Maximizing Lead Generation: Key Takeaways from Google’s Think Lead Gen 2024
This post was authored by Bradley White, Steven George, and Anthony Welsh
Google hosted its 2024 Think Lead Gen Conference on October 9th in NYC and once again delivered cutting-edge insights into the evolving world of digital marketing. Anders Mortensen, Managing Director of Lead Gen Sales, opened the event and highlighted the day’s main theme – bidding to value vs. bidding to volume. Anders went as far as joking that he wanted to help advertisers get fewer leads.
At the core of his message was the notion that all leads are not created equal, but by mapping out the consumer journey, bidding towards value (specifically with post-lead actions), and leveraging Google’s AI-powered solutions, advertisers can build a more qualified lead pipeline. Which, in turn, can maximize profitability.
What is Think Lead Gen?
Google’s Think Lead Gen is a premier event for marketers and businesses, focusing on the latest strategies and tools to drive effective lead generation. The conference is designed to help businesses attract high-quality prospects, nurture leads through personalized experiences, and turn them into long-term customers. Attendees learn how to optimize their marketing funnels and improve conversion rates.
This year, Google Lead Gen took a deep dive into data-driven marketing, showcasing how companies can map out detailed customer journeys, use first-party data effectively, and leverage AI to increase profitability. This was done via fireside chats with industry leaders, presentations from Google’s solutions leads, and Q/A with members of the direct product/innovation teams. The event offered actionable insights into navigating the complexities of consumer behavior and integrating modern marketing tools to fuel sustainable growth.
Key Takeaways from the Google Lead Gen Conference 2024
1. Mapping Your Customer Journey for Maximum Impact
One of the most valuable insights this year was the emphasis on mapping each touchpoint in your customer’s journey—from lead acquisition to sale and everything in between. Google and industry experts discussed aligning your marketing funnel with your business objectives to ensure you attract the right type of leads, not just any leads. Asking questions like: “Does our on-site behavior help differentiate users who will likely become high/low-quality leads?”, “Is there a step between our lead and conversion action that has enough regular volume to bid towards?” are imperative to pair channel efforts with behavioral data. Today, only 1 in 5 advertisers are bidding towards lower-funnel actions.
Businesses were encouraged to assign values to each conversion action, both online and offline, and focus on lower-funnel conversion actions to optimize their bidding strategies instead of focusing lead form submissions. The takeaway: understand the true value of each stage in the journey to drive the most profitable outcomes.
2. Integrating First-Party Data for Deeper Insights
Google encouraged advertisers to take control of your customer journey with Google’s first-party data tools, specifically connecting online and offline interactions using:
Enhanced conversions for web to maximize signal and minimize cookie loss on-site actions (e.g. a lead form submission or download)
Enhanced conversions for leads to improve tracking for qualifying actions using user-provided data.
Implementing your first-party data unlocks the power of Google AI to optimize for profitability, achieve greater scale, optimize bids, and convert high-value prospects while nurturing customer relationships throughout the entire funnel and driving sustained growth.
3. Unlocking the Power of AI
AI continues to be at the forefront of digital marketing, and Google showcased how AI-powered solutions can transform the way businesses generate leads. Performance Max, Demand Gen, and Broad Match keywords all use AI to target high-value prospects, optimize bids, and scale marketing efforts efficiently. AI can also streamline creative processes, with Google’s generative AI tools enabling the creation of compelling ad variations, asset mockups, and copy in seconds.
4. Moving Beyond Volume to Focus on Value
Another key insight from the conference was the shift from focusing on the volume of leads to focusing on the value of those leads. By mapping the entire customer journey and assigning value to each stage, businesses can optimize their campaigns for profitability rather than simply increasing lead volume. Google’s presentation concluded how, with continued improvements in machine learning and AI optimization, it is important to provide Google’s bidding algorithm this information to not only find users who will initiate a lead action, but users who will take the next action.
5. Crafting Hyper-Personalized Marketing Experiences
The conference reinforced the idea that in today’s competitive market, delivering personalized and relevant experiences is crucial. With consumers narrowing their choices to just one or two brands during the decision-making process, businesses need to craft unique value propositions at each touchpoint. Google industry insights showed 63% of US consumers agree that making the right purchase decisions require more effort than it used to. Maintaining relevance throughout a decision journey is essential for advertisers to distinguish themselves from the pack.
Advertisers can navigate the complexities of the modern consumer by identifying key touchpoints, understanding customer intent at each stage, and tailoring messaging accordingly. This involves leveraging full funnel tactics via Demand Gen + Performance Max for reach and consumer relevance while mixing with a nuanced approach in attribution to measure the success of the right actions taken at the right points in the funnel.
Conclusion
Google’s Think Lead Gen Conference reinforced the importance of leveraging first-party data, AI, and personalized marketing strategies to drive profitable growth. By mapping out the customer journey, integrating first-party data, and using AI-driven tools to optimize campaigns, businesses can attract and convert high-value leads with greater efficiency.
This year’s event highlighted that success in lead generation is no longer about sheer volume; it’s about finding the right leads and nurturing them with tailored experiences that deliver long-term profitability, while also fueling the platforms with first-party data to help continue to build high-quality lead volume across all campaign types.
