Xerox's Office Systems Division relies heavily on the Internet to provide qualified, targeted leads designed to turn into profitable customers. OMMA's Lynne Russo Whylly spoke with Kristina M. Zlateff, manager of office online advertising at Xerox, about the value that online lead generation brings to her group.

Ever wonder how the discipline of direct marketing grew into something as big and amorphous as Performance Marketing? OMMA takes you on a journey through the decades from the simple days of direct mail to the mind-boggling world of performance marketing.

The business of acquiring customers has never been more important than it is today and online it's harder than ever before to lure and keep them.

Pay-per-call seems to be the performance ad model that mobile has been waiting for, and some think mobile is the platform PPCall needs in order to take hold. After all, when your busted jalopy languishes on the roadside, a quick mobile search produces the nearest tow service and a link to dial. Shouldn't that advertiser be ready to pay handsomely for that call?

Why not make the most of that pricey search traffic after it leaves your landing pages? Even on a good day, many keyword campaigns only convert 4 percent to 5 percent of the click-throughs to a sale.

What's working in e-mail marketing? The discipline is getting more complicated as spam filters are snaring more missives and consumer attention is increasingly in short supply.

It seems like performance marketing ought to be like performance art - a little interpretative dance, some singing, maybe some call and response. Okay, maybe not. But performance marketing certainly sounds like something that involves a lot of orchestration, finesse, and a certain amount of heavy lifting.

Social networking sites were born out of consumers' desire for greater control over their content consumption and entertainment choices. Advertising on social networking sites was born out of marketers' need to reach consumers in an environment in which they might actually pay attention.

Michael Walrath is the founder and CEO of Right Media, a digital media exchange, that was created in 2003. Walrath previously worked at DoubleClick and MaxWorldwide, where he was director of marketing and senior vice president of strategy and development.