Internet offers a "fresh, free and fast" tool for lead generation

Strategic planning using the web can help firms boost lead generation, it has been claimed. Some of the lead generation benefits of strategic IT planning have been outlined by an industry expert.

Writing on the Internet Advertising Bureau site, brand storyteller and planner Nicholine Hayward noted that using the web can allow businesses to access data from the "largest and most honest" focus group in the world.

"The internet is a living repository of data and will give you instant results for chemistry meetings and pitches as well as longer-term planning and strategy," she said, advice that could be relevant to firms hoping to boost sales through online lead generation.

She added that the insight that is gained from online consumer data can serve as a "catalyst" for companies to come up with new ideas.

The web provides firms with a "fresh, free and fast" tool for lead generation, Ms Hayward commented.

Recently, the Internet Advertising Bureau released a series of white papers discussing lead generation, containing expertise that it gathered from several companies operating within the industry.

Entitled The Online Lead Generation Guide, the publication aimed to "demystify" the online marketing sector, with the organisation also setting up a Lead Generation Taskforce.

This was formed to help promote the benefits of web marketing to British businesses.

Written by Julian Poulter and Copyright "Selling People 2009"