Simply put, a lead is a prospective consumer who is interested in your service and has responded to a direct marketing advertisement. There are a couple of formats in which a lead may be purchased. A “data” lead provides an interested consumer’s contact information. After receiving this information, you need to initiate contact with the consumer. A “voice” lead provides a call from a “live” consumer directly to your phone.

Each lead type has a respective conversion rate. Conversion rates vary depending on the lead type, advertising/media used to generate the lead, and most importantly the processes you have in place to work the leads.

While no lead provides a gift wrapped person ready to sign on the dotted line, a lead does provide an interested consumer who has responded to a response-geared marketing piece of advertising precisely because they are “in the market” for your service.

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As defined by the American Marketing Association, marketing is a set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

The success of marketing is measured by its ability to drive a company’s overall profits. Companies that are more successful than their competitors in their marketing efforts grow their business faster, gain market share, build barriers to entry, and ultimately succeed while competitors fail.

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