What We Learnt In America

Databowl CEO Simon Delaney recently gave a talk at the Lead Generation World Conference in San Diego. The focus of this talk was to educate American Lead Generators and Lead Buyers about hot the UK market works.

Upon his return we decided to take this further and go over some of the key differences between lead generation in the United States and the United Kingdom, delving into everything from the how the industries are perceived, the different challenges lead generators and lead buyers face, and the software required to operate.

Below are some of the key ideas discusses in the latest episode of the B2C Lead Generation podcast. Be sure to check the links at the bottom of the page to listen / watch the entire episode!

What are some of the key differences in lead generation between the United States and the United Kingdom?

Simon Delaney: The first thing I noticed is there is definitely less of a “mystique” around lead generation in America. It feels like there is more education in the US, more acceptance and knowledge about how lead generation is done. There is more clarity about the different methods and routes available.

Ultimately this means there is less opacity than there is in the UK. I’m not talking about less fraud or anything like that, it’s more the fact lead buyers and lead sellers appear to have stronger connections and a better understanding of what they both do.

I would also say that lead buyers in the US, especially in terms of those at big brands, are far easier to identify. In the UK if you want to work with a big brand who you know is buying leads it can be incredibly difficult to find out who the person buying leads at the brand actually is. Typically they don’t have job titles that overtly state they buy leads or associate them with doing that role. But in the US it is very clear that is their job. Their job role will often be quite literally called “Lead Buyer.”

This is good in the sense it will open them up to far more opportunities. Lead Buyers at brands or even agencies just seem to be far more visible in the US than they are in the UK.

Does the fact this is a specific role imply lead buying is more important for brands in the US?

The key difference is the fact that lead buying in the UK is usually tied with Sales rather than Marketing, but in the UK it tends to be driven by the contact details being collected. So of course if it is lead gen for email addresses it will go to the marketing.

It’s actually quite similar in the US in that sense, and the roles themselves are quite similar, it’s just a case of how they identify themselves. Does that mean that it’s more important? Potentially. It’s just that they appear to be more educated in lead buying. They certainly seem to understand the lead generation market and the different types of leads they are able to buy.

Why do you think that there is more of a “mystique” around lead generation in the UK?

I think it all comes back to data and the understanding of data. In the UK people don’t necessarily seem to understand that with pretty much all data that comes into a company usually has an element of lead generation behind it.

It feels as though the US is a slightly more mature market, but that maturity is with the lead buyers more so than the lead generators. This can certainly be seen within software too. There are plenty of lead buyers in the UK who don’t understand that when buying leads they need a dedicated lead management system to effectively handle the process. In the US the lead buyers are far more developed in this sense and recognise the importance of software. It is much more given that they will have a dedicated software system when buying leads.

Check out the full conversation over on Spotify, Apple, or Databowl’s YouTube Channel.