Earlier this week we announced that we’re taking the well-recognized TRUSTe privacy seal to new places online: the lead generation market. It’s a natural fit, really since on a lead generation page you’re asking people to hand over their personal information – names, phone numbers, email addresses etc. – and to trust you with that data.
And that’s not an insignificant request: a recent study by KPMG found that 79% of consumers are concerned about unauthorized access to their personal information. Another recent study found that 88% of adults have refused to give information to a business or a company because they thought it was not necessary or was too personal.
In a business where fractional increases in efficiency and conversion can make a big difference to bottom lines our hunch was that the TRUSTe seal could have a substantial impact. We know consumers trust our seal in other contexts, like online shopping, but we wanted to see how they would respond to the seal in a lead generation context.
Dealix.com, an automobile lead provider, placed the TRUSTe seal at the end of a lead funnel that had been running 60 days prior to the seal’s placement so they had a solid benchmark to analyze potential conversion rates.
The results were clear and impressive: the presence of the TRUSTe seal netted a 7% increase in lead conversions. Dealix GM Anna Zornosa said it herself: “a seven percent increase in conversion is not easy to come by”.
Other client findings from various seal tests include:
- 9% boost in registrations (an educational lead generator);
- 26% increase in monthly site registrations (an international airline);
- $1 million estimated increase in annual revenue from online applications (an auto loan service)
With these results in hand we felt confident in putting our efforts behind creating a new program – TRUSTed Leads – to bring the power of the TRUSTe seal to lead generators, lead aggregators and lead buyers. But we’re not just handing out these seals.
Far from it. As with all TRUSTe services, to qualify for the seal applicants will need to meet the rigorous requirements of our privacy program. We’re also working with relevant industry leaders in the lead generation space to develop additional standards designed to engender trust and protect consumers from potential abuses.
Our program requirements ensure that transparency, accountability, and choice exist in the collection and processing of personal information. These three principles form the backbone of online privacy and are what consumers expect when they see the TRUSTe seal online.