As they contemplate what to come back to them with, let’s consider this classic marketing problem: Recently, I went to the bank to speak to a technical person, but they were all busy so I had to wait my turn. Being an impatient guy in a hurry, I left thinking I’d have to come back when they were less crowded…or go to another bank. Now, imagine if the bank had collected my name and contact details as well as a short description of my issue before I left? How satisfied would I have been if they came back to me online with their ideas and solutions to my problem? Now, how would I feel about that bank? This is how lead recapture works. The strategy of lead recapture is the process of getting my name before I leave. It works best when it captures the data about the user and the user voluntarily shares their information because of the promise of getting what they want. Once the brand fulfills that promise, we will be more open to their continued conversation with us. Meanwhile the brand can add us to their list of qualified and interested people that they can communicate with many times for years. Talk about LTV (lifetime value)!

There are 4 ways to describe and sell a lead recapture strategy in order to turn your idea from novel to epic:

1. THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING – Lead recapture enables web publishers, including premium content sites and advertisers more than one bite of the same apple. If a user voluntarily provides their contact details and any other data they select to share because they are interested in that brand, they are self-identifying themselves as qualified and likely to be influenced by brand messaging. Once collected, the site now has one more email to add to their email list which has effectively become “owned” media. Regardless of the marketing costs associated with compiling the list in the first place, that cost dramatically reduces each time we re-message to that accumulated email group. And, if happy users share this content with their friends, we’ve turned that owned media into “earned” media. Once we can market to this new group we can drive them down the consideration funnel. Consider the lifetime value of this list! During the next 12 months of messaging to this list, the advertiser will realize the value of running a lead recapture campaign many times over.

2. IT’S SIMPLE, BUT NOT PLAIN VANILLA - Web publishers can get Lead Recapture in several flavors:

a. CLASSIC – Users are directed to an engagement point on the site, usually a download of a video or document (white paper, case study, product catalog, coupons, newsletter, etc.). Users are accustomed to exchanging their contact details for the freebie even against the threat of a salesperson calling them.

b. INCENTIVIZED – Users are encouraged to submit contact details and sometimes other data about themselves in exchange for the possibility of payoff. Examples include sweepstakes with the winner getting an iPad or tickets to a sporting event.

c. HERDING – Users are presented with a community on a social media platform they already identify with and don’t have to be sold on joining. For example, a sneaker advertiser creates a Running Community on a Facebook page to share their success and the entire community follows their progress and feels their pride.

3. ENCOURAGES BRAND CONSIDERATION – Once we begin to assemble the list, gather the likes, gain followers, etc., we can engage with these leads in 4 ways:

1. Access to content only they can see, such as newsletters, catalogs and live events. Why not create custom content for just a specific group of leads? Designed to be shared by their contacts and thereby adding to your email list.

2. Encourage shared media on a co-branded page where users are asked to upload content. How-to videos, advice, fashion and humor can work best, but must be policed by the site.

3. Product integration within video content shown to a set group. This is more subtle than an obvious and disruptive ad and may communicate a brand message more effectively.

4. Create or encourage content on a blog by a blogger whose audience is similar to the advertiser’s new lead recaptured community.

4. REDUCES CONVERSION COSTS – So, what do we do with this group we’ve assembled through our lead recapture campaign? We can eventually get them into the brand’s store by offering them the opportunity to engage with the brand via social media, mobile apps, experiential marketing opportunities, event sponsorships, etc. They drive themselves into the store when they are ready—or we create urgency with limited time events. Either way, when going for conversions, there are concerns about tracking. This often leads to campaign ideas that include coupons and discount codes. Not new enough? Well, if same day stores sales rise during and immediately following a campaign, we can extrapolate the lift in sales and AOV (average order value) and therefore cost per sale – whether the conversion is online (ecommerce) or offline (brick and mortar).

Any idea that is sold wrong will sound hollow; but by positioning it correctly it will sound important. Asking brands how they scale and monetize their list of “recaptured leads” will put you in the right place to effectively present your big idea.

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