Breaking the Lead Gen Barrier: 3rd in a 4 part series

Part 3: What technologies are available?

To start, I must issue the following notice: Because I co-founded the LinkTrust tracking platform, I’m both very excited to cover the topic of technology and aware that I must speak objectively about platform technology in general. It is not my intention to point out the deficiencies of any other tracking platforms. With that said, I think that my unique affiliation with LinkTrust provides expertise and insight that will benefit you in your search for a technology solution.

1. Choose a Platform Type. The first question that must be asked is, what are the types of solutions out there and which is best for me? Understanding the 3 types of solutions, ASP, “In-House”, and “Off-the-shelf” is should provide the answer.

   1. ASP stands for “Application Service Provider”. If you pay a monthly license to a company to use their hosted tracking system, you are using an ASP solution. This is usually the best solution since it allows businesses focus on what they do best by letting technology partners to do what they do best. In addition, because these ASP providers have many clients that they service, they should be releasing new features for others that you can use too. In addition, ASP providers generally provide for redundancy or backups in case of hardware/software or ISP failure. Having redundancy can save your business from technological failure which offers peace of mind. Bottom line is, if you want to make more money marketing, don’t attempt to build the technology to track and manage it. It can drain your cash flow and you’ll go grey early.

   2. “In-House” describes any technology solution built specifically for you that must hosted and maintained yourself. This solution requires that you hire technical staff, purchase hardware/software and setup your own Internet Service Provider(s) (ISP). If you want redundancy, double your costs. The main reason some companies choose to build a tracking platform is because when they started looking for a solution, there were no adequate ASP solutions available. Sometimes companies also feel that owning their own software increases their value. This may be true, but it depends on how good that software is.

   3. An “Off-the-shelf” solution is an oxymoron. Don’t be fooled by inexpensive, single purchase tracking systems. They offer only short term solutions if you can get them running at all. Avoid these whenever possible.

2. System Flexibility. The first thing to look at when considering a technology solution is how flexible it is. By this I mean, can it handle your company’s current tracking requirements as well as offer you solutions for others marketing verticals that you may want to get into later? You want to eliminate the possibility of migrating between platforms as much as possible in the future. A platform that allows for the creation of custom business rules on lead data is preferable because it reduces the need to request additional feature enhancements every time your business requirements change. One way we have facilitated this in the LinkTrust platform is by providing “Business Formula” functionality which consists of expressions that can be customized, easily added and executed upon leads much like Excel can use formulas to alter data and validation requirements.
3. Real-time Reporting. This is very important. Some stats displayed in tracking systems may have substantial delays. Real-time reporting allows for real-time troubleshooting to correct issues immediately. This fosters a trusting relationship between you, affiliates and merchants.
4. White Labeled Interfaces. White labeling is the process of customizing the interface so your company is branded. Why advertise your tracking platform to your affiliates and merchants? You should have 100% branding of your tracking and reporting system with no mention of the tracking service used. White labeling the appearance is important, but you should also make sure you have the same for your tracking URL’s that you use with the service.
5. Real-time Lead Verification. This is critical in the lead generation industry. It doesn’t matter what business vertical you are in. The ability to verify consumer information in real-time will keep your data clean, help prevent fraud and reduce other lead quality issues. Subsequently, this will reduce lead buyers (Merchants) from cancelling their contracts.
6. Affiliate Management. Capturing leads is half the battle. Associating them to affiliates and providing reporting back in real-time is another. Some companies use one product for affiliate tracking and another for lead management. Although this may work, it requires a lot more integration, time and money. The best solution is one that provides both.
7. Pixel Tracking. No doubt you may already be using pixel tracking to track brokered or exclusive offers now. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the same system that manages your leads and affiliates also handle your pixel campaigns? This is by far the biggest reason companies license two separate systems. After reviewing many tracking platforms, I was unable to locate a system that provides all three solutions in one integrated platform other than LinkTrust.
8. Lead Distribution Intelligence. Selling leads is easy as long as the platform can handle selecting a buyer, selling the lead, and determining if it was sold and accepted. Another important aspect to consider is the ability for the lead generation and distribution platform to integrate seamlessly with any buyer’s system. By integrate, I mean:

1. Consumer data and volume caps must be validated for each specific buyer,
2. Data must be reformatted to follow your buyer’s instructions, and
3. The platform must be able to read, understand and act upon the responses sent back from your buyers. Automate everything you can!

One thing you may not have considered is the ability for buyers to return leads. If you allow this, make sure your platform can handle it in a simplified manner.

We’ve done this within LinkTrust which has the ability to return leads individually, in batch or even give lead return control to buyers while still enforcing a maximum return timeframe.

9. Pre-integrated Third Party Features. Take advantage of other 3^rd party systems which have integrated their systems with a platform. Some of these third party solutions are Unsub Central (DNE, suppression list security company), ACX Fusion (mobile affiliate stats applications), lead data verification companies (Mellissa Data, DataX, Service Objects, Targus), Denial of Service (DOS) protection companies, etc. Having third parties integrated allows you to use their services without delay and prolonged testing. In addition, you may not need to buy the service directly, but still benefit from volume discounted rates when using that service through your platform provider.

10. Beware Before You Buy. If you’re ready to start shopping around. Here are a few things to consider.

    1. Get credible references! Any reputable company will have references ready to give you. Require that you get references first, make sure they are relevant to your industry. It’s an extra bonus if they have used another system previously so that they can give you some perspective.

    2. Ultra high/low setup/monthly costs. Why is this a red flag? Some companies attempt to get as much up front as possible because they know you won’t be with them very long. Their customer retention may be very low. On the other hand, no setup or a low monthly cost may be another red flag. Remember, you get what you pay for. A reasonable setup fee is appropriate, compare each platform’s setup and monthly fees and you make the call.

    3. Fee structure. Transaction fees can climb fast and then strangle your company just when you start to take off. Make sure they work for you. LinkTrust is one of the only systems that offers a flat monthly license with no per transaction costs. This may be a better solution rather then getting hit with fluctuating costs at the end of the month. Again, determine your budget, compare and negotiate.

    4. System Downtime. Any sales person will market their solution as having low or no downtime. First of all, all tracking systems experience downtime, some more then others. Interruptions in service happen. Some interruptions are inherent to how a system is setup, how updates are done, or placing too many clients on a single server. If you have questions about reliability, find out from the references you get and don’t take any sales persons word for it.

11. Technical Support. I can’t express enough how important good support is. Just because you were able to reach a sales person easily, doesn’t mean the same about getting a hold of support in your time of need. Ask for a dedicated support rep with a phone, email and instant massager. If you don’t get a dedicated support rep, you won’t be happy with your support because no one is really accountable to you.

Finding a lead generation and tracking platform via search is hard since most tracking platforms provide pixel tracking only or are desktop CRMs. Burstabit Media will take the frustration out of searching for a technology platform. If you want to start by contacting companies who have tried a variety of platforms, contact me at [email protected]. There is no way to cover everything regarding this technology in a single article, so, I will go into greater detail in future articles. In the next article, I will cover some of the legal considerations when doing lead generation.