Paid Search Tactics to Drive More Phone Call Conversions
Digital marketing is an increasingly tricky game with multi-faceted processes. It is difficult to get a grasp of the digital advertisement campaign and its online-offline impact. However, it is important.
It was predicted that in 2019 the total number of mobile calls made to businesses would reach 162 billion. (BIA/Kelsey report)
Mobile channels drive 54% of all calls.
As digital disruption is on the rise, it is easier to overlook the old-fashioned business phone calls. But, seeing the trend, it is only pragmatic to believe that this technique brings mobile search, phones, and mobile technologies together to converge and drive conversions.
In fact, almost all of the American populace uses mobile phones. Call conversion rates are four times higher than PC or desktop.
Why Phone Calls Matter
Digital advertising sets a challenge for most marketers in terms of return on investment (ROI).
Investing in ad campaigns like Google AdWords, display ads, and Facebook ads generate both online and offline conversions. Nonetheless, the problem is in monitoring the campaign and measuring success.
There are means of quantifying online conversions, unlike offline processes like phone calls. The reason is, you cannot possibly measure and/or optimize digital ROI ignoring phone call conversion.
According to a recent study conducted by eMarketer, 84 percent of all marketers believe that conversion events associated with marketing should be considered a priority, whereas 10 percent say that they would be able to handle it.
Surprisingly, 90 percent of marketers are still struggling to get back to digital marketing conversions.
Businesses Want Calls
Most businesses with complex products or services are expensive, urgent, or infrequently available. Such businesses prefer to receive more calls than web leads. With the focus of digital marketing shifting to smartphones, the scene makes sense.
Of late, there’s a growing trend across different industries for outbound calls:
• 51% of website traffic comes directly from smartphones
• More than 50% of searches are now mobile
• 71% of digital media time goes to mobiles
• 87% of Facebook users access on mobile.
Digital ads have the potential of generating phone call conversions. In today’s worldwide scenario, it only makes sense that the ultimate path of conversion is through a call and not a web form.
For instance, click-to-call is a lot faster and easier for leads instead of filling out a web form.
In 2016, US search ads generated up to 40 billion calls, where display ads led to 28 billion calls, and social ads made 12 billion calls.
Not to forget, calls generate 10 to 15 times more revenue than web leads. It also influences a trillion US consumers at once.
Secret to Success
Don’t be limited to online conversions. Instead, boost ROI by optimizing digital ads and generate calls.
Here’s how to do it:
• Add Click-to-Call in Search Ads: 70% of all mobile searchers call a business from search results directly. So, you must try Call Extensions to get calls and clicks, and Call-Only Campaigns if you want calls only.
• Local Search Ads: Google still maintains that local search ads can have a significant impact on your business. AdWords tactics to show up your business in local search results can be effective in generating more calls. Use tactics like Nearby Business Ads, Location Search Ads, Multi-Location Ads, and Google Maps Ads. You can enable any of these extensions using AdWords.
• Add “Call” Button to the Facebook Page: If you are aiming at more store visits, adding a “Call” button to the Facebook page can be effective.
• Display Call-to-Action based on your Goal: Define your goal and place the call-to-action display accordingly. For instance, you want instant action like calls or web forms from leads, CTAs like “Download Now” or “Get Free Quote” work. But if you want a call only, be specific – “Call Now.”
• Target Leads to Drive More Calls: Audience targeting has been a powerful advertising tactic. You can use it to increase the number of phone calls and customers. For instance, if a lead has called you often, you can target the same with landing pages and ads, and encourage them to engage or call again.
You can also target audiences resembling a certain group of customers that already called you. Use caller to ensure you know audiences to exclude from campaigns.
• Follow a Data-driven Approach: As you do in online conversions, the same method applies in this case. Marketers can capture important data over the phone, which can be further used for measuring digital ROI, optimizing ads and improving targets.
• Give Importance to Caller Experience: You must consider the experience factor if you want to increase ROI through phone calls. Caller experience has a significant impact on ROI.
According to studies, 84% callers would stop business with a company after having a bad caller experience, while 55% wanting to purchase have given up due to poor customer service. Address the major caller pain points like missed calls, caller being passed from one agent to another, lengthy waiting times, and agent not knowing the purpose of the call.
Wrapping Up
Call conversions are an excellent tool to boost ROI when done properly. It is time marketers adopt a data-driven approach to calls, as with clicks.