The world of lead generation campaigns has taken a choke-hold on the advertising industry, and forced advertisers to plan and monitor their campaigns on a whole new level.

Even the largest of businesses are quickly finding out that it’s just not enough anymore to simply have a prospect’s contact information.  One must now creatively nurture that relationship and determine what it will take to turn that email address or phone number into a substantial, qualified lead. 

To some marketers, lead generation is still a basic numbers game:  the more, the merrier…and the more successful.  However, after a dismal 2009, lead generation campaigns, or any kind of marketing campaigns, are testing and discovering new tactics to obtaining loyal consumers.  Now that brands are moving past the “barely holding on by fingertips” phase, the global focus appears to have shifted gears.  It seems the top lead virtue has become quality rather than quantity.  Hmm…who would’ve thought that a business would care more about lifelong customers as opposed to get-rich-quick-then-dump-ya customers? (It is amazing how a good recession changes one’s point of view.)

All of that being said, the fact is that 74% of decision makers rated high-quality lead generation as a primary marketing objective, according to GlobalSpec Inc.’s 2010 Industrial Marketing Trends Survey.  “In any case, brands will want to see more quality leads,” Jim Dickie, managing partner of CSO Insights quotes. 

Accurate data is a HUGE component of quality data and verifiable leads.  To state further, accurate data derives from a high incentive to the potential customer.  In other words, it is no longer enough to ask for a potential client’s data with nothing to give in return.  Another side effect of the doom of 2009:  the general public is just not as willing to opt out information unless there is a clear value presented to them.

All businesses are in search of the million- dollar answer:  how can a campaign succeed in cultivating and sustaining quality, life-long customers? The answer is clear- do not take too long to respond to data, track all outcomes of leads and, most importantly, treat all leads with 200% more care than you did prior to 2009.