Richard Kahn
Last February, the FCC proposed measures to “close the lead generation loophole,” lead generators and those who rely on them have expressed concern—and rightly so—over the impact any final rulings will have on their business.
It may be months before we have final rules and begin to understand the real impact, but now is the time for businesses to review their lead generation processes and procedures. Your firm should take all the necessary steps to ensure that you’re in compliance with current TCPA rules and you’re generating and pursuing good leads.
What defines a good lead? And how can you leverage technology to ensure your leads are legitimate? The answers can vary, depending on what stage of the lead generation process you’re in.
Good Leads Come from Those Who Knowingly Consent
There is certainly nothing wrong with making calls to consumers (leads) who have expressed an interest in your business’s goods or services. With the proliferation of TCPA class action lawsuits, you must be able to demonstrate your compliance with regulations, including that those contacted gave consent to receive the calls and that the language on your consent forms is in line not just with TCPA requirements, but also with state rules which may be even more restrictive.
If all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed according to those guidelines, you are working with good leads.
It’s hard for a company to keep up with all the changing rules and regulations, and it’s even harder for businesses that get leads from lead generators or affiliate marketing partners to know whether a contact has legally consented. The right consent verification partner can not only provide documentation of express consent, but their technology will also ensure that your legal-approved consent language is used.
When searching for a consent verification technology partner, ask if they capture the user experience and the language they consented to. This is crucial evidence as many TCPA class action suits rely on the defendant’s inability to provide documented proof of consent.
Fraud Detection: Identify Good Leads From the Top of the Funnel
Sometimes documented consent alone isn’t good enough. Let’s say you have documented proof that Jane Doeremi consented to receive calls from your business. But when contacted, Jane professes that she never gave consent and has no need for your company’s product or service.
At best, she says she will report your unwanted call to the FTC; at worst, she threatens to sue. Jane was not a good lead.
Before you get consent, you want to make sure that a real person with purchase intent is filling out the form in the first place. That’s where fraud detection technology comes into play.
Fraud detection technology is designed to identify and block invalid traffic on the front end so that you don’t have to wonder if an actual human filled out your contact form, or if the person filling out the form is who they say they are and has the intent to purchase. This is easier said than done.
Fraudsters are smart and getting more and more sophisticated. They have access to stolen contact information, and they do a great job impersonating real people. Privacy initiatives designed to protect consumers’ privacy, such as changes to Google Chrome’s user-agent and iOS privacy detection settings, make it harder to verify users which in turn makes the fraudsters’ job easier. Bot detectors like CAPTCHA don’t always stop bots, but they do frustrate legitimate users who often fail on the first try.
How effective is fraud detection technology? We find that one out of every four completed lead generation forms is fraudulent. But that’s just one side of the story. In addition to blocking fraudulent leads, fraud detection technology should not block good leads.
A solid fraud detection platform effectively scans incoming traffic and uses multiple data points to pinpoint exactly who’s behind the keyboard, using non Personal Identifiable Information (PII) that does not compromise user privacy.
What Role Do Humans Play in Preventing Ad Fraud?
Technology can play a key role in preventing ad fraud, but it’s up to humans to understand TCPA requirements, and establish and document company policies, procedures, and disclosures for TCPA compliance as well as related state laws. Without this foundation, your company is already in violation of TCPA compliance.
Employees need to be trained in your specific policies and procedures as well as understand telemarketing rules, including utilizing an internal Do Not Call list, and calling time restrictions. Lead generators, affiliate marketing partners, and technology providers must be fully vetted. Humans in your company must meet and have ongoing communications with the humans behind the technology,
Watch our discussion on stacking consent verification and fraud detection technologies for good leads.
What’s Good for Compliance is Good for You
Good leads will keep you out of TCPA trouble. Good leads also allow your sales representatives to spend their time following up with actual human prospects that are interested in your company’s products and services. And if you’re in the lead generation business, providing good leads to your lead buyers establishes you as a trusted partner.
It takes humans working together with technology providers to fight ad fraud and generate good leads by any definition. We believe the best approach for humans to take when it comes to technology is to seek partners that will help you trust and verify. Fraud detection technology first establishes trust by detecting and blocking invalid traffic and allowing valid users, while consent verification technology documents express consent to legal-approved language.
If you currently rely solely on verification technology, we invite you to request a 15-day fully functional trial and see how adding trust, in the form of Anura’s fraud detection technology, can ensure good leads and TCPA compliance.
