Lead Generation Insights

Summer 2011 list pricing, according to list marketing firm Worldata, was flat to down when compared to summer 2010 pricing. Eight categories saw declines, ranging from about 2 percent to 21 percent. However, a five-year look at the data indicates b-to-b and b-to-c email list pricing have been on a sharp drop.

Most categories, which include Attendees/Members, Business Mags/Controlled, Consumer Magazines and Databases/Masterfiles, among others, either rose or...more

“Taking the $10 lead and turning it into the $100 lead.” I wish I could take credit for that phrase. But, I’d have to defer to Jason Ward, Edgell’s director of lead generation, for opening my eyes to the concept. It’s also become the motto that we, as a company, have used for the last year to rework and re-craft Edgell’s lead generation efforts.

How can a publisher make a shift?...more

Like so many other areas of the economy, the bottom dropped out of the lead generation business in 2009. Advertisers, in the face of a down market, were tightening their belts wherever they could and lead generation was an easy target. With so many companies offering the same sort of service, publishers were forced to compete on CPL pricing and some companies were basically giving away contacts for free.

Forward-thinking publishers...more

U.S. Senators John Kerry and John McCain announced the introduction of their bi-partisan legislation Tuesday that, if enacted, would limit the use and retention of personal consumer information for commercial uses.

The bill, entitled the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011, aims to limit collection, use and dissemination of information for behavioral advertising and marketing strategies.

If the bill is adopted, companies will be required to provide "robust and clear...more

B-to-b publishers have long relied on directories (or buyer’s guides, depending on company terminology) to produce revenue and establish themselves as a valuable resource to their readers. Now, b-to-b publishers are finding new ways to add value to their directories, even as print is challenged (and often succeeded) by digital, and Google dominates the search market. 

How Media Companies are Repackaging Directory Offerings

Dave Iannone, president and CEO of Go Forward Media (a...more

Whatever happened to lead gen? The hot ticket for b-to-b publishers to generate new revenue from their very specified audiences has lost some of its luster, thanks to the market being commoditized by companies simply giving away names, as well as publishers not following through on actually driving and nurturing leads down the value chain.

In response, Randolph, New Jersey-based Edgell Communications, a b-to-b publisher serving the IT and seasonal...more

The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) released fourth quarter 2010 results of its annual Index report today, and the numbers continue to trend upward. As in the previous quarter, all four metrics of measurement-net square feet, revenue, attendance and exhibiting companies-were up over same period 2009. Overall performance was up 4.1 percent.

In fourth quarter 2010, net square feet increased 5.6 percent over same period 2009. Revenue was 4.2 percent...more

Elsevier Business Intelligence, a biopharmaceutical, medical device and consumer health publishing group within Elsevier, recently began taking a more proactive approach to tracking and analyzing how its customers interact with its online paid content. A new analytics package called Outsell Scout Analytics offered through Outsell Inc. has enabled the group to quickly produce reports that have, within the first few months of use, identified opportunities to add new interface...more

Spending on branded content, or custom publishing, is at its second-highest level ever, at an average of $1.3 million per marketer, and nearly 100 percent over spending levels from 2008, according to a study from the Custom Content Council in conjunction with the newsletter ContentWise.

The study also indicates that many marketers are continuing to shift their money to branded content and at the same time, increase their spending. "This is...more

Publishers are clamoring for audience data that they can fine-tune for their own marketing efforts, and use to woo advertisers. However, data remains an essential part of editorial projects as well, and publishers often struggle with a lack of time and resources when it comes to collecting market research.

Easy Analytic Software, Inc. (EASI) is no stranger to the publishing industry, having started in 1995 by CEO Bob Katz, a veteran...more

Virtual event platform InXpo has introduced the InXpo Social Suite, a package of social media tools and interactive games (such as Trivia Challenge and Word Scramble) that offer attendees social media functionality without having to leave the virtual event environment.

The package includes Twitter functionality that enables attendees to view and respond to all tweets associated with a hashtag attached to a sponsor, exhibitor...more

One of the buzz phrases for magazine publishers in 2009 going into 2010 has been lead generation, especially during these times of pinched advertising budgets. At many companies, the responsibility of launching lead-gen programs has fallen into the laps of audience developers—after all, lead-gen is all about audience marketing.

“I’ve been surprised and pleased to discover that all of the tools needed to generate a successful lead generation program are tools...more