It’s a commonly held belief that numbers don’t lie, but anyone who’s ever watched a political talk show on cable TV knows that numbers can be made to support almost any argument. Typically, experienced spin masters can use numbers to prop up their points by omitting a few convenient details. With more information, those arguments aren’t as solid as the numbers suggested at first. There’s a lesson there for Internet marketers: Always get as much data as you can before jumping into a decision. When it comes to lead generation campaigns, for example, many online marketers aren’t getting the full story from their reporting.
Relying on Raw Conversion Numbers
Here at PPC marketing agency Straight North, we’ve found that a large sample of online marketers are relying on raw conversion numbers to tell them how successful their sites are at generating new sales leads. The problem with this is that a good portion of online conversions — almost half — turn out to be interactions other than sales leads, such as customer service inquiries or job applications.
Without a means of separating the sales leads from the junk, marketers don’t really know how well their sites perform on a source-by-source basis. That puts them at risk of making important decisions based on incomplete information.
This is why online marketers simply can’t ignore the importance of having lead validation and tracking as key components of their lead generation campaigns. With these processes in place, the level of information they gain about their conversions is higher. This provides them with more complete information with which they can make better decisions. The following guide provides step-by-step instructions online marketers can use to implement lead validation and tracking in their campaigns. Numbers don’t lie, but they can be misleading without the right context, so make sure you have it.
Related: What is Content Marketing?
Track and Validate Your Website Sales Leads
Author Bio: Matt Cannon is Director of Web Services at Straight North, a full-service Internet marketing company in Chicago that offers SEO, PPC and web design services. Cannon manages all web development activities, making sure that every project is applying current development standards and techniques.
