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January 22, 2007

Qualified Leads and Direct Response Radio Advertising

Today's post is intended to address some of the questions we routinely get either explicitly or implicitly from clients and potential clients.

What is a qualified lead and why does it matter?

A qualified lead is one that has a good chance of being converted into a profitable customer. This usually means that it's a lead that has a good chance of being converted into an initial sale, AND importantly has a good chance of becoming a repeat customer.

In a direct response radio advertising campaign, it is common for many to evaluate their advertising campaigns based on CPL, or cost per lead. But this metric leaves out the question of lead qualification. To properly optimize the profitability of your radio advertising campaign, you must look at your campaign data more deeply than CPL. That means looking at conversion rate, credit card decline rates, and repeat purchase rates.

Why is this important? Because often, the lowest CPL's are the least qualified callers. They're the tire kickers, or the one's calling solely to get something for free (without any intention to buy). Alternatively, there can be "pockets" of moderate CPL callers who tend to convert and re-purchase at a higher rate. If you looked solely at CPL in these situations, you'd be leaving radio advertising profits on the table.

Posted by Jeff Small & Brett Astor at 03:41 PM | Permalink