Quality leads are a top priority in today's marketing world. Successful marketers are the ones who consistently research new and efficient ways to acquire high quality opt-in leads for their databases. Although hardly a new lead generation tactic, co-registration (co-reg) remains one of the most effective means of capturing freshly interested prospects. Marketers who are experienced in co-reg (like us here at Clench) will tell you that not only is it a great way to build your ideal opt-in list, but the leads can also convert like crazy!
Like all marketing mediums, however, success with co-registration depends on quality control. Lead generation is a highly competitive landscape, and often the pressure is on for marketers to increase the quota, prompting them to pursue a large quantity of low quality leads at inexpensive prices. The result is often detrimental: a large, yet unresponsive database. This is why the question of quality versus quantity should be settled at the forefront. Larger volumes of low quality leads may initially be less expensive, but if all they amount to are a few non-responsive contact details on a list, then are they worth it?
Marketers need to put to rest the myth that more leads means more customers. According to some figures by Marketing Metrics (gathered in Help Scout's awesome list of 75 Customer Service Facts, Quotes & Statistics), there is only a 5-20% probability that you will actually make a sale from a new prospect. So when it comes to a marketing medium like co-registration, where the leads gathered are traditionally "cold" prospects, marketers need to be especially careful to consider whether or not their leads are truly interested.
Co-registration works when a prospect opts in to a publisher's mailing list to receive information and are then offered another relevant newsletter at the same time which they can sign up to receive in addition to the original offer. The problem with this is that basic contact details are easy to enter, and a prospect may quickly sign up only to totally forget that they did later on because they were not really that interested. Furthermore, many companies use auto-filled forms on their co-reg paths, making it even easier for prospects who aren't truly interested to easily sign up and forget about it, leaving you with unresponsive leads and a bad conversion rate.
So how can marketers delving into co-reg get their focus off of quantity and onto quality control? Here are some of our suggestions below:
Understand what makes a quality lead. A quality lead is one that meets your targeting demographics/qualifications, has validated contact information, and has shown an interest in buying (not just signing up). As mentioned above, just because a prospect opts in to receive information doesn't mean they are really interested. Take a look at each lead's engagement with your communications. You can know that they are quality/truly interested in making a purchase when they frequently click on the links in your emails, revisit your sites, download your materials, and follow your brand on social media.
Know where and how the leads are being generated. What site did the lead come from and what prompted them to opt in to your offer? Go through the customer journey on the site yourself to have a better understanding of your source and whether or not it will produce the quality leads you are looking for. Doing this will also allow you to gather some insight about the interest level of your leads.
Develop a strategy for building your ideal opt-in list. Generating leads via co-registration should never be seen as a one time event. It is an ongoing process that requires a strategy for keeping leads interested in your brand. Only by doing this will you be able to build an ideal opt-in list of quality leads who will likely become customers or clients. Meet with your team to develop a nurturing process that will be easy and quick to repeat for each lead. This should begin with an autoresponder, which not only reminds the lead that they signed up, but also allows them the opportunity to opt-out if they are not really interested. Then if they stay opted-in, send a series of follow-up messages with engaging calls to action, as well as added incentives to revisit your sites (such as a welcome gift or giveaway). After that, you should be able to put together a list of seriously interested prospects. But your work doesn't end there. A significant part of your strategy should also be determining the frequency of messaging over time. Now that you have some interested prospects, make sure you don't neglect them!
How has co-registration worked (or not worked) for you as a lead generation tactic? Please share your experience with us in the comments!
