The advertiser is ready to sign. The sales rep is excited to land a lucrative deal from a new client. But there’s a catch: The advertiser wants a guaranteed number of leads that match a predetermined profile.
Welcome to the new world of online advertising, where sales teams are required to deliver more than just an advertising message to our audience on behalf of our client. We’re now expected to produce measurable results for our client, in the form of lead generation, demand generation or performance marketing programs. Payments are made on a cost per lead or CPL basis (if you’re new to the concept of CPL, check out this article written by my colleague Maurice Bakley).
While these deals can be lucrative for both sides, they can on occasion become a real liability for your business. It’s never easy to walk away from a deal, but sometimes it just makes good business sense. How do you know when to say no? Here are five clear warning signs that will make your decision easier:
1. The client’s “assets” are sub-par
Assets are the crux of any CPL deal. If the advertiser is offering a white paper written by its director of sales or marketing, then it’s not a white paper. It is a marketing brochure masquerading as a white paper. Your readers will know the difference, and requiring them to hand over their contact information for a thinly veiled sales pitch will only make them angry – and less likely to register for anything you present to them the next time around.
Keep in mind that you will be marketing somebody else’s content. If the content is bad, nobody will register to download it and you won’t make any money. If you think the assets are weak or inappropriate for your audience, you should not approve the deal.
2. The client wants “the Glengarry leads”
In Glengarry Glen Ross, a group of macho real estate salesmen blame their inability to close deals on the poor quality of leads they’ve been given. They are constantly pressuring their supervisor to hand over the best leads – “the Glengarry leads.” Because art imitates life, many marketing professionals hear similar demands from their sales teams.
The thing to remember is that the best leads won’t convert into sales unless the product is something that buyers want, and (more importantly) the salespeople do their jobs effectively. If you sense that your client is demanding strenuous filters or is not willing to pay a premium unit cost for “Glengarry leads,” then you should trust your instinct to walk from the deal.
3. The client's brand is the "runt of the litter”
This is difficult to assess, because most marketers are very proud of the product or service that they offer (if they aren’t, they probably won’t be your client for much longer); however, it is your duty to weigh the strengths of the prospect’s brand against the brands of your other paying customers.
If the prospective client has a brand of dubious distinction, outmoded products or is just plain unknown, then you should not be negotiating a CPL deal with them. Save the “Glengarry leads” for your best clients with stronger brands or products. And besides, you owe it to your readers to screen out advertisers that do not add value for them.
4. There is a short deadline to deliver leads
If your client has a time-sensitive message, then it is not reasonable for them to expect you to guarantee placement of their ads according to a specific timetable.
For example, an advertiser might have a live webinar that they are seeking to promote. Live events are always more difficult to secure leads for. In addition to requiring your audience to register for the event, you are asking them to make a time commitment for viewing a webinar. Therefore, webinars are more difficult to secure leads for. If your client is inflexible, then you should probably pass.
5. You don’t have the capacity to deliver
This is the most important consideration. Once you’ve checked-off numbers 1-4, ask yourself if you have the infrastructure and inventory to secure the leads. If you don’t, you will have some explaining to do when your client wants to know why you could not deliver on your promise.
Don’t forget about your obligations to other stakeholders (such as the advertisers who support your titles by purchasing fixed placements, as well as the readers/users whose bandwidth and patience are limited for direct response campaigns).
If you have to saturate your inventory to achieve a lead-gen campaign goal, then you are effectively watering down the effectiveness of ads from your most loyal customers while simultaneously irritating your readers with repetitive messages that they won’t respond to.
Shock and awe
It is not uncommon for some advertisers to express shock or disappointment when their offer for a CPL-based ad campaign has been denied. Instead of closing the discussion with “Thanks, but no thanks,” make sure to explain why you can’t agree to the terms of their CPL negotiation. Then propose some healthy alternatives, such as fixed placement or custom content creation.
You might find that your client is willing to go a little further (and maybe spend a little extra money) to forge an agreement that works for everybody. If they aren’t willing to do that, then you’ll know you made the right decision to walk away from the deal.
Ron Lichtinger is publisher of FierceMarkets’ Enterprise IT portfolio of publications. Hiscareer experience includes media planning/buying as well as print and online media sales within multiple B2B industry sectors.
