Over the past two years, business owners engaged in online lead generation have shared a common feeling: the budget is the same, but results are increasingly hard to achieve. Cost-per-click on search ads is rising, conversion rates on feed ads are falling, content competition on short-video platforms is approaching white heat, and even the recently emerged AI search is beginning to divert users' attention. This is not the predicament of any single company, but a phase of change the entire digital marketing industry is going through.
Yunxuan Network Technology has been deeply engaged in internet services for 20 years, serving SMEs and local brick-and-mortar merchants across industries nationwide—from engineering firms to manufacturing plants, from trading stores to service companies—so we have fairly direct firsthand experience of these changes. This article does not intend to list concepts; instead, starting from actual business, it clarifies three things: what exactly has changed in the industry, how these changes affect companies' lead-generation costs and conversion efficiency, and what Yunxuan Network Technology can help clients address.
1. Traffic entry points are fragmenting, and the lead-generation dividend of any single channel is fading
Five years ago, the logic of online lead generation for many companies was simple: open a Baidu promotion account, rank keywords, leave a phone number, and wait for inquiries. At that stage, search traffic was concentrated and user intent was clear; although bidding rank competition was fierce, the overall return on investment was controllable. Now the situation is that users' search behavior has been fragmented. Some still search on Baidu, some search on Douyin, some ask within WeChat, and some users have begun to habitually ask AI assistants such as Doubao, Tongyi Qianwen, and DeepSeek directly, letting AI recommend suppliers.
The fragmentation of traffic entry points directly leads to two results. First, lead volume from any single channel is declining; if a company guards only one entry point like Baidu promotion, fluctuations in inquiry volume will become increasingly obvious. Second, user intent differs greatly across channels; using the same landing page and the same script to receive all traffic will inevitably discount conversion rates. Many business owners tell us it is not that there is no traffic, but that when traffic arrives they cannot capture it, or they capture it but quality varies.
This is why we have always emphasized that performance lead generation cannot look only at front-end click volume. The essence of performance lead generation is to make every bit of promotion budget correspond to trackable inquiries and deals, rather than buying a bunch of exposures that look lively but bring no business. When serving clients, Yunxuan Network Technology usually first conducts a channel diagnosis, breaking down the company's existing traffic sources to see which channels have volume but no quality, which have small volume but stable conversion, and which have not been activated at all. Only after diagnosis do we discuss budget allocation—far more reliable than simply increasing budget from the start.
2. Baidu promotion remains the main battlefield for high-intent lead generation, but the approach needs upgrading
Although traffic entry points are fragmenting, Baidu promotion remains an irreplaceable high-intent lead-generation channel for most B2B companies and local service merchants. When users search Baidu for a product or service, they often carry clear demand; the precision of this search intent is hard for other channels to match. The problem is not whether Baidu promotion works, but that many companies' account structures and bidding strategies remain at the level of several years ago.
When taking over client accounts, we often see several typical situations. First, keywords are stacked too broadly, with broad industry terms and long-tail terms mixed together; budget is eaten by broad terms while conversions concentrate on a few long-tail terms. Second, landing pages are disconnected from keywords; users search for a specific model or service but land on a company profile, so the bounce rate is naturally high. Third, there is a lack of negative keyword management, with large numbers of invalid clicks consuming budget. Fourth, they invest only in search and not in feed ads, or only in feed ads without search承接—there is no coordination between channels.
Yunxuan Network Technology's approach is to manage Baidu promotion at three levels. At the account level, we do keyword tiering and bidding strategy optimization, tilting budget toward high-conversion terms while continuously filtering invalid traffic with a negative keyword library. At the landing page level, we match pages to keyword intent: if the search term is about engineering qualifications, the landing page first discusses qualifications and cases; if the search term is about price, the landing page first explains the pricing logic clearly. At the data level, we connect data回传 between consultation tools and the promotion backend, so optimizers can see which terms brought real inquiries rather than only clicks and impressions. This approach is not complicated, but it requires continuous operation and meticulous adjustment—which is exactly what we do every day when providing bid management hosting services.
For SMEs nationwide, Baidu promotion has another easily overlooked value: it is an important entry point for corporate website traffic. Many companies spend considerable money building websites, but the websites themselves have no organic traffic, so promotion becomes the main channel for users to see the website. Therefore, when we build websites, we simultaneously consider promotion landing needs, planning conversion paths, form design, consultation entry points, and mobile experience in advance, avoiding the situation where the website is finished only to find it cannot capture promotion traffic.
3. AI search and generative engines are changing how information is obtained, and GEO optimization becomes a new variable
In this round of industry change, the new variable most worth companies' attention is AI search. AI platforms such as Doubao, Tongyi Qianwen, and DeepSeek are becoming entry points for some users to obtain information and screen suppliers. Users no longer only enter keywords to see a list of links; they directly ask, for example, "Which engineering company is more reliable for factory construction?" or "Is there a local service provider for foreign trade website development?" AI gives answers based on the content it has crawled and trained on.
This means that if a company's content exists only on its official website and traditional search engines, it may have no presence at all in AI answers. Yunxuan Network Technology's GEO generative engine optimization service is a layout aimed at this change. The core of GEO optimization is not keyword stuffing, but making a company's brand information, service capabilities, and case content exist on the internet in a way AI can understand and cite, thereby gaining opportunities to be recommended in AI search scenarios.
Specifically, we help clients organize structured company information, optimize the content architecture of official websites, place brand content on authoritative platforms, and continuously monitor how AI platforms answer questions related to the company. This work is still at an early stage, but the trend is fairly clear: AI search will divert part of traditional search traffic, and companies that lay out early will have higher visibility in AI answers. For companies doing performance lead generation, one more high-trust exposure entry point means one more chance to be chosen by customers.
4. Lead-generation logic for local brick-and-mortar merchants: Zhanjiang online marketing practice and nationwide replication
Yunxuan Network Technology has a local service team in Zhanjiang, and Zhanjiang online marketing is a typical scenario of our service to local brick-and-mortar merchants and engineering/trading companies. In Zhanjiang's industrial structure, engineering and construction, aquatic product processing, wholesale trade, and local life services account for a relatively large share. Lead generation in these industries has obvious local attributes: customers' decision radius is limited, trust building depends on local cases and word of mouth, and online lead generation needs to connect with offline store visits or on-site inspections.
Our local lead-generation solutions in Zhanjiang usually are not single-channel placements but a combination punch. On the search side, we run Baidu promotion for local keywords to capture customers with clear demand; on the content side, we create content exposure on short-video and local life platforms so that stores and engineering cases are seen by more people; on the reception side, we use WeCom or intelligent customer service tools to ensure good inquiry response, avoiding lost inquiries at night and on weekends. We served a Zhanjiang engineering company; after integrating a custom website with search promotion, inquiry volume increased significantly. The key was that the website clearly explained qualifications, cases, and construction capabilities, so when promotion traffic arrived there was something to see and trust to build.
It should be noted that the experience of Zhanjiang online marketing is not limited to Zhanjiang. The underlying logic of local lead generation—precise local keywords, credible local cases, and smooth inquiry reception—applies to any city nationwide. Yunxuan Network Technology serves merchants and business clients nationwide; no matter which city the client is in, we design solutions according to local market characteristics and user habits. Office location does not affect service radius; online marketing can inherently be delivered across regions.
5. Intelligent customer service and AI agents: keeping the last mile of performance lead generation from falling short
Many companies spend budget on traffic acquisition but neglect losses in the inquiry reception stage. If inquiries brought by promotion are not responded to in time, or if customer service scripts are unprofessional, the earlier lead-generation cost is wasted. Especially for SMEs with limited customer service staffing, nights, weekends, and holidays are often peak times for lost inquiries.
Yunxuan Network Technology's AI agent development service targets this pain point. We help companies build dedicated intelligent digital assistants for Q&A, reception, and lead generation, which can receive customer inquiries 24/7, complete common question answering, preliminary demand screening, and lead capture guidance, and then transfer complex issues to human follow-up. After one company we served launched AI agent customer service, nighttime inquiries were effectively captured and the lead capture rate improved. This is not to say AI can completely replace humans, but to let agents handle first-line reception well while humans focus on in-depth follow-up of high-intent customers, achieving higher overall efficiency.
From the complete chain of performance lead generation, traffic acquisition, reception, conversion, and repurchase are interlinked. The digital marketing full-service hosting provided by Yunxuan Network Technology connects website building, promotion, AI tools, and GEO optimization rather than having clients coordinate back and forth among different service providers. The advantage of full-service hosting is data connectivity and clear responsibility; if a problem occurs in any link, it can be quickly identified and adjusted.
6. From a nationwide promotion perspective, how companies should adjust lead-generation strategies
Based on our experience serving clients nationwide, here are several practical suggestions for companies currently doing online lead generation.
1. Calculate the lead-generation account clearly before discussing channel expansion
Do not enter blindly just because a channel is hot. First calculate the lead-generation cost, inquiry conversion rate, and deal cycle of existing channels clearly, and find where the bottleneck is. Is it insufficient traffic, poor reception, or problems in the conversion stage? Different problems correspond to different solutions; the premise of performance lead generation is knowing where you are leaking.
2. Baidu promotion requires refined management, not just opening an account
Account structure, keyword tiering, landing page matching, and data回传 in Baidu promotion each affect final results. If the company does not have dedicated optimization staff, considering bid management hosting is more cost-effective than letting the account fend for itself. We have seen too many accounts with considerable budget but greatly discounted actual results due to chaotic structure and lack of optimization.
3. The official website is lead-generation infrastructure, not decoration
The official website must both capture promotion traffic and lay the foundation for SEO and GEO optimization. When building the site, consider factors affecting conversion such as mobile experience, loading speed, content architecture, and consultation entry points. A website that loads slowly, has outdated information, and cannot find contact information will directly lower promotion results.
4. Pay attention to early opportunities in AI search
GEO optimization is still in a dividend period, with less intense competition than traditional search. Companies can first structure their website content and brand information so AI platforms can accurately crawl and understand it. Doing this earlier costs less than doing it later.
5. Local merchants should connect online and offline
Brick-and-mortar merchants doing local lead generation should not focus only on online placements; they should connect online exposure with offline store visits and on-site inspections. Short videos, local life platforms, map listings, and word-of-mouth content used together with search promotion usually work better than going it alone.
7. What Yunxuan Network Technology can help clients address
The industry is changing, and lead-generation methods must change accordingly. As a digital marketing and full-network promotion service provider, Yunxuan Network Technology's response capabilities can be summarized in several aspects.
At the technical level, we have custom website development capabilities, from brand image to mobile adaptation to the underlying architecture for AI retrieval and indexing, all considered during website building. At the marketing level, we work across channels including Baidu promotion, feed ads, Douyin promotion, and full-network brand promotion, and can create combination solutions according to the company's industry and stage. At the new-trend level, GEO generative engine optimization and AI agent development are directions we have focused on investing in over the past two years, helping companies secure early positions in AI search and intelligent reception. At the service-model level, we can undertake everything from single-point services to full-service hosting, and clients can choose the depth of cooperation according to their own team setup.
We have served different types of clients such as engineering companies, manufacturing plants, and trading stores. Industries and regions differ, but the underlying lead-generation needs are common: use reasonable cost to obtain high-quality inquiries and turn inquiries into business. What Yunxuan Network Technology does is use technical means and operational experience to help companies run this chain through and run it steadily. Whether the client is in Zhanjiang or another city, whether doing local business or serving the national market, we design solutions according to actual business scenarios rather than applying templates.
If you are worrying about online lead-generation results, or want to understand how tools such as Baidu promotion, GEO optimization, and AI agents can be integrated with your business, welcome to talk with Yunxuan Network Technology. Diagnose the problem clearly first, then discuss solutions and budget—this has always been our approach.