Despite the best efforts of all involved, there’s often a disconnect between interactions consumers and companies looking to generate leads have online and on the phone. Marketing technology can help bridge that gap.
Marketers often have to make a lot of assumptions when it comes to figuring out what the consumer did before they got on the phone with a marketer. “Companies need to connect the phone call with the website visit that triggered it, and route them accordingly,” notes Dorin Rosenshine, founder and CEO of call tracking and segmentation marketing enabler Outleads.
“The Web can be a lonely automated experience,” adds Will Weinraub, CEO/co-founder of Live Ninja. “Video chat embedded on the website can help create more engaging sales support for businesses like insurance or legal services, or be an extension of an in-store experience, and help high touch businesses differentiate themselves.”
Rosenshine and Weinraub will be part of the “Exploring New Models in Lead Generation—Opportunity Through Technology” panel at LeadsCon New York, August 14-15.
Outleads offers solutions such as dashboards to track inquiry form submissions and phone calls that integrate with existing client systems.
“Everyone is definitely using online media to drive phone calls and that makes it hard to track,” says Rosenshine. “Even when you have all the analytics it can be difficult—a 10 minute call that generates $100 versus a 30 minute call that generates $100 is not the same thing.”
Some businesses have a longer sales cycle, with multiple touches both online and offline, making it even trickier. For example, in home improvement, a consumer can call to get an estimate and then want to think about it or discuss it with a spouse. “There isn’t an immediate result,” adds Rosenshine.
Lead gen is big by phone but can be hard to quantify because it’s an intangible product—you can’t hold it in your hand,” notes Weinraub. “Take insurance for example. State farm and Geico don’t sell a lot of policies online, because people don’t want to fill out a 50 question form and then get hit with more complicated forms.”
Live Ninja’s Katana video chat solution can help businesses quantify online leads for follow-up purposes, says Weinraub. “It can really be a way for high-touch businesses to differentiate themselves.”
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