Patent Publication Number: US-2009234706-A1

Title: Method and apparatus for sales lead generation

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to electronic commerce and more specifically to a system and method for auctioning sales leads based on dynamically created sales lead generation forms. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Online advertisements are generally placed as paid search advertisements or contextual advertisements on internet web pages. When consumers click on such advertisements, the advertisers are typically charged a fee according to a cost per click (CPC) pricing model. Disadvantageously, the advertisers using the CPC pricing model receive only raw data which quantifies web traffic to an advertisement but they do not receive qualified sales leads or other targeted web traffic information. Advertisers seek a solution that overcomes such shortcomings to more effectively generate qualified sales leads from advertisements placed on websites and emails. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention solves the problems of previously known online advertising revenue models such as the CPC pricing model by providing a method and apparatus for generating qualified sales leads from electronic advertisements. According to embodiments of the present invention, sales lead forms are generated for advertisers based on advertiser-specified keywords that represent the advertiser&#39;s goods and/or services. The lead forms contain dynamically generated fields. The presence of a particular field on the lead form is dictated by market forces such as the rate at which users historically complete the field and historical advertiser demand for information captured in the field. 
     Website publishers can embed the dynamically generated lead forms into their webpages in the same manner that advertisements from other sources, such as JavaScript advertisement tags, are currently embedded in webpages. The dynamic lead forms can also be imbedded in other electronic media such as emails, for example. Consumers then complete the fields which typically include the consumer&#39;s requirements and personal information. 
     In an illustrative embodiment, a consumer&#39;s non-personally identifiable information can be auctioned to interested advertisers who bid for the right to contact the consumer. 
     The inventive lead forms with dynamically generated fields provide high-quality leads for advertisers and provide incremental profits for publishers without affecting the publishers&#39; display advertising programs and placements. In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, dynamic lead forms deliver only highly qualified leads to advertisers by relying on proprietary form validations. This allows advertisers to avoid wasting resources on advertisements that reach mostly unqualified website visitors. In return for such savings, advertisers and are willing to pay a higher cost per lead (CPL) for the qualified leads. 
     The present invention benefits consumers and online publishers as well as online advertisers. Embodiments of the invention allow consumers to quickly and safely locate desired service providers and products. The invention also enhances attracton to online content and provides online publishers with increased revenue generating opportunities. 
     Many other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from reading the following detailed description, when considered in conjunction with the drawings, in which: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating the a system for generating sales leads according an illustrative embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 2  is a system block diagram illustrating an implementation of a central database according to illustrative embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of generating advertising revenue by placing automatically generated lead forms in online publications according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a process flow diagram illustrating a method for contacting prospective customers by purchasing proxy contact information by auction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of auctioning contact with prospective customers to advertisers according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a process flow diagram illustrating a method for dynamically generating lead forms according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 7  is a process flow diagram illustrating a method for customer searching of advertisers according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     According to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention as described with reference to  FIG. 1 , a system  10  for generating sales leads includes a provider  12 , in communication with at least one publisher  14 , at least one advertiser  16  and at least one customers  18 . The publisher  14  can be virtually any entity participating in electronic commerce by publishing websites or emails for example, who desires to generate revenue from advertisers  16  and/or from customers  18  as a result of customers  18  being attracted to the content of the publisher&#39;s electronic publication. The advertiser  16  is, illustratively, an entity who desires to establish sales leads that will enable communication with qualified customers  18 , for example. The customers  18  can be persons or entities who are attracted to the publisher&#39;s content, and/or who seek information about goods and/or services that are offered by the advertisers. 
     The provider  12  provides revenue to the publishers  14 , provides sales leads to the advertises  16  and provides desired information to the customers  18  by receiving, storing and processing information received from the publishers  14 , advertisers  16  and customers. The provider  12  generates revenue for the publishers by generating and selling qualified sales leads to the advertisers  16 . The sales leads are identified by using dynamically generated lead forms which are provided by the provider  12  to the publisher  14  to be posted in an electronic publication and filled out by interested customers  18  who view the publication. 
     The lead forms are dynamically generated by the provider according to advertiser-specified keywords that represent the advertiser&#39;s goods and services. Fields contained within these lead forms are dynamic. The presence of particular fields on a lead form is dictated by market forces such as the rate at which users complete such fields, and advertiser demand for the consumer information captured them. Website publishers can embed the lead forms in their webpages in the same manner that advertisements from other networks, such as JavaScript advertisement tags, are currently embedded in webpages. As the network of the present invention grows and develops over time, the lead forms can be adapted to target vertical markets and particular locations. 
     In an illustrative embodiments of the invention, the lead forms are customizable and can include style options and size options, for example. A website publisher can modify various aspects of a lead generation form to match the look and feel of the publisher&#39;s website. The customized lead forms can be embedded in the content pages of a website to provide an opportunity for customers to inquire and shop for desired product or service. Publishers can also use the lead forms to generate branded offers, by placing the publisher&#39;s name on the lead form, for example. 
     Lead forms that are intended to attract a particular consumer can be adapted to a particular website according to the website&#39;s content. For example, if the website includes an article related to finding the a broadband provider, the lead form can be shown in or around the article to offer the user an opportunity to enter their information and be notified of available deals for broadband service. 
     According to the present invention, publishers place keyword or contextual product-specific and/or service-specific lead qualification forms throughout their website instead of placing text advertisements or banner advertisements on their webpages. The lead forms may be placed at the end of articles, embedded in the gutters of pages, linked to form within the content, or included in email, for examples. Consumers, upon exposure to appropriately targeted lead qualification forms can enter their personal information into the dynamically generated fields of the lead forms in exchange for safe, anonymous access to qualified and motivated providers of products and services. This provides the consumer with an opportunity to inquire about good or services after reading related content on the publisher&#39;s webpage. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, when a consumer enters data into fields of a lead form, an algorithm validates consumer data. The algorithm effectively screens the entered data for accuracy against databases using data validation procedures. The data is used to generate leads that can then be provided to advertisers. Illustratively, the leads can be auctioned to one or more advertisers who place bids for specific types of sales leads. Thus, the present invention provides a marketplace for highly qualified leads, Both large and small business to consumer (B2C) and business to business (B2B) providers can participate in the lead auctions. The present invention is scalable in terms of both distribution channels as well as geography and can be used to takes advantage of language differences or particular sales traditions of different cultures, for example. 
     An illustrative embodiment of a system for generating sales leads according to the present invention is described with reference to  FIG. 2 . A sales lead generation system  100  is typically connected to a public computer network such as the Internet (not shown) and includes central database  102 , a web services module  104  and a management web portal module  108 . The web services module  104  incorporates a consumer web portal interface  105  and a partner web service interface  107 . The central database  106  is in communication with an optimization engine  106  which processes lead statistics such as advertiser bids, form field conversion rates and probability of customers entering particular data in fields to generate revenue optimized lead forms. The management web portal module  108  allows advertisers to adjust bids and manage advertising campaigns and is in communication with a reporting database which allows advertisers to access transaction information related to their advertising campaigns. An email delivery engine  112  and email transport agent  114  are in communication with the central database  102  and facilitates email communication with customers. It should be understood that various alternative architectures can also be used to implement the system and method of the present invention. 
     Publishers connect to the web management portal  108  where they can generate metadata form tags for the lead generation categories that they want to include in their online publications. The publishers can choose from several different layouts and configurations of lead form. Illustratively, each form typically includes a headline or disclosure statement and some branding information. 
     From a publisher&#39;s perspective, the present invention provides a method of generating advertising revenue by placing automatically generated lead forms in their online publications. Referring to  FIG. 3 , a provider receives a request for a lead form from a publisher  30 . The provider retrieves optimum fields to be placed on the form from the central database  32 . The publisher can optionally arrange the fields on a lead form  34 . The lead form can then be published on the publisher&#39;s online publication or emailed to a customer  36 . 
     In an illustrative embodiment, the publisher can position the form within its website or email as desired. In another embodiment, the present invention generates form tags that enable contextual placement of the most relevant form on a publisher&#39;s webpage so that the publisher can include forms globally throughout their website without having to set up individual placements. A user can fill out and submit a lead form without leaving the publisher&#39;s website. In still another embodiment, optional forms can be dynamically served to the user based on consumer targeting algorithms. 
     Illustratively, revenue paid by advertisers is shared between the provider and publishers as a function of traffic across the publisher&#39;s website and the quality of generated leads. The quality of generated leads can be determined by consumer ratings and by determining the number of advertisers that are utilizing the publishers as a source of leads, for example. Publishers are able to view how many leads they are generating as well as how much money they are earning by accessing an online reporting system. 
     Customers interact with lead qualification forms on publisher websites by entering their contact information and/or personal information in the form and identifying a preferred method of communication. The customers have incentive to provide this information in exchange for fast and secure access to providers of products and services that the user is interested in. Once the user submits their information they receive an email from the provider which is generated by email delivery engine  112 . The email identifies the advertisers to whom the customer&#39;s information was sent, and may also give the customer an opportunity to correct any inaccurately entered information. 
     The customer&#39;s email address and optionally their personal information is stored but not passed on to the advertiser. The user is thereby provided with a method of anonymously contacting with the advertiser and reducing unwanted contact attempts from advertisers to the customer. To maintain a customer&#39;s anonymity, the system  100  issues a proxy email address or phone number to the advertiser to use when contacting the user. This provides the customer with a safe way to share contact information and prevents communication from advertisers with whom the customer no longer has an interest in corresponding. In an illustrative embodiment, to increase customer confidence, the customers are also presented with information describing how their email address will be used. 
     Advertisers then contact the customer via the customer&#39;s preferred contact method. Typically, if a preferred contact method is not indicated, advertisers can send an email to the customer&#39;s proxy email address by default. Customers can then choose whether or not to respond directly to an advertiser. In an illustrative embodiment, once contact between a customer and an advertiser has been established, the customer is prompted to rate their experience with the advertiser. This rating is used to build a reputation for the advertiser and can be used to ban advertisers and/or to help customers choose between various advertisers, for example. Optionally, customers can request that their information be sent to more advertisers if they did not like the outcome of a contact established with a first advertiser. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, customers may also obtain proxy email addresses and phone numbers from system  100  and provide the proxy information to third parties to avoid disclosing their actual email or phone numbers to the third parties. Customers may then manage these proxies through consumer web portal interface  105 . The consumer web portal interface  105  allows the customers to terminate proxy information thereby ending future emails or calls from the third parties. In this embodiment the customer can remain anonymous and maintain control over his/her ability to be contacted while allowing participating in events that require disclosure of a phone number or email address. 
     Typically, embodiments of the invention match customers to multiple providers of products or services. Advertisers can customize the content of their messages to customers or direct inquiries to their websites, email, or call centers based on keyword and user profile information provided by the inventive system  100 . 
     Illustratively, advertisers can interact with system  100  by participating in auctions conducted by the provider for access to customers&#39; anonymous lead data. Upon winning an auction, advertisers may access the customer&#39;s anonymous lead data in real time an interface that system  100  provides to the advertisers. 
     When a lead form generates a lead, the system  100  of the present invention determines which advertiser will receive the lead by conducting an auction among those advertisers who have budgets available and have active bids for leads of a specific category. Referring to  FIG. 4 , advertisers place bids  40  for leads corresponding to particular customer profiles. The leads can then be purchased  42 , by auction for example, as proxies from the provider. Advertisers having purchasing the leads or having winning auction bids can then contact the interested customers  44  using the proxy contact information. 
     Typically the auction is administered as a second price auction in which each advertiser&#39;s maximum bid is used to determine the winners but wherein each of the winners are only required to pay the amount of the highest losing bid. More than one advertiser may be deemed a winner of the auction, but the number of winners is typically limited to between 3 and 5 advertisers. The use of second price auctions provides an incentive for advertisers to provide their true maximum bid per lead with knowledge that they will not pay more than the minimum needed to be a winner in the auction. 
     From the provider&#39;s perspective, an embodiment of the present invention includes a method of auctioning contact with prospective customers. The method is described with reference to  FIG. 5  and includes the steps of offering for sale over a computer network to a plurality of bidders (i.e., advertisers), a user profile associated with a prospective customer and use of a communication medium by which the prospective customer may be contacted. The provider receives bids  52  and determines one or more winning bidders  54 . In this embodiment, the provider then sells the use of a communication medium to the winning bidders  56 . In an embodiment, all bids are kept private and a limit is placed on the maximum number of advertisers allowed to receive a single lead. Optionally, minimum bids per lead category can also be implemented. Illustratively, advertisers can be allowed to limit their bids to leads from customers within a specific geographical area (either by zip code, area code or location radius) or by other attributes present in the lead form. 
     A web-based management interface is provided to advertisers which allows the advertisers to set or change their bids at will, to increase or decrease their bidding budgets, and to block leads that do not meet the advertiser&#39;s quality standards. In an embodiment of the invention, quality standards can be implemented rating leads as a function of customer age or income level, for example. 
     The invention provides a self service advertising campaign management system where the advertiser can set up lead campaigns, set budgets, and view statistics using the management interface. Targeting profiles can be set by advertisers for each advertisement campaign, so that advertisers can precisely tailor bids for various categories of leads. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, the management interface allows advertisers to target specific user profiles via a multi-step process performed by the advertiser. First, the advertiser chooses a keyword to apply to the lead. Next, the advertiser selects optional fields for targeting leads, such as age, income, geographical location, gender, credit card type, etc. Hundreds of fields can be presented to the advertiser to choose from. The most popular or successful fields may also be suggested by the provider to the advertiser. As a third step, the selected optional fields are grouped into desired user profiles. Examples of desired user profiles include, high income credit card holders, young males, low-interest credit card holders, senior citizens etc. As a final step, the advertiser identifies a bid amount to be placed in auctions for leads corresponding to the designated profiles. 
     Leads that are presented to the advertiser can be stored and viewed in the campaign management system and individual lead detail and interactions are viewable by the advertiser. The advertiser is thereby presented with feedback which can assist the advertiser in generating future advertising campaigns. 
     The process of dynamically generating lead forms according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention is described with reference to  FIG. 6 . Dynamic lead forms are generated as a function of both advertiser demand for customer information, and the customer&#39;s willingness to disclose that information. The revenue optimized lead form per lead keyword  60  is the result of advertisers&#39; bids for specific information fields  62  multiplied by a form field conversion rate  64  multiplied by a probability of a customer entering a particular value  66  in the field. For example, the revenue optimized lead form may include a top bid of $50 for customers in the age bracket of 18-24 years, multiplied by 20 percent conversation rate when age is included by a customer in a lead form, multiplied by 14% probability of a customer falling into the age bracket of 18-24 years. 
     In another example depicted in  FIG. 6 , the revenue optimized lead form may include a top bid of $ 35  for users associated with a particular zip code multiplied by an 80% conversation rate when the zip code is provided by the customer, multiplied by the 90% chance that the customer enters a continental USA zip code. 
     In another embodiment of the invention described with reference to  FIG. 7 , a customer may initiate a search for advertisers who provides desired goods or services. A customer searches for an advertiser by entering a keyword in a search box at step  70 . If no advertisers are associated with the entered keyword, the user is shown related keywords that are associated with advertisers. Next, a lead capture form is generated dynamically at step  72 , based on advertiser bids for the search term and historical consumer response rates to form fields. Illustratively, the customer&#39;s email address and zip code are required on the lead capture form. Optionally, at step  74 , the customer confirms his or her email address. A repeat user may skip this confirmation step if the user is recognized by reading a cookie stored on his or her computer, for example. Lead results are generated at step  76  and an auction, is conducted among bidding advertisers. Winning advertisers are then charged for the lead and provided with the users proxy email and/or proxy phone number to contact the user. Next, at step  78 , advertisers contact the user through the networks proxy email interface or proxy phone number. 
     Emails that are sent to the customer may follow templates or be custom written, depending on advertiser preference. Customers may then review the advertisers communication and choose whether or not to respond to the advertiser&#39;s call. Next, at step  80 , after a predetermined period of time, the user is prompted to rate the advertisers. This rating information is made available to subsequent users. 
     The system of the present invention may establish a predetermined number of follow-up messages which the advertiser may send to the user over a predetermined period of time. For example, an advertiser may be allowed two contact attempts over a 30 day period. Advertisers can create as many email templates as they desire and target them to specific user profiles, or create a custom response for each lead. 
     Although the various embodiments of the present invention are described herein with reference to one or more providers, customers, advertisers, and publishers, persons having ordinary skill in the art should understand that these terms are used herein for consistency and are not limiting. For example, the terms ‘customers’, ‘prospective customers’ and ‘users’ are interchangeable and could mean any number of interested parties who may input information into the lead forms and/or who may be contacted by ‘advertisers.’ Similarly, the term ‘provider’ is not limited to any particular type of service provider, but simply identifies a party who facilitates a transaction according to the present invention, such as an auction and/or lead form generation. 
     The foregoing description is to be considered illustrative and not limiting. It is to be understood that numerous modifications can be made to the various embodiments of the present invention described herein without departing from the spirit thereof.