A lead generator is any marketing-related activity intended to publicize the availability of a vendor's product or service. Lead generators may be as simple as printed advertising in a newspaper or trade journal, or as formidable as an industry exhibit.
Internet technology is also broadly employed to acquire leads from Web site visitors that seek to access helpful information, articles, or downloads. For example, a popular Web site may advertise an interesting report, but require the visitor to register with their contact information before accessing the promised content. The resulting lead is then passed back to the advertiser for sales follow up.
Contributor(s): Stephen J. Bigelow
This was last updated in August 2007