Is the FCC shutting down third-party lead generation?

Get the details behind FCC's battle against unwanted and robocall's and Public Knowledge's comment in favor of ending lead generation

If you’re in the lead generation business, I’m sure you’re paying close attention to FCC and FTC actions to battle unwanted calls, text messages, and robocalling.

However, late last year, under cover of holiday distractions, Public Knowledge’s lobbed a molotov cocktail at the lead generation industry in the form of a comment to the FCC.

Public Knowledge’s recommendations to the FCC fundamentally changed the conversation.

Here is the bombshell:

(1) issue a declaratory ruling to clarify that prior express consent to receive a call or text can only be provided to one caller at a time;

This comment kills one of the oldest concepts in online lead generation — “When banks compete, you win.”

Under this recommendation, lead generation companies would no longer be able to sell leads to multiple providers, allowing consumers to request competing quotes and efficiently compare various providers.

What’s probably more concerning is that lead buyers may be instantly left without a source of affordable online leads — the literal lifeblood of a whole host of industries that have turned to a direct-to-consumer business model, like mortgage, insurance, solar, home services, and many more.

One of our analysts at Kaleidico did an exceptional job of further breaking down the potential ramifications of these regulatory actions, so I’ll direct you to her article for all the details.

Third-party lead generation at risk of shut-down: Protect yourself by building an internal lead generation strategy, by Marissa Beste.

I want to switch gears and offer some of the hedging strategies for lead buyers and lead generation companies that could be impacted severely by regulatory actions around these comments.

Lead Buyer Strategy

If third-party leads suddenly become illegal, you must be prepared to generate online leads on your marketing platforms.

If lead generation companies can’t effectively monetize their advertising efforts in online search and social media, it does not reduce consumer demand. It will reduce competition and the power of extensive media buying campaigns.

Consumers will still search Google and be influenced by social media when looking for products and services.

This is your opportunity to generate the leads your sales operations need for a comparable cost per lead.

Here are some ideas :

• Optimize your website for lead generation. This initiative alone will immediately start generating additional high-quality, exclusive leads. I guarantee your brand and sales agents generate inbound traffic full of high-intent consumers. You’re simply missing the lead capture features that make it easy for them.

• Learn to run effective Google Ads campaigns. This is the fastest way to fill your sales operations with high-quality leads. Consumers turn to search for everything, and search is everywhere, from the browser to Siri. However, it’s not an easy skill — a rich mix of creativity and data science. I recommend starting with a lead generation agency experienced in your industry.

• Learn to create “middle funnel” content that ranks in search engines. This is the long game, but it’s also proven to drive down your cost per lead (ask LendingTree, BankRate, NerdWallet, Mortgage Reports, Zillow, etc.) Again, you can learn these SEO and content marketing skills, but it is best to start with experts to avoid burning precious cash and time.

• Learn to use email and text message marketing to engage and nurture your leads. This strategy has two parts: 1.) Speed to contact is statistically proven to increase closing. Don’t leave this first contact to chance; assist your sales agents with sales automation. 2.) Even in the best lead generation program, 90% of your leads will not convert immediately. However, all those leads showed interest and intent in buying and probably will as soon as the timing is right. Use lead nurturing to stay top of mind with every lead — forever.

The cool thing about all these strategies is that they will increase the ROAS of your current lead buying and make you a more savvy lead buyer.

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My agency, Kaleidico, is a one-stop shop for turn-key direct-to-consumer and lead generation strategic transformation.

In four weeks or less, we can have you generate hundreds of high-quality, exclusive leads under your brand for about the same price you’re paying for shared leads.

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Lead Generation Company

On this side of the equation, it will be critical to innovate and optimize partner-matching strategies.

Here are some ideas:

• Click tables are the simple, quick fix. However, we know that lead buyers often aren’t experienced enough to convert traffic effectively, and ultimately they want leads anyway. Solutions like LeadPops become critical — ensuring that you pass traffic into a proven lead generation funnel.

• Optimizing your lead distribution strategies is the next order of business. You’ll have to introduce AI/ML solutions, like ProPair, to ensure that each lead you generate is routed to the partner most likely to close the deal. This increases lead buyer and consumer satisfaction — driving up the value of leads.

What do you think?

What changes do you think are coming to the lead generation industry?

What strategies should lead buyers and lead generation companies pursue to hedge future regulatory or legal actions?

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