Telemarketing is the top lead generation tactic

The phone is the number one tactic to generate leads according to the Direct Marketing Association's 2005 Response Rate Report which shows the following: 

Telephone, dimensional mail, e-mail, and coupons provided the best response rate results for generating leads. Telephone leads all media with the highest response rate of 5.53 percent. Dimensional mail was close behind at 5.28 percent, and e-mail produced an average response rate of 3.39 percent.

The data came from over 500 campaigns from 21 industries and tracked 19 different tactics including: outbound telemarketing, direct mail, search marketing, and e-mail among others.

Thanks to Carol Krol over at BtoB Magazine for pointing me to the report. DMA Report shows telemarketing is the top lead generation tactic