As an established or new entrepreneur, you want to spend your money on advertising and lead-acquiring. According to Acceleration Partners, over 80 percent of brands use affiliate marketing to help generate leads, web traffic, and even sales.
However, with such a large market, some businesses have emerged and created leads and web traffic in less than honest ways. With the high availability of information on the Yellow Pages and social media, some generators will simply pull the information and present it as if they are interested parties. These methods not only waste your money, but they also discredit your business. For example, if the service generates a lead, but the person has never visited your site, they’ll be less inclined to purchase something from you.
Here are some tips to avoid falling into these traps.
1.Awareness
In reading this post, you’ve already started on the first step. To protect yourself, you initially need to know the threats. Ad fraud is positioned to become the second largest organized crime enterprise in the world. Read up on lead generating websites and their reviews before selecting a vendor.
2.Analyze
Why limit your lead generation to just one BI tool? Instead of only relying on lead generation tools, you can also utilize lead verification services. These tools search through various sources to determine if the information provided is accurate. However, they do not examine if the person actually visited your page or has an interest in your products. To combat this, look up other analytic tools like mouseflow to track where visitors click and how long they spend on your page.
3.Work Smarter, Not Harder
When you select a new vendor, trace the generated leads and see what percent actually convert, and, more importantly, how many are fake. Some vendors have a mix of real and fake leads, which makes it challenging for businesses to remove viable leads. If you do choose to keep a vendor that regularly produces fraudulent leads, it is your responsibility to filter them out to maintain the reputation of your business.