Michael Ferree is CEO and Founder at Lead Generation World, a San Diego-based company that runs conferences for the lead generation industry. Michael is well respected in the industry due to his leadership role at the Leads Council (now the Consumer Consent Council) and for his writings, presentations, and podcasts on lead generation.
I wanted to catch up with Michael to discuss the state of lead generation in 2024, given that the industry is facing unprecedented pressures to evolve in the face of new proposed regulations governing the way that business leads are gathered, processed, and shared among different industry players. I also wanted to get his take on how AI is likely to change operations in the industry.
Our talk covers many topics likely to be of interest to anyone involved in lead generation, including:
- Potential regulatory issues for businesses using AI-powered voice calls and text messaging, given that proposed regulatory actions may require opt-in consent for these types of communications.
- The importance of using clear and concise language in voicemails for outbound contact strategies, as these may now be transcribed and read in real-time.
- The need to be thoughtful of how voicemails are left, including the caller ID and the content of the message, to ensure they are easily comprehensible and actionable without picking up the phone.
- How AI is now being used to create personalized voicemails in a way that is potentially undetectable to listeners.
- How the legal definition of a “robo call” may expand to include AI-powered calls and text messaging, which could pose challenges for companies that rely on these methods for business communications.
- How a proposed “Do Not Disturb” act could require marketers to globally opt consumers out of all future outgoing messages.
- The FTC’s new requirement for lead generation companies to obtain one-to-one consent from consumers before selling their data to financial institutions.
- Michael’s plans for upcoming Lead Generation World conferences.
