Lead gen agency: what it does and how it compares with a broker

What does a lead gen agency do?

A lead gen agency plans, builds and runs the campaigns that bring in inquiries for your business. The leads come in under your brand, on landing pages built for you, and they belong to you. The agency’s job is to make each lead cost less and convert better over time.

A typical engagement follows these steps:

1. 1

   Discovery

   The agency learns what you sell, where, to whom, and what a good lead looks like for your team.

2. 2

   Setup

   It sets up or audits ad accounts, tracking, landing pages and forms, and writes the consent language with your input.

3. 3

   Launch

   It launches campaigns in the channels you agree: search, social, display, video or others.

4. 4

   Delivery

   Leads reach your CRM, inbox or call team directly from your forms.

5. 5

   Optimization

   The agency adjusts targeting, ads, pages and budgets based on which leads turn into customers.

6. 6

   Reporting

   It reports spend, leads, cost per lead and, if you share sales data, cost per customer.

Some agencies also handle email follow-up, appointment setting or CRM setup. Ask what is included, because the term covers a wide range of services. For the wider topic, see the lead generation guide.

How a lead generation agency is paid

A lead generation agency is paid for its service, not for each lead. The common fee structures are:

• Monthly retainer. A fixed fee for ongoing management.
• Setup or project fee. A one-time fee for building accounts, tracking and landing pages.
• Fee tied to media spend. A fee that rises and falls with the budget the agency manages.
• Performance bonus. An extra fee when agreed targets are met, added to one of the fees above.

The media (the money spent on ads) is separate. It is either billed by the ad platforms directly to your card or account, or paid by the agency and passed on to you. Either way, you pay for every click or impression, whether it produces a good lead or not. That is the main difference from buying leads.

Agency contracts often set a minimum term and a notice period. Read both before signing, and agree on a review point after the first months, when you compare the agency’s results with what you expected.

Lead gen agency vs lead broker vs in-house

Businesses that want leads have three main routes: hire an agency, buy leads from a lead broker or pay-per-lead seller, or build an in-house team. The table compares them on the points that decide which one fits.

A lead broker differs from a single pay-per-lead seller in one way that matters to buyers: it works with many sellers, so it can fill more states, filters and volume, and it handles returns and billing across all of them. See what is a lead broker.

When each option fits

An agency fits when

• You want leads under your own brand, from your own pages.
• You have a media budget and can carry the risk while campaigns are tuned.
• You want to own the ad accounts, the data and what the campaigns learn.
• You lack the staff to run campaigns but want more control than buying leads gives.

A broker or pay-per-lead seller fits when

• You want a known price per lead instead of paying for clicks.
• You need volume soon, or in states where you have no marketing presence.
• Your intakeIntakeThe process a law firm or its intake team uses to screen a potential client, collect the facts of the accident and injury, and decide whether to take the case. Glossary team can call leads quickly and work them to a close.
• You want to test a new state or service before you spend on campaigns.

An in-house team fits when

• Lead generation is central to your business and you will run it for years.
• You can hire people with media buying, tracking and landing page skills.
• You can fund a learning period before campaigns are efficient.

Many businesses combine routes, for example running an agency or in-house team for their brand while buying leads to fill gaps. Buy leads vs generate in house goes through that decision step by step.

Questions to ask a lead generation agency before you sign

• Will the ad accounts be in our name, and do we keep them if we stop?
• Who owns the landing pages, forms and the lead data?
• Who writes the consent language on the forms, and does it name our business?
• Where is each consent record stored, and can we get it for any lead?
• Which channels will you use, and which will you not use?
• How is media billed: directly to us, or through you with a markup?
• What do you report, how often, and will you report cost per customer if we share sales data?
• What is the minimum term, and what is the notice period to cancel?
• Who reviews ad claims for our industry’s advertising rules?

Consent matters more than most clients expect. If your team will call or text leads with an autodialerATDS / autodialerAn automatic telephone dialing system, a category of equipment regulated by the TCPA. Glossary or prerecorded message, the form must capture the right consent. See TCPA consent.

Is Summit Leads a lead gen agency?

No. Summit Leads is a lead generation brokerage. It buys and sells leads by ping/postPing/postA real-time selling method in which a lead is pinged to buyers with partial data, buyers bid, and the winning bidder receives the full lead by post. Glossary, with real-time routing, and works with 40+ national buyer and supply partners. Buyers pay for leads that match their filters, not for campaign management.

Summit’s verticals are MVA / personal injury and home improvement, in all U.S. states. Leads are exclusive by default, with shared delivery on request, and TCPATCPAThe Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the federal law that governs telemarketing calls and texts, autodialers, prerecorded voice messages and the Do Not Call Registry. Glossary consent is captured on every lead, with consent certificates. Summit works with web leads, not calls or live transfers.

On the supply side, publishers run traffic to Summit offers in MVA and home improvement, and Summit reviews publisherPublisherA company or individual that generates leads, usually through websites, ads or content, and sells them to brokers or buyers. Glossary ad creative before launch. See the publisher program.

Common mistakes when hiring a lead gen agency

• Letting the agency own the ad accounts. If you leave, you lose the history and have to rebuild.
• Judging by cost per lead alone. Cheap leads that never answer the phone cost more per customer.
• Not sharing sales outcomes. An agency that cannot see which leads closed can only tune for volume.
• Signing a long term before a test period. Agree on a review point before committing for longer.
• Treating an agency and a broker as the same. One sells a service, the other sells leads. Compare them on cost per customer.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• Lead generation companies: All six types and how each is paid.
• What is a lead broker: How brokers work and earn.
• Buy leads vs generate in house: The build or buy decision.
• How to evaluate lead suppliers: Checks before you buy.
• Cost per lead: How to calculate and compare CPL.