Databowl

Databowl helps lead buyers remove bad leads and collect more of the leads that become sales.

The key to success and unlocking growth with lead generation is removing uncertainty and gaining transparency. Using Databowl’s walled garden you will gain complete control and the confidence to concentrate on building relationships with your partners and prospects.

We help companies maximise the value of every lead and grow profitably
We believe what is good for the consumer is also good for you, and we operate with complete transparency
We believe in saving our users time and money by providing everything they need for lead buying
We believe in disrupting and reshaping the way lead buying happens for the better

CEO / Founder

Partner Hype

Creating trusted partnerships between Lead Buyers and Lead Sellers

Managing Director / Founder

MediaBowl Ltd

The only website Mediabowl ever had was a 1 page cartoon I asked my wife's Dad to draw (he's a cartoonist). However it hit £2m revenue in year 1. Don't know what that tells you other than the first thing in business, is getting business and that we were really good at what we did.

A lead gen/performance marketing agency that worked with blue chip brands globally, and a great testing ground for tech we could build to improve the quality of data being sent to our clients.

Managing Director

Data Media and Research

Led an MBO from the Daily Mail Group Trust.
We ran lead generation campaigns and offered agency services to brands, agencies and lead buyers.

Digital Advertising

Online Lead Generation

I am the CEO of Databowl, a company that helps lead buyers remove bad leads and collect more of the leads that become sales. 

With over 15 years of experience in marketing operations, lead generation, direct marketing, and data orchestration, I have a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the online marketing and performance marketing industry, especially when buying leads.

My mission is to provide our clients with the tools and support to ensure that only the best leads arrive at their door, saving them time and money, and building connections and relationships with real people. 

We approach this at a human level, not a data level, and we operate with complete transparency. Thanks to our validation software, we have rejected hundreds of millions of unsuitable leads and processed over a billion high quality leads globally. We also enable real-time data delivery and feedback, eliminating delays and losses in the lead buying process.

About 15 years ago I was sitting in an office with a bunch of other people going through the figures to report for month end

I stood up and said "Screw this sh*t, i'm never doing this again"

Every month after tedious month having to chase clients for their rejection figures on leads they'd bought

And then collating all those figures and feeding the net figures to be invoiced to dozens of suppliers (then having endless back and forth conversations about the reasons for rejection)

And also going through the net revenue to decide rankings and budget allocations between different companies buying leads

It often used to take two full days of several people's time

I've not been through the process again in the 15 years since I made that 'announcement'

UNTIL...earlier this week I reported the first ever full month's figures from Partner Hype. It was one email sent to dozens of people that simply said 'Log in here to get your figures'

It took me 1m 17s

You can only do this if you get feedback on the outcomes of leads...

 - It helps future targeting to ensure you can go after the leads that become sales

 - It removes the messy admin involved in the month end reporting of figures between lead buyers and sellers

 - It enables full transparency on the reasons why leads are being rejected so the lead seller can make changes to remove those leads in the future

The technology is there to completely automate the connection between companies buying and selling leads (like Databowl)

Honestly, there's virtually no need for month end admin in lead generation

But you have to be set up for the automation

#affiliatemarketing #leadgeneration 

Simon Delaney

One of the worst things you can do when you're buying leads in a saturated market is Stop Start

It leads to way more problems than it solves

You'll find...

- A delay until things get up to speed

- Having to optimise sources based on results (again)

- Far harder negotiations based on your lead suppliers analysing results their side

There's also a far bigger issue

The moment you pause a campaign the first thing your lead supplier will do is look for another buyer of the leads you were buying (they'll probably do this whilst the campaign is running)

Invariably the new buyer will pay more and commit to an ongoing supply

Now you have massive competition

- Your costs will go up
- You will cut corners to compete
- You will need to commit to far higher volumes

Your results will suffer

I get it can be tough if you have budget constraints, but if you're going to buy leads, especially in a saturated market you really need to commit to it

Decide new budgets before the old budget has gone

Analyse results on the fly not when the campaign ends

Dive into a process and structure for buying leads that means it's far more likely to succeed long term

#leadgeneration #affiliatemarketing 

When you buy leads from 3rd parties you don't want to get lucky

You want predictability 

A relentless pursuit of consistency

Not because you want mediocre results. You simply want to avoid boom and bust as you can't rely on that to find any kind of success

There's a few ways to ensure a flatline of consistency when you're buying leads, but it requires a commitment from you...

1. Buy leads from multiple sources

This removes the impact a single source can have on you in terms of volume or quality. This is one of the biggest issues facing small companies buying leads. They don't have the budget to spread the risk

2. Feedback results in real time

You do this so that you can address issues immediately (I regularly see scenarios where something has gone wrong and it takes 2 weeks for someone to realise and they've lost £10's of thousands) 

AND your lead gen partners can make improvements to their targeting to target the areas you're seeing success in

3. A blended approach

You can't expect all your lead gen partners to operate at the same level. Their results will differ dependent on LOTS of factors - Instead you want to recognise their individual average performance and create a blend from it. The key is to create performance buckets that each source goes into

Doing these 3 things will ensure a consistency of volume and performance that you can rely on

But, what about you? What's the commitment?

 - Budget, Patience and Proactivity 

You need the budget to be able to work with multiple partners 

You'll probably not see the immediate results you want from everyone so you might need to be patient whilst it gets up to speed

If you're not proactive things will escape from you and you'll be reacting to bad results rather than controlling them

---

I appreciate this can be a lot to take on when you have a ton of other things on your plate...this is what we help you with at Partner Hype 

The idea is to remove risk and create consistent high performance you can rely on

#leadgeneration #affiliatemarketing 

Building Partner Hype has been a relief in terms of helping companies that buy leads

I don't have to keep saying "This is what you need to do"

And instead say "This is what we do for you"

Below is the kind of minimum requirement you need in place to buy leads effectively

But most people don't have the time or the tech

It's what Partner Hype does as standard for you...

----

Here's 8 ways to buy leads that will increase your conversion rates...

1. Due Diligence

When working with a new supplier, get a due diligence doc completed. This needs to include things like the governing bodies they are members of, the URL's to generate leads, 3rd parties that are used etc

A lot of the issues companies encounter can be eradicated by carrying out due dil before they buy leads

2. Simple to use API's

Some companies have historic, or convoluted API's that can be difficult to connect to. Instead have a system with a industry standard API that is secure and connect it to a complicated API

The simpler you make this process, the more likely you are to hit the ground running

3. Qualify and Verify Leads (properly)

Verify contact details in real time, validate leads can be a customer, add de-dupe on leads in a specific timeframe, add any customer lists as suppressions and run it all in real time

You can only sell to real people. Remove the people you can't sell to before it goes into a sales, or marketing function

4. Control Lead Flow with CAPS

Add caps to new suppliers to measure their performance on a set number of leads in a given timeframe. This removes the chances of you getting stung for large amounts of leads that don't perform

Caps give you control on lead volumes by supplier

5. Deliver Leads in Real Time 

It's always best to have the data in the CRM/Dialler/ESP that is going to be used to contact a person...it minimises mistakes

Receive leads in real time even if it's an appointment for a later time

6. Feedback Results to Lead Generators 

A key way to buy better leads is to feedback to your suppliers what good leads look like. To do this, set up webhooks that deliver the outcomes of leads back to the lead generator

Lead Generators can now optimise their targeting for leads that are more likely to lead to successful outcomes

7. Receive all the Information on How a Lead was Generated

In the lead data also receive ALL the information around how the lead was generated. The source, sub source, the landing page, the ad, the channel, etc

You will give you a full record on exactly the customer journey each person went through

8. Observe and Track Where all Your Best Leads Come From so You Can Buy More of Them

You need to track performance at the micro level. This gives you insights into the ad, the sub source, landing page that is driving sales

Even when performance is good from a single source you'll find individual elements over-indexing. Key is to maximise these

 #leadgeneration #affiliatemarketing 

"We tried affiliate marketing for lead gen and it doesn't work"

I've heard this more times than I care to remember....

The thing is, more often than not it's not that it doesn't work, it's that the right measures haven't been put in place to make it a success

One of the biggest is the landing page...

We work with networks and agencies building landing pages for their clients that are optimised for lead generation running on affiliate channels

The difference it makes is staggering

We've seen a campaign run direct to the clients landing page get virtually ZERO leads, but loads of clicks

Then we've built a dedicated lead gen page for the same brand under their brand guidelines (but optimised for lead gen) and seen it get THOUSANDS of leads with the same number of clicks

This isn't down to luck - it's a proven formula

If you have a form that isn't optimised for lead generation using conversion principles I wouldn't even bother running affiliate traffic to it

And if you don't have full verification and fraud detection on it...honestly, you're just asking to be heavily shafted (and not in a good way)

Using affiliate marketing with networks and agencies is great way to get leads, but if you don't set the campaign up for success it is destined to fail every single time

 - You need a dedicated landing page
 - You need top level fraud detection
 - You need great publishers

#affiliatemarketing #leadgeneration 

When it comes to automated data processing we often focus on the stuff that looks like it's immediately making or saving us money

Things like...

 - Speed
 - Reporting
 - Verification
 - Rejecting records instantly
 - Conversion rate optimisation on landing pages

But there's things that whir away in the background that are constantly saving time and money but we barely give them a second thought

This riveting example of date reformatting is one such example

Listen in to my dulcet tones as I slowly dissect how reformatting helps when you're moving data from one API to another

This one little thing can save you £ thousands per year...

Just go ask someone doing it manually

#affiliatemarketing #leadgeneration 

Buying leads and falling short on volume or quality on a regular basis?

This is the antidote...

BUY LEADS FROM AS MANY PLACES AS POSSIBLE

It's the thing that removes the most risk, and creates the greatest uplift in performance

Here's why...

1. Predictable Results

Buying leads from many sources creates a performance average that a single source bombing can't impact 

2. Drive Performance

When you have a range of performance levels from different sources, you track performance at a granular level and remove sub sources that don't match the average - Your average goes up 

3. New Channels

Most lead partners major in certain channels, by working with more sources you experience different levels of quality, intent and interest by source 

4. Performance Searching

When you know that more sources means less risk and higher average performance, you look for more sources of leads - this opens up new opportunities that you ALWAYS otherwise miss

---

Buying leads from many places is one of the best ways to remove risk and increase performance

You want predictability not boom and bust

#affiliatemarketing #leadgeneration 

You hear a ton of analogies about leads but very few about the reality of saas 

I'm balls deep in both

Trust me, the pot at the end of the rainbow is rarely there in saas

Some ramblings from a castle...

#affiliatemarketing #leadgeneration #saas

Most companies that buy leads measure results at a very high level and miss data (that matters most) at a granular level

This leads to bad decisions...

- Turning off 'poor performing' channels or sources off based on their overall results

- Pouring more budget into higher performing sources regardless of performance at a micro level (you learn all the sales are coming from one ad out of ten)

- Paying a set CPL to everyone because 'that's what we need to pay based on the conversions we always get

All approaches mean you're wasting budget

Instead, measure performance in high definition. There are over-indexing and under-indexing elements from every source

Measure those

The true secret to improving your conversion rates is in the data you're not analysing

---

I get it can be very time consuming and sometimes you don't know to start with this sort of analysis 

Technology geared to buying leads helps

Feed in the right info and it will tell you the direction

#leadgeneration #affiliatemarketing 

If you're a brand buying leads there are a bunch of obstacles that make buying leads difficult...

1. Having a detailed contract with each supplier

I've been in contract negotiations with some companies for months (some over a year)...imagine doing that with 20 lead generators

2. Having the tech to manage it all

You don't know what you don't know. And there are lots of companies out there that don't know that the secret to buying leads well is all in the technology

3. Having the knowledge to control data

Alongside tech, you need to know the rules and processes you need to have in place to ensure you remove bad data and increase the amount of good data

---

Some brands don't have this problem. They have the right systems and process in place to ensure they're buying good leads and making the most of them. Great

BUT...

In my experience for every brand doing it well there are 10 that aren't 

They need someone in the middle to sort all this sh*t out

#affiliatemarketing #leadgeneration 

When I used to run a lead gen agency we had several mantras...

A key one was "The suppliers of leads are just as important as the buyers of leads"

And we've carried this philosophy through to Partner Hype

It's relatively easy to show a lead buyer how you can add value to them - do stuff they can't, use tech to remove bad leads, set up API's quickly etc etc

But it's far harder to convince a lead generator you're adding value

As an agency you have virtually no risk, but as a lead generator driving traffic from cost per click channels you have massive risks

If you're not adding value for them why would they work with you?

They wouldn't

So, how do you add value to a lead generator as an agency?

1. Push for their leads to be treated as expected
2. Work with them to increase their conversion rates
3. Feedback all the outcomes of the leads they supply
4. Make sure all information flows both ways in real time
5. Find out ahead of time which ads will, or won't be signed off
6. Don't have a static CPL, push for a dynamic CPL attached to the CPA

You can add massive value as an agency, but it needs to work both ways - for the buyer and the supplier of leads

When you get it right, they want you in the middle

#leadgeneration #affiliatemarketing 

I used to encourage all advertisers to work directly with multiple lead gen companies and publishers

I got it completely wrong

Not because working with many lead generators and publishers is wrong. That is 100% the right thing to do

But you must have the right processes and systems in place to do it

To work with multiple suppliers of leads you need:

 - Many contracts signed off 
 - Knowledge of all the places to buy leads 
 - Dedicated software to deal with all the data and suppliers involved in buying leads 
 - A team to implement all the processes and systems and make decisions where to place budgets 

Very few advertisers are set up to do this correctly so working with agencies and networks becomes a HUGE benefit 

There is a big caveat though...

The advertiser needs transparency of what is happening and why

As an agency or network you must be able to demonstrate the value you add and your commitment to impartiality 

It's easy to take shortcuts and place budgets where you make the most money

But it's not good for the advertiser and it doesn't scale long term 

#affiliatemarketing #leadgeneration 



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