Critical Targeting Results and Options

Dear DirectFlow lead generation recipients,

Some targeting notes from the CEO:

Now that we have enough lead generation data returns to get a feel for what we’ve accomplished initially, we can share some glaring differences in what we have achieved vs. what the industry norm used to be.

Allow me to start with the targeting applied “across the board” to all clients and their applications nationally. To arrive at a baseline, after discussing the needs with all of our dealers, the overwhelming consensus was that less leads of better quality was their preference. We covered the territory of volume vs. quality pretty thoroughly, and it was decided, based upon the strongly stated need for more grand piano activity, that we would begin ALL campaigns using the Meta filter that allows us to spend all the ad $’s on the top 50% of the income generating zip codes. This was done to get a baseline feel for how that would perform in all markets. 

The two immediate results were that we had significantly increased the amount of grand piano stated interest. The overall quality of the leads jumped almost 50%! In a few markets, the volume remained steady from the past but in most of them it went down 40-50%. The second result was that we needed to open the targeting up in 4-5 smaller markets because there simply weren't enough leads coming in.   

Flash forward to Monday the 21st of July. After getting a good read on the national activity at the top 50% of the market only, we decided to relax the targeting and open it up to create more leads. The volume is picking up as expected and the grand leads are still there but instead of being 75% of the leads they dropped to 45% as they were with the old company. It follows that as the leads were less in the beginning, the CPL (cost per lead) was much higher. It is trending down now as the lead volume begins its increase. These are not long term or permanent revisions, but system testing to see how it responds to targeting revisions which is something we need to know, all of us. These are initial lead numbers, not where they will end up as Dash gets officially born in its 1.0 version*, but they do point to an important company decision you have the ability to make. You have the opportunity, based upon how we set the targeting, to choose between more leads at a lower CPL that include more entry and intermediate level opportunities or staying with more grands and a spattering of other types and a higher CPL. 

There is no right or wrong!  The choice simply depends on the makeup of your inventory, how your staff is configured to sell, and what your goals are. Extensive study from multiple sites tell us that $172 is the average “paid for” lead generation cost in the luxury marketing space when aiming solely at the top 50% of the market. We are trending toward a $95 top of the market CPL and roughly $45 when the spigot is opened up. In time, after the new system refines the intel it gives Meta, and eventually Google after that series is refined, we will settle in some markets with moderate piano interest around $35 and high piano interest markets in the mid to upper twenties.  

Here is the hidden value of the ads we are placing and in ninety days, PLEASE report back to confirm this: We are driving a phenomenal amount of traffic to people’s websites vs. the generic sponsored ads of old. The new ad branding is creating some impressively targeted visitors to our clients’ websites. Before hundreds of people decide to, or not to, engage in consent marketing and fill out the form, they are going to go to your Facebook (direct link in the ad) and/or your website to find out about you. So why haven’t we developed a version of my web harvesting idea, Bridge Widgets? In the works folks, and with the increased web visits from  the branded ads, it will work better than ever before! Soon the Direct Web Widget will join Daily DirectFlow and New Neighbors as an active lead generation application. 

In summary: We have seen both the quality the top 50% achieves, and the added volume that opening up the targeting results in. If you are in a “C” or “D” sized market, the market has dictated that because of the population of your market, we leave your targeting wide open and you sift through the leads to qualify and disqualify, which is what sales pros do anyway. What our recommendations are after the A-B in the first 4-5 weeks is to leave the “used app” wide open and leave the New Neighbors at 50%. A well rounded, diversified, digital portfolio should include a “Premium Piano” application at the top 25% as well, and in the couple of markets we are running them, the quality results are proving themselves consistent. Here is the bottomline - you can have us keep the DirectFlow targeting open or revert back to the top 50%. Even if the targeting is wide open, the intel that Dash is giving Meta on the back end will allow it to find the grand piano leads (which make the world go’ round) better than any other harvesting machine out there. So, they are in there! Even if you choose to work through a higher volume, the lead enrichment will help you see the high end opportunities as well as the pedestrian ones. The “set it and forget it” days are over and we are providing this feedback so you can customize your lead generation investment to fit your needs and desires. Each app can have its own targeting and we encourage you to tell us what your preference is. The “settled in” conversion rates and CPL’s are approx. 3 months away but suffice it to say that heading into 2026, we will have hit stride and be able to make choices based upon a reliable amount of “new system” data. We may suggest a rotating targeting approach where we open things up at certain times of the year and get more restrictive during other times. The takeaway here is that the inconvenience will be far outweighed by the final product and you will have the “A” Team of lead generation in your corner.  Contact us at any time. 

Gratefully,

Jack        

*As you all can see, we were forced into action before we intended to go to market. Our intention was an August launch date, not a late June or July date. The only thing Dash could do in the beginning was create much needed leads but many of the functions were not yet and are still being built out. They are however coming on board nicely now and our clients nationally are and have been doing a great job of communicating their experiences, and helping us build a follow-up CRM that will benefit us all for years to come, including being constructed on a platform that will allow us to revise it without endless plug-ins and redirects. After 1.0 is built, the initial load up will take 10-15 seconds but the speed we promised will surface after we are done pushing initial functions into service. Stay tuned. The bugs you all are spotting are being exterminated as you help us identify them.