There Is No Vending Machine For Marketing Qualified Leads

If you talk to a publisher or lead generation firm, it would seem leads have become a commodity. Nearly every B2B publisher offers lead generation under a broader heading of demand generation.

Here is a hypothetical, yet very realistic, snippet of a conversation with a publisher:

Marketer: We are looking for demand generation opportunities that will deliver leads for sales.
Publisher: Sure, we have a number of programs that will do that! What is your target audience?
Marketer: Rattles off target industry, role and seniority. Oh, and we have two new white papers we can use in this program.
Publisher: No problem, we can do that. How many leads do you need and when do you need them by?
Marketer: 500 by the end of the quarter.
Publisher: Shouldn’t be a problem, I will confirm inventory and get back to you tomorrow.

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