Choosing the right lead generation agency is an important business decision. The agency will be responsible for introducing potential customers to your brand and influencing how your marketing budget is spent.
The decision should not be based only on which agency promises the cheapest leads.
Look for a complete strategy
Lead generation involves several connected components:
- Identifying the ideal customer
- Developing the offer
- Choosing the correct advertising channel
- Creating the campaign
- Designing the advertisement
- Building the landing page or form
- Tracking enquiries
- Qualifying leads
- Managing follow-up
- Measuring sales outcomes
- Improving the campaign over time
If one component is weak, it can affect the entire campaign.
For example, strong advertising may generate many clicks, but a confusing landing page could prevent those visitors from enquiring. A well-designed lead form may produce excellent leads, but slow follow-up could cause those opportunities to choose a competitor.
A capable lead generation agency should consider the full journey rather than concentrating only on the advertisement.
Ask how success will be measured
Before beginning a campaign, the business and agency should agree on what success means.
Possible campaign goals include:
- Generating a target number of qualified leads
- Reducing the cost per qualified lead
- Increasing appointment bookings
- Improving lead-to-sale conversion
- Reducing customer acquisition cost
- Generating a profitable return on advertising spend
- Expanding into a new service area
- Creating a more predictable sales pipeline
The correct measurement will depend on the business model.
For companies with a longer sales cycle, immediate revenue may not provide the full picture. These businesses may need to measure qualified opportunities, proposals issued and the potential value of the sales pipeline.
For businesses with a shorter sales cycle, the connection between advertising spend and revenue may be easier to track.
Understand the difference between a lead and a sale
A lead is an opportunity, not a guaranteed customer.
The agency can influence targeting, advertising, messaging, lead capture and qualification. However, the final sale can also be affected by:
- Response time
- Sales skills
- Pricing
- Availability
- Customer service
- Competitor offers
- Payment options
- Quotation quality
- Follow-up
- The customer’s personal circumstances
Businesses should be cautious of agencies that guarantee sales without first examining these factors.
The agency and the client share responsibility for the final outcome. The agency must generate relevant opportunities, while the business must handle those opportunities effectively.
Calculate an affordable cost per lead
Before launching a campaign, the business should estimate how much it can afford to spend to acquire a new customer.
A simplified calculation can begin with:
- Average sale value
- Gross profit per sale
- Percentage of leads that become customers
- Desired profit after marketing costs
- Repeat purchase potential
- Lifetime customer value
For example, if one out of every ten leads becomes a customer and the business can afford to spend R5,000 to acquire that customer, the estimated affordable cost per lead would be R500.
This is only a starting point. Actual performance will vary, and not every customer will have the same value. Nevertheless, understanding the economics helps prevent the business from choosing unrealistic lead-cost targets.
Ensure that your sales team is prepared
Before increasing lead volume, review how your team currently handles enquiries.
Consider the following questions:
- Who receives new leads?
- How quickly are they contacted?
- How many contact attempts are made?
- What happens when the prospect does not answer?
- Are WhatsApp, email and telephone follow-ups used?
- Are appointments confirmed?
- Are quotations followed up?
- Are lost opportunities recorded?
- Does management review sales conversion?
- Can the team handle more enquiries?
A strong marketing campaign can fail when the sales process is weak. In some cases, improving response times and follow-up can increase sales without increasing the advertising budget.
Why choose Leadburst Digital?
Leadburst Digital combines performance advertising with practical lead-management systems.
We can assist with:
- Google Ads
- Facebook and Instagram advertising
- Lead generation strategy
- Landing page development
- Lead form creation
- Lead qualification
- Call and conversion tracking
- CRM implementation
- Automated follow-up
- Appointment-generation campaigns
- Database reactivation
- Campaign reporting and optimisation
Our objective is to help Johannesburg businesses create a reliable and measurable flow of sales opportunities.
We begin by understanding your business, your customers and your sales process. We then develop a strategy based on the channels and systems most likely to support your objectives.
Rather than focusing only on lead volume, we consider lead quality, conversion rates, customer acquisition costs and the value generated by the campaign.
Speak to a Johannesburg lead generation agency
If your business has a proven service and the capacity to assist more customers, Leadburst Digital can help you develop a structured lead generation strategy.
Whether you want to generate more quotation requests, appointment bookings, telephone calls or qualified sales conversations, we can help you build a campaign around your specific goals.
Contact Leadburst Digital today to arrange a consultation with a Johannesburg-based lead generation agency and discover how a measurable lead-to-sale system can support your business’s growth.
