Thursday, March 8, 2012

Top 5 Lessons Learned at LeadsCon


Last week Vito and I went to LeadsCon in Las Vegas.  The show was invigorating - we learned a lot and met people we'd only spoken with before.  Here are my top 5 takeaways from the conference.

1.  It's important to go to industry shows that are relevant to you.  Because we do business with so many people we've never met, it's essential to get out there and foster relationships in a way that can only be done in person.  I encourage everyone to participate in at least one show per year.

2.  Slowly but surely, the performance based marketing industry is getting legitimized.  Agencies are beginning to appreciate and buy media on a cost per acquisition basis. Lead generation companies have gone public and are successful.  Examples include Quin Street and Bankrate.

3.  High growth verticals are projected to be or continue to be:  education, insurance, home services, legal services and senior care.

4.  Transparency, supported by new technologies, is a growing trend within the space.  New innovations are allowing clients that buy media to review precise site placements, creatives, and data real time.  With these new intelligence tools, it will become easier to weed out bad sources of data, penalize fraudsters, and grow relationships aggressively with quality providers.

5.   The performance based marketing industry is a fun, super smart crowd.  They work hard and play even harder.  Creativity is clearly evident and optimism is prevalent.  We all agree that this is a great space to be in and want to see it grow.