As publishers begin 2010 and emerge from one of the worst years in media history, they do so no doubt much leaner than when they started 2009. Publishing staffs have been decimated, including many IT and e-media staffs.
At the same time, many publishers know that to move beyond the banner they need to implement lead-generation technology because it is a better way to monetize low-trafficked Web sites that are common in B2b media. Still, lead-gen continues to lag at most media companies.
The argument was never very good to implement a home-grown lead-gen solution. We’ve heard stories of major B2B publishers who have invested tremendous (and scarce) internal resources into home-grown lead-generation solutions, only to scrap them 2 or 3 years later. After all, publishers are in the media business, not the software business, and can’t be expected to build and support complex software.
To recreate a hosted solution such as LeadWise involves multiple obstacles.
First is sorting out how centralized registration would work. This gets especially tricky once you’re talking about multiple, disparate web site domains.
Another problem is reconciling traditional print circulation databases, which are typically batch-focused, with real-time activity on the Web, and web-registration databases.
A third problem is developing an advertiser-friendly ad portal where advertisers can upload lead-generation ads that are specific to a publisher’s web site or e-newsletter property. To date, I have not seen one viable solution on the market in this particular regard, save our own. And we continue to hear from advertisers who love our ad portal for its power and ease of use.
A fourth issue is developing an advertiser-friendly reporting system that provides the capability to filter out duplicates, competitors, internal clicks, and classify and deliver names to different constituencies at the advertiser or distributor.
There are many, many more gotchas involved. To build such a system is at least a six-figure, 12-month investment, and given the complexity of today’s e-media climate, even more.
That’s why a hosted solution makes such sense. You can be up and running in 30 days with a powerful lead gen solution for your advertising base, well on your way to increasing e-media revenues.
Publishers can no longer afford to devote scarce in-house resources to lead-generation when hosted solutions such as LeadWise exist and have solved the problem of lead-generation. Publishing executives must always be on the lookout for hosted solutions that can take the heat off the development pipeline, and know when it makes sense to buy versus build.
