Four mistakes that sabotage lead gen and how to avoid them

Most lead generation efforts fail not because they lack ambition. They fail because marketers are seduced by vanity metrics and rely on flawed assumptions. That was the central message of You Don’t Want Leads, You Want Outcomes, a recent webinar hosted by CJ Leads’ Alexander Higson and Caitlin McIntyre. 

Too many marketers still treat lead gen as a numbers game. The result? Bloated CRMs, wasted spend, and compliance headaches. Hicgson and McIntyre made the case for a smarter, outcomes-first approach built on clean data, transparent sourcing, and post-capture activation that converts.  

These are the four most common pitfalls CJ’s leads team sees and the shifts top performers are making to generate real outcomes. 

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Mistake #1. Prioritising lead volume over lead value 

A big number on the dashboard might feel like success, but without quality, it’s just noise. Volume-driven campaigns often flood CRMs with junk in the form of unqualified, duplicated, or outright fake leads.  

According to CJ’s leads team, 61% of B2B marketers struggle to generate high-quality leads, yet many still chase the cheapest CPL instead of investing in outcomes.

The mistake in a nutshell: Cheap leads often turn out to be unqualified, duplicated or fake. As McIntyre points out: “It’s not about the number of leads. It’s about what they do and what they become.” 

What to do instead: Start paying for performance, not filler. Invest in infrastructure that turns data into action and then hold every input to account. High-performing brands set clear standards for what qualifies as a lead, they validate in real time and build systems that reward outcomes, not volume. 

For example:  

• Global commercial vehicle manufacturer, Iveco started small, delivering just five leads per week. By refining its publisher mix and leaning on local market expertise, it grew lead volume by 421% in three months, while maintaining strict data standards. A real-time validator rejected 20% of leads, ensuring only clean, compliant data entered the CRM. The result: more leads, less nois and measurable CRM value. 

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• International fashion and lifestyle brand, Hugo Boss spent €15M building a central data hub. The aim wasn’t to chase volume, but to connect ecommerce, in-store, marketing and inventory data. The result was clearer insights, smarter product decisions and stronger CRM performance through personalisation and consistency. 

Take-home: Chasing volume might fill the funnel, but only optimised data and quality leads move the business forward. 

Mistake #2. Running campaigns without clear sourcing or feedback loops 

You can’t optimise what you can’t see. Too many lead gen campaigns launch without visibility into where leads are coming from, how they’re performing or whether they’re even real. That lack of traceability slows performance, blocks optimisation and leaves money on the table. 

In CJ’s experience, advertisers who audit their lead journey regularly see significant conversion rate uplift, simply by reallocating spend to high-performing sources. 

The mistake in a nutshell: When feedback is slow or incomplete, optimisation stalls. Higson says: “That’s why we push for transparency across every step of the journey.” 

What to do instead: Map the full lead journey, from initial source to CRM outcome and build structured feedback loops into your campaign workflow. This means knowing who’s generating each lead, how those leads are verified and which partners are driving actual value further down the funnel.  

Brand can use tools like the CJ Lead Gen Readiness Scorecard to diagnose performance blind spots. It flags gaps in source tracking, validation, partner feedback, and nurture. This enables underperformance to be corrected in-flight, not weeks later. 

Take-home: Visibility isn’t optional. When you track lead performance at every step, you don’t just improve ROI you build a system that gets smarter over time. 

Mistake #3. Treating bad data as a performance issue, not a compliance risk 

Sloppy sourcing doesn’t just hurt conversion. It creates legal and reputational exposure. When data is poorly sourced or unverifiable, the risk extends beyond ROI. Lead quality is about trust and that trust erodes fast when consent, accuracy or validation is missing. This isn’t an obscure, fringe issue. These failures are happening at the top end of the market. 

Data breaches and sourcing failures have cost major brands hundreds of millions in penalties, lawsuits, and lost consumer confidence. 

The mistake in a nutshell: Unverified leads create downstream risk. They undermine CRM integrity, violate consent protocols and trigger regulatory scrutiny. As McIntyre puts it: “These aren’t just marketing failures. They’re data integrity failures with massive consequences.” 

For example: 

• JPMorgan Chase acquired a startup based on falsified lead data. The company expected 4 million users and received just 300,000. It took 15 months to uncover the issue, resulting in a high-profile lawsuit and $175 million in losses. 

• Meta was fined €1.2 billion for breaching GDPR by transferring user data to the US without proper safeguards. The violation wasn’t technical. It came down to how user data was sourced, handled, and shared. 

What to do instead: Make data validation a core part of your lead strategy. Work only with partners who meet strict consent and sourcing standards. Use third-party validation tools to filter bad leads before they reach the CRM. And involve legal and compliance teams early in campaign planning, not after issues arise. 

Take-home: If lead quality slips, performance will suffer. But if compliance fails, the consequences run deeper. Guardrails aren’t optional, they’re the foundation of sustainable growth. 

Mistake #4. Stopping at the point of capture 

Capturing a lead is just the beginning. Without proper formatting, validation, and activation, even the best leads stall. Too often, brands invest in acquisition but neglect key stages that follow, missing golden opportunities to turn interest into action. 

CJ Leads has found brands that plan activation and nurture strategies in advance consistently see stronger lead-to-sale performance than those that don’t. 

The mistake in a nutshell: Leads don’t deliver outcomes unless they’re activated. Without a structured follow-up strategy, even qualified data sits idle in the CRM. As Higson says: “The best campaigns start with the end in mind. They know how a lead will be activated before they even capture it.” 

What to do instead: Build the post-capture strategy before launch. That means defining how leads will be validated, formatted, and routed, as well as planning how prospects will be nurtured into loyal customers. This step is where many high-intent leads are lost. 

For example: 

• Outdoor apparel brand The North Face integrated its lead generation directly into its loyalty strategy. The campaign paired a compelling welcome offer with ongoing membership benefits. CJ Leads supported with personalised email campaigns, native and display media, and real-time user ID optimisation. The result: more than 70,000 high-quality leads and sustained customer engagement driven by repeat purchase incentives. The follow-up was built in from the start rather than bolted on. 

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Take-home: Acquisition gets attention, while activation drives revenue. Treating post-capture as an afterthought is the fastest way to waste good data. 

Put data-driven activation at the core of your lead-gen strategy 

As Higson and McIntyre made clear, effective lead generation starts long before capture and continues well beyond it. The goal should be verified data, compliant sourcing, and activation that drives revenue. 

Avoiding the four mistakes above doesn’t just improve campaign metrics. It protects your brand, sharpens your CRM and ties lead gen directly to commercial performance. With cleaner data and smarter systems, leads stop being numbers and start becoming outcomes. 

As third-party cookies disappear, that shift becomes essential. The brands that win will be those that treat lead gen as a strategic growth driver that’s built on trust, powered by performance and built for a data-driven future. 

Watch the full CJ webinar now and discover how to drive quality outcomes, not just leads.