Systems and methods for generating lead intelligence

Abstract

Techniques for generating marketing lead intelligence information are described. Some embodiments provide a marketing activity support system (“MASS”) configured to generate lead intelligence by aggregating marketing activity information and customer information. In one embodiment, the MASS transmits a marketing message that references a Web page or other marketing content. Next, the MASS receives tracking information about activities of a customer with respect to the referenced Web page. The MASS then generates lead intelligence information about the customer by aggregating the tracking information, personal information about the customer, and/or information about an associated marketing campaign. The MASS may then present the generated lead intelligence information, such as by displaying details about the customer and their activities with respect to the Web page.

1 . A method in a marketing activity support system, the method comprising:
 receiving an indication of a marketing message that includes a uniform resource locator that identifies a Web page;   modifying the uniform resource locator to include a tracking identifier;   transmitting the message including the modified uniform resource locator via a messaging service;   receiving an indication that the Web page was accessed by a user via the modified uniform resource locator, the indication based on the tracking identifier;   generating marketing lead intelligence information by aggregating the received indication, personal information about the user, and information associated with the marketing message; and   initiating presentation of the generated marketing lead intelligence information.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein transmitting the message includes transmitting the message via a micro-blogging messaging service that places a restriction upon maximum message size, and wherein modifying the uniform resource locator includes shortening the modified resource locator, such that the transmitted message complies with the restriction upon maximum message size and/or other message limits. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein modifying the uniform resource locator includes adding to the uniform resource locator a messaging service identifier and a marketing campaign identifier, and wherein receiving the indication that the Web page was accessed includes receiving the messaging service identifier and the marketing campaign identifier. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein receiving the indication that the Web page was accessed includes receiving, from a Web browser operated by the user, the indication that the Web page was accessed along with the personal information about the user and information about the user's activity on the Web page, the personal information including information provided by the user via a form on the Web page. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 determining a score for generated marketing lead intelligence information for each of multiple distinct users, the scores based on personal information about the users, company information associated with the users, and activity tracking information about the users, and wherein initiating presentation of the generated marketing lead intelligence information includes ordering the marketing lead intelligence information for the multiple distinct users based on the determined scores. 
 
     
     
         6 . A method in a marketing activity support system, the method comprising:
 transmitting a marketing message that references a Web page;   receiving tracking information about activities of a user with respect to the Web page referenced by the marketing message;   aggregating the received tracking information with personal information about the user to generate lead intelligence information about the user; and   initiating presentation of the generated lead intelligence information.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein transmitting the marketing message includes transmitting a marketing message that includes a uniform resource locator that identifies the Web page, and further comprising:
 modifying the uniform resource locator to include a tracking identifier that identifies a messaging service used to transmit the message and/or a marketing campaign associated with the message. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein receiving the tracking information includes receiving the tracking identifier along with at least some of the personal information, the at least some personal information being provided by the user via a Web form. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 shortening the uniform resource locator such that the transmitted message complies with a limit on message size transmitted by the messaging service.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6  wherein transmitting the marketing message includes transmitting the marketing message via a direct messaging service which provides for delivery of messages to known recipient users. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein transmitting the marketing message includes transmitting the marketing message by email, text message, and/or multimedia message. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 6  wherein transmitting the marketing message includes transmitting the marketing message via a broadcast messaging service which does not provide identity information about recipients of messages transmitted by the broadcast messaging service. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein transmitting the marketing message includes transmitting the marketing message by a micro-blogging service, a blog service, a Web page posting, and/or a status update to a social networking account. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 6  wherein receiving tracking information includes receiving the tracking information from a Web browser operated by the user to view the Web page. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 providing a code module for incorporation into the Web page, the code module configured, when executed by the Web browser, to transmit the tracking information.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14  wherein receiving tracking information includes receiving from the Web browser one or more Hypertext Transfer Protocol cookies that include one or more name-value pairs that represent the tracking information. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 6  wherein receiving tracking information includes receiving the tracking information from a shortened uniform resource locator translator service. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 receiving the personal information from a Web browser operated by the user to view the Web page, the personal information including items provided by the user via a form on the Web page.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 receiving the personal information from at least one of a business directory, a telephone directory, a social networking service, and/or a business intelligence service.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 6  wherein aggregating the received tracking information with personal information about the user makes known an identify for the user that would otherwise not be known due to transmission of the message via a broadcast messaging service that does not provide identity information of recipient users. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 6  wherein initiating presentation of the generated lead intelligence information includes presenting a lead report that includes multiple leads, each lead identifying a user who has accessed the Web page. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21  wherein presenting the lead report includes ordering the leads by determining scores for each of the identified users based on at least one of company information associated with the user, personal information about the user, and/or the received tracking information. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  wherein determining the scores for each of the identified users is based on one or more user-specified rules that adjust the determined score based on whether rule criteria match information about the user. 
     
     
         24 . A computer-readable storage medium whose contents, when executed, cause a computing system to perform a method comprising:
 transmitting a marketing message that includes a uniform resource locator that identifies a network-accessible resource, the uniform resource locator including a tracking identifier;   receiving tracking information about activities of a user with respect to the resource, the tracking information including the tracking identifier;   generating lead intelligence information about the user by aggregating the received tracking information with personal information about the user; and   initiating presentation of the generated lead intelligence information.   
     
     
         25 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 24  wherein the network-accessible resource includes at least one of text, audio, video, and/or an application. 
     
     
         26 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 24  wherein the computer-readable storage medium is a memory in the computing system, and wherein the contents are instructions that, when executed, cause the computing system to perform the method. 
     
     
         27 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 24  wherein generating lead intelligence information includes aggregating marketing campaign information with the transmitted marketing message. 
     
     
         28 . A computing system, comprising:
 a memory;   a module stored on the memory that is configured to, when executed:
 receive an indication of a marketing message that includes a uniform resource locator that identifies a Web page, the uniform resource locator including a tracking identifier; 
 transmit the marketing message via a messaging service; 
 receive tracking information about activities of a user with respect to the Web page, the tracking information including the tracking identifier; 
 generate lead intelligence information about the user by aggregating the received tracking information with personal information about the user; and 
 initiate presentation of the generated lead intelligence information as part of a lead intelligence report that includes multiple leads that each identify a user who ahs accessed the Web page. 
   
     
     
         29 . The computing system of  claim 28  wherein the module includes software instructions for execution in the memory of the computing system. 
     
     
         30 . The computing system of  claim 28  wherein the module is configured to provide information about users who access marketing information that has been identified by messages transmitted via a messaging service that does not identify recipients of the transmitted messages.