Special offers 'are key factor in lead generation'

Improved lead generation can be achieved by presenting additional offers on a website, says an industry expert.

Lead generation can be given a significant boost by presenting the right special offers to customers, an industry expert has suggested.

Speaking at a recent Marketing Sherpa summit in Boston, Dave Laverty, vice-president of marketing at IBM Cognos, commented how his company were failing to engage with consumers a few years ago until they worked on new approaches on generating leads.

He noted how his team decided to treat the website as a "demand-generating tool" and experimented by offering a wide variety offers and making sure to get customer details when they sign up for a product.

"We have a lot of people passing by our window, so to speak. What are we doing to encourage those people to come in, browse and engage with us?" Mr Lafferty told the marketing website.

The results of their use of additional offers on their website, combined with other strategies such as analysis of customer data, is that the company has reduced its cost-per-lead by up to 40 per cent.

Last week, Jonathan Attwood from SwapitShop suggested that businesses should not be afraid to let their brand go to improve lead generation in the youth market.

09/10/2009