Today’s paid search marketers know what they’re doing. They’ve got their paid search campaigns dialed in, their bidding is optimized, and their landing pages have been A/B tested more times than they can count. But too many marketers are forgetting a very important part of the customer journey: phone calls.
With the rise of mobile, phone calls are more important to the customer journey than ever before. And thanks to call-only campaigns and click-to-call buttons, it’s easier than ever for customers to call businesses. But the question still remains, is click-to-call the right move for your business?
If you’re not sure if your business is ready to start driving call traffic, here are some signs that prove that now is the perfect time to add click-to-call to your paid search arsenal.
Did you know that 94% of smartphone users have needed to call a business directly when searching for information? If you have click-to-call buttons on your PPC campaigns, this is great news for you. Those are easy phone calls to get directly to your business. But if you don’t offer click-to-call options, 36% of mobile searchers indicated they would be more likely to explore other brands if click-to-call was not available when required.
Mobile customers want options and convenience. They want to be able to research businesses and products on their smartphone, and then use the smartphone for its original purpose: to make a phone call.
For businesses that have not included phone calls in the marketing mix in the past, this is pretty common. But now that 64% of American adults own a smartphone, it’s important for businesses to know where their phone calls are coming from.
With click-to-call, it’s simple to track phone conversions. In fact, you can track phone calls just as easily as you track clicks in your PPC campaigns. And if you use a call intelligence solution like Invoca, you can get granular campaign attribution and understand why customers are calling, get to know who’s calling in real-time, and analyze what’s said in conversations to increase conversions.
With so many smartphone users navigating through mobile websites and landing pages with clunky thumbs, it can be difficult to actually get them to complete a lead form. But when you have all the facts, those lead forms might not look as enticing anyway:
When it comes down to it, it’s much easier for mobile customers to make a quick call using a click-to-call button than it is for them to fill out a mobile lead form.
Industries with the highest call volume are often those that offer high-value products/services where customers typically need personal assistance. Here are the top five industries with the highest call volume:
In these industries, phone calls are a critical point of contact. Customers want to talk to a live person before they complete a purchase, so make sure you’re giving your customers as many opportunities to call as possible.
Phone calls are some of the highest quality leads; it’s no wonder you want to increase call volume. And adding click-to-call buttons to your PPC campaigns is the simplest way to do that. If you want to take it a step further and use a call intelligence solution, businesses in high-touch industries, like financial services, have seen their call volume double and triple within six months of using call intelligence. Call intelligence solutions like Invoca also give you the control you need to ensure only high-quality calls are connected to your sales people or call center.
Odds are your business is already driving high-value phone calls from mobile search, and if want to take advantage of the mobile opportunity, your paid search mix should include phone calls. If you're not already thinking about click-to-call, you're already behind.
If you're interested in hands-on tips for increasing calls from your paid search efforts, download our eBook, How to Increase Calls from Paid Search: 10 Guaranteed Tactics.
