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Yahoo! News recently reported, “The Internet search leader last week began trials of a new ad service in San Francisco and San Diego that lets small local businesses pay a flat monthly fee for an ad on Google.” This new Google service, called Local Listing Ads, combines with Google Maps to direct the consumer to the business. According to the Local Listing Ads FAQ, “Payment for Local Listing Ads is a flat monthly fee. This fee varies by the location of your business, and the business category you choose.” Prior to this program’s launch, Google’s search advertisers were required to bid on keywords.

Based on Google’s experiment, it appears they agree with us at Reply.com that the acquisition of locally-targeted consumer online traffic is too complicated, too expensive, and too imprecise. Reply! has been focused on solving this problem for years.

Removing keywords is part of the solution, but for most businesses that target local consumers, geo-targeting is a major issue that Google’s solution does not solve. In fact, IP targeting is wrong 30-50% of the time. That poor targeting creates tremendous inefficiency and wasted spend. You still need keyword management to maximize volume.

Reply.com’s Marketplace better serves local advertisers by offering:

• Auction-based pricing
• Precise, user-submitted location and category
• Comprehensive segmentation
• Controls over price, volume, and quality

With Reply!’s Enhanced Clicks™, all you have to do is set a bid price and location. You pay NOTHING unless you actually win the bid for a particular click, and you are guaranteed to receive that traffic. Reply! already has the clicks, so your winning bid guarantees you get the traffic you’re looking for.

Google provides the traffic platform, and Reply.com is the conduit to making them a real solution for locally-targeted traffic. This makes Google more easily digestible for local advertisers. Reply.com also helps Google address a market that has otherwise been slow to bring their ad dollars online.

Reply.com optimizes locally-targeted advertisers’ online spend; major search engines do not. Reply.com built a platform that offers advertisers of all sizes Google-like capabilities, without keywords or text ads, while offering perfect geo-targeting. In five minutes, an advertiser can sign up and start receiving perfectly-targeted Enhanced Clicks™ or leads. Also, Reply! is the only company to help advertisers recover their investment by exchanging poorly-targeted traffic through an online, real-time exchange. The exchange empowers advertisers by giving them the ability to monetize unwanted traffic, recover wasted ad spend, and maximize ROI.

For more information on Google’s new Local Listing Ads, see Google Lures Local Advertisers by Subverting Its Own Search Policies and Google Creates A New, Simplified Ad Unit for Local Business.

VentureBeat.com tech reporter Paul Boutin praised Reply! for “adding publisher tools and more refined categories into which leads can be segmented for automated buying and selling.” You can read the article here. Boutin explained that ad networks like Reply! are beneficial for publishers due to their potential to grow the market for online ads. By using widgets to capture location and category information, Reply’s clicks and leads promise better return on investment.

Boutin added, “The company has seen conversion rates climb to 50-100% over the rates for search and display ads.” He also commended Reply!’s potential to grow the market for online ads by making them more effective and less wasteful.

In last week’s blog, we asked for feedback to help make our online lead generation program better. In that discussion, there were many great ideas and a couple of recurring themes. You requested transparency about what a real estate lead generation program can and can’t do.

Here is what we believe is essential for transparency:

1. To be effective, a lead gen program will cost approximately $1,000 per closed deal
2. On average, an agent will close between 2%-8% of the total leads received
3. Close rate will vary based on: lead quality, follow-up, selling ability
4. Success requires patience, about 50 leads over 6 months is necessary before transactions close
5. With online leads, many phone calls (5-6 per lead) are expected to an individual lead
6. For 100 leads, the approximate breakdown you will receive is as follows:
   1. You will be able to reach 50 leads
   2. 30 will be interested in your services
   3. 2-10 will close
7. Develop a system to measure return on investment for your spend on this and other marketing programs so you can compare apples to apples
8. Once a close rate is achieved, if you want to sell more houses, you can simply purchase more leads based on your processes and return-on-investment
9. Following the above steps will allow you to proactively grow your pipeline and build consistency in your business

You don’t have to take our word that Reply.com works, please review our testimonials. If you give lead generation enough time and follow the process – you will close sales.

Reply.com Testimonials from real estate professionals who have used our service:

“One third of my current listings came through Reply!. It is definitely a numbers game, so you cannot plan on every lead working for you. But you can plan to develop relationships with the leads, and get them comfortable with the work you can do for them. This has been a great source of business for me, allowing me to meet and develop new clients.” – Mark Griese

“Over the last year I have done $2 million in sales and have gotten a $30,000 return on my investment from the Reply! program. Currently I am working with two sellers and one buyer I met through Reply!. I would recommend this program to anyone who is persistent. It may take buying a few prospects, but the transactions will follow!” – Debbie Leiba

“Working with Reply has been very good. Unlike other companies who promise a certain quantity of leads and don’t come through, Reply! always fills my quota. My goal is to have a quality conversation with at least one potential buyer every day, and Reply! helps me do that. Reply! is a great tool to help you build your pipeline and make some sales in this market!” – Matt Green

Let’s look at the various potential earnings (assumes an average commission of $5000/house sold):

• 4 Deals Closed – 8% Close Ratio = $20,000 in commissions Total Spent: $2,750 Profit = $17,250
• 2 Deals Closed – 4% Close Ratio = $10,000 in commissions Total Spent: $2,750 Profit = $7,250
• 1 Deal Closed – 2% Close Ratio = $5,000 in commissions Total Spent: $2,750 Profit = $2,250

In their own Words (video of Agents who have been very successful with us):

 

To Your Success,Adam Carabetta

Today, we are running on Active Rain’s home page to ask Realtors, what they want to see in a lead generation program.  We’ve been providing marketing services to real estate agents since 2001, and feedback from our network of thousands of real estate agents helps guide our product offerings. We offer a variety of marketing programs to meet the marketing needs of individual agents, and you have the opportunity to influence our lead generation products.

If you could control the manner in which you purchase leads, which features would you like to see? What would you change about your current lead generation programs?

1. Lead-Buying Controls
   1. Pricing
   2. Geo-targeting
   3. Budget caps/lead volume controls
   4. Starting/stopping ad campaigns
   5. Cancellation policy
2. Lead Quality Controls
   1. Contents of a lead (name, phone #, etc)
   2. Lead validation
   3. Credit policy
   4. Lead scoring/ratings
3. User Interface Functionality
   1. Viewing & managing leads
   2. Reporting
4. Customer Service & Account Management

We appreciate all feedback, and we look forward to hearing from you.  Click on the links below to learn more about the suite of Reply! lead generation products.

Reply! Real Estate makes lead generation simple to use for even the busiest real estate professionals. Within 5 minutes you can set up your account and begin receiving leads. In 3 easy steps you can pick the areas in which you wish to receive leads, how many prospects you want to receive monthly, and you can even track, manage, and follow-up with all your contacts. You ONLY pay for valid leads, and you will always have 72 hours to return a lead with invalid contact information.

Realty Now is a great solution for part time agents who are new to lead generation. With this program, you can view all the leads in your area FREE of charge. You can pick only the leads you want to purchase. And best of all, you only pay for the leads that you pick!

Reply! Lead Marketplace: The Reply! Lead Marketplace is our newest product, and we place control in the hands of the Realtor. The Reply! Lead Marketplace system uses dynamic, auction-style pricing, which allows real estate professionals to choose the price they’re willing to pay for each type of lead. Learn about the additional controls at www.Reply.com.

You can check out the feedback “live” from real estate agents here.

Reuters is saying that Microsoft and Yahoo are close to the never-ending search / online advertising deal and that it may be announced next week. For those of us that follow the industry, the two companies have been talking for over a year. What I find interesting is that with or without Bing’s $100M offline advertising budget Google’s dominance is not being challenged. I am sure it will take time to penetrate Google’s search share and perhaps a combined MicroHoo attempt could be the fuel to make it happen. Google has about a 65% search share and MicroHoo would have about a 28% share — that is interesting.

As reported, the current discussions revolve around Microsoft paying “several billion dollars to take over Yahoo’s search advertising business with guaranteed payments to Yahoo,” but Yahoo is likely to maintain their display advertising business. For context, Yahoo is scheduled to report quarterly results next Tuesday, and Microsoft on Thursday – good timing for an announcement – huh?

I wonder why Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, IAC, AOL, etc have not embraced lead generation as a third revenue stream after search and display?  Or why, all the companies have not addressed the significant inefficiencies that result from geo-targeting on their platforms.  Here are some of our thoughts.

Reply.com is a gold sponsor of LeadsCon, the premier tradeshow on performance marketing and lead generation.  LeadsCon East will be held in New York City at the Marriott Marquis Times Square, August 17 – 18, 2009.

View the Full Conference Program and full Speaker List.

• If you are interested in setting up a meeting with Reply! in advance of the show, please email us at BizDev@Reply.com.

LeadsCon East Discount

As a Reply.com reader, you are eligible for a discounted registration rate of $295 to attend the event, that is a a $300 savings off the onsite price.  You can ONLY get this special price through this link and you cannot access it from the LeadsCon website.

*Discount rate good on new registrations only. Credits or refunds cannot be issued on previous registrations.  Discount rate good through August 1, 2009, prevailing rate applies after that.

Interesting sessions happening at LeadsCon East 2009:

• Reply’s CEO, Payam Zamani will be speaking on the “Ad Exchanges – The Future of Online Media Buying?” panel.

Ad Exchanges offer the promise greater controls and new revenue opportunities, no longer novelties but serious contenders in the fight for dollars online. Their rise has as many supporters as detractors with substantive questions remaining regarding their role both now and in the future. Listen as the experts elaborate on their take and answer tough questions about an emerging technology.

• Other Sessions
  • Role of Institutional Capital in Shaping Internet Advertising
  • Achieving Breakthrough Results
  • Brand and Performance – Getting the Best of Both Worlds
  • The Rise of Direct Response and Per Inquiry Advertising
  • Display 2.0 – Bridging The Performance Divide Between Display And Search
  • Stories from the Front Line
  • Improving The Conversion Funnel
• You can also check out the LinkedIn Event Group.

While there have certainly been rumors flying around our office (and probably yours, too), it became fact yesterday: Chrysler announced that 789 of their 3,188 dealers nationwide will be forced to close.  This is a 25% reduction in their retail network, and I’m guessing it represents close to 40,000 people losing their jobs.  Once the list became public (click here for a PDF copy), I immediately printed it out.  All forty pages, stacked higher than any other stack of papers on my desk, now stares me in the face with a big black binder clip holding it all together…this report is too large for a staple.

It’s been stated that between Chrysler and General Motors, the two automakers will close roughly 3,000 stores nationwide.  I guess that means when I print out the General Motors list, I’ll need to take it to Kinko’s and have it spiral-bound.

This is, without a doubt, a sad day in history.  My heart goes out to all the dealers and their families that have been impacted by this announcement.  As I scrolled through the list, I spotted at least two dealers on each of the forty pages with which I’ve spoken at one point or another over the past five years, and I’m shocked at some of the names on this list.  On an afternoon conference call with a business partner of Reply!, we learned that this company’s largest local advertiser (a Chrysler dealer) was also shut down today.

So what does this mean for us?  In my opinion, it means the auto industry is approaching rock-bottom—and I say that in a positive way.  With all the stores that have closed—and all that will be closing—the domestic dealers left standing should be healthier.  I am also hopeful that the remaining dealers embrace performance-based advertising and invest in media where they can measure the return on their investment.  At the very least, consumers know they can get a good deal on a new car right now and demand for consumer leads should be maintained, as dealers will fill in the gaps to service new consumers.  More consumers buying means more dealers selling, and that’s a step in the right direction.  We look forward to providing dealers with a highly-measurable online marketing platform for the acquisition of locally-targeted Enhanced Clicks™ and leads.

I could continue sharing my opinions, but I’d like to hear yours.  Please share your comments with us.

Reply! has just launched a new group on LinkedIN.com. 

Lead Generation 2.0 is a group for professionals interested in the future of Lead Generation.  Our industry is quickly evolving and professionals can leverage the knowledge of crowds to find out what’s next, guide strategy, find new sources of traffic, identify talent and drive revenue.

The group has an open membership and participation is highly encouraged.  Please use the group to stay on top of evolutions in online consumer acquisition strategies from social media to innovations in behavioral targeting, advertising exchanges, social search, lead marketplaces and of course PPC and SEO.

We look forward to your participation.

Our presentation on the state of online lead generation, “Is Lead Generation Dead? Transforming Lead Generation,” has been featured on SlideShare.net. The presentation, which debuted at ad:tech NYC ‘08, discusses the problems with existing lead generation methods and explores the concepts that will lay the foundation for the future of the industry. You can view the presentation here.

Please join Reply! at LeadsCon in Vegas March 3rd & 4th

Thanks to LeadsCon, we are able to offer our blog readers and Reply users a special discount price of $395, saving $600 off the regular admission (good while supplies last or until Feb 25th). If you didn’t attend last year’s event, it was completely sold out. If you would like to attend, please take advantage of this special offer.

Click here for Reply!’s special discount rate!

If you are planning to attend the show, please let us know so we can arrange a time to meet and fill you in on Reply’s offerings.

Payam (Reply!’s CEO) will be on the panel, “Lead Exchanges: The Future of Lead Generation?”

• Moderator: James Cham, Vice President, Bessemer Venture Partners
• Panelists:
  • Payam Zamani, Chairman & CEO, Reply! Inc.
  • Keith Moore, Senior Vice President, Lending Tree, LLC, Tree.com, Inc.
  • Anik Ganguly, Board Member, Detroit Trading
  • Marc Diana, Founder & CEO, LeadPoint

Exchanges have historically created and defined new markets, providing maximum efficiency, critical mass, and synergy. Top executives discuss the current challenges exchanges face in the lead generation industry and what it will take for them to continue to expand and take market share. Listen to them as they address tough questions such as, “Do publishers earn more from exchanges, and do their customers really receive higher quality?”

I will be moderating the panel “Local Advertising – Lead Gen’s New Black?”

• Moderator: Brian Bowman, Chief Marketing Officer, Reply! Inc.
• Panelists:
  • Hanan Lifshitz, Co-Founder & CEO, Palore
  • Paul Ryan, Founder & CEO, DoneRight!
  • Anthony Wills, Chief Revenue Officer, Dotmenu, Inc.
  • Robert Wright, Founder, EVP and General Manager Xchange, ReachLocal, Inc.

The shaken credit markets mean a potentially uncertain future for what has been the backbone of lead generation – verticals powered by lending. They have left many wondering from where the future growth will come. While, we will see a heavy emphasis on international opportunities and big brands, an often overlooked segment are the hundreds of thousands of local advertisers who have barely scratched the surface of online advertising, who represent billions in annual spend. Is it a question of if, when or how?”

We look forward to seeing you at the show.

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