The best leads clearly come about when the news shouts sudden change, and people immediately realize they need something. When the markets tanked a couple of weeks ago, how did financial lead gen perform? Surprisingly well for the investment and lead gen firms that thought ahead. Many had prepared copy and offers that featured strategies for turbulent markets or promoted safe havens like gold or even CDs. These offers showed real growth in opt-ins as investors wanted to know where to run for cover.

Why would anyone cancel a TV effort or a magazine campaign that was driving an acceptable cost per lead? Simple: it appears as if the campaign is failing because they are not counting all the leads driven by the advertising expenditure.

It's past time for brand marketers to embrace the online world as a channel to reach prospects and create deep relationships with customers. Two groups that bookend the typical Internet browser/shopper demographic wield a great deal of clout. We'll look at these groups -- teens and boomers -- and provide some suggestions for brand marketers who may still be on the fence when considering the Internet as a channel to reach and convince these consumers.

An increasing number of Web marketers are turning to multivariate testing as an effective means to determine the optimal set of content on their sites. But when analyzing the result of a multivariate test, simply tracking the aggregate behavior of users is only the first step. For truly effective testing and optimization, Web marketers must slice their data by customer segment in order to determine not only which Web site variations were most effective, but for whom they were most effective.

Many Performance Insider articles naturally focus on strategies and techniques to optimize qualified lead generation. This is as it should be -- the cost-per-lead model is growing and evolving, and best practices are needed. But what happens after the lead is generated? Are you set up to get full value from the leads you receive?