Bill Rice of Kaleidico recently posted his Lead MarketWatch widget and referenced the increase in quality (application rate) for LowerMyBill leads. He points out and he is right that there has been a large amount of LMB bashing and yes much has come from this blog, but is there really an increase in quality from LMB.
I sincerely hope that there as been an increase. Any time lead quality improves it is good for everyone, obviously. Now, I can’t tell you if quality has improved or not, but I can tell you that they are spending money on advertising. They currently are spending around $12.5 million a month on media, you can also see on this report that LendingTree is continually in the number one and two spot for ad spend. You can see past reports here.
So we know we have to take a few grains of salt with the Lead MarketWatch widget, because it doesn’t tell you the peramaters for each provider on the list. We do not know how many leads, what states and what type of lead is being used to measure the app rate, but I guess on some level you can derive some information from it. In reality, it is the only source for any transparency into the quality of lead providers, good or bad.
So with that said, I would like and I am sure others would appreciate LMB buyers to comment on the quality they are seeing. How is it? Are you seeing an increase in conversion or ROI with LMB leads.
Anybody want to comment?
(Little disclaimer for my new buyers and readers, please take the comments with a few grains of salt and research your lead providers on your own too.)
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Actually, being with a very large lender, the quality of the leads we are purchasing from LMB stand out to be on the same par as Lending Tree. Personally I think it’s all about what you buy and how you process it that gives you the results. We have been buying for over 2 years now and although the quality was not the same as it is today, we did well enough to continue to invest and reap the benefits of the improved quality from LMB.
Bubba,
You make very good points. Matching your marketing (lead provider filters) to your business (products, expertise, and licensing) is critical. And then the last mile is all about effective lead management. How you manage your inquiries, follow-up, honoring small commitments during the sales process, and scaling client loyalty. In this market a a system that can handle your entire database of current prospects and past clients is critical and can improve any lead source.
Oh got to love the pitches! How bout them Red Socks!
Those ad spend numbers are as crooked as my elbow… see our site for an analysis of the NetRatings version. The TNS ones are not much better.