experian representative (name?) – Lead gen is a game of scale. Facebook is getting very crowded for advertisers and seems to be working. (This is questionable at best, whether it is working or not. Outside of diet products. IMO)

Scott – Buyers do not want to work with 15 – 20 sources.

Are there still low quality sources out there and how many?

Ron – These companies are disappearing.

Matt – RingRevenue.com, DoublePositve.com. This is the next step towards lead quality – Call center filters.

Regulatory framework in Lead Gen:

Experian representative (name?) – Appending real time data is becoming a concern by consumer groups.

Thomas – Pro consumer, anti business regulations. Violations will happen and the Gov’t will rush in and over correct the problem.

Who is collecting data well:

Matt – Experian is doing an excellent job using consumer data. Companies are putting money towards lobbyist to help direct where the regulations are being made and how they are being made.

(Is this a place for the new Lead Council to get involved?)

How is it being a public company in Lead Gen?

Thomas – It is brutal and forces you to be more short term focused. 90 day chunks, etc.

Do people understand lead gen companies?

Experiance guy – Not sure if people understand companies and is not sure about IPO’s right now. Companies will continue to roll-up. He suggest looking for a roll-up rather then an IPO.

Thomas – IPO’s is interesting because it creates a level or benchmark. Allows other companies to evaluate themselves. It is a nice metric to point to. There will be rapid consolidations this year.

Matt – People should be hoping these IPO’s are successful. Unfortunately it is not a good IPO market right now.

Ron – IPO has allowed lead gen to be more powerful.

Thomas – investors really do understand lead gen. The biggest concern is that it is an ‘arm business’, simply brokering data.

Is the private equity interest growing in Lead Gen?

Matt – There are a lot of venture companies being more aggressive. Not a huge appetite for pure lead gen. Venture guys want a different twist. They want to invest in a rising tide.

Will large companies. IAC, AOL continue to consider lead gen as a viable model?

Experian guy – Yes, but cautiously

Ron – It is not going to be the old companies, but rather it will be new companies that rise to the top in lead gen.

Matt – There is a race to the first Billion dollar lead gen company. It is not going to be an established company.

IS google good or bad for the lead gen industry:

Thomas – Yes! (both) They are beyond the 800lb gorilla. They are the life blood of the entire industry. Companies are looking for other sources, email, display, etc.

Ron – Google has quietly moved into TV, which is very interesting.

Thomas – Looking at what they are doing, it makes brand so much more important then it was before. You have to compete against Google, you need a solid brand.

What can change the landscape?

Ron – Web intelligence will change the landscape. Analytics will become increasing important.

Matt – I honestly I don’t know. Not completely clear.

Experian guy – Efficiency is a big factor. The ability to improve the traffic instantly and real time.

Thomas – Completely agree. Lead gen is now being looked at by customers and is a critical portion of their business and marketing plan. Lead gen is going mainstream.

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