How To Decide If Pay Per Call Marketing Can Work For You

A guest post by: Adele Halsall of Customer Service Guru

Pay Per Call advertising is a relatively new marketing technique that is starting to make waves across the business industry. Whilst the concept of Pay Per Call is not necessarily new in itself (after all, it’s just a slight variation of Pay Per Click), companies are only just really starting to catch on to its lucrative benefits and the returns on customer engagement it can bring.

There are various benefits of Pay Per Call marketing, yet there are also some downsides as well. It’s therefore crucial to do your research beforehand and make sure your business already has the right means in place by which to make its Pay Per Call campaign a success.

Not only does this involve having a generous profit margin with which to roll out the feature, it also means having a clear-cut goal in mind of what you wish to achieve, and a good range of platforms with which to promote your Pay Per Call campaign and accelerate its results.

So what are the ideal conditions that will help make Pay Per Call work for your business?

A Focus On Locality

Pay Per Call is great for small businesses who are striving to establish themselves within a specific area or location. This could be a location nearby when trying to build up an initial audience, or finding relevant locations elsewhere when longing to tap into new audiences.

A Service-Based Business

Pay Per Call works best for service-based businesses that will acquire customers from the surrounding location or within a certain niche. A service that is high-value and committal is much more likely to warrant customers calling up to get more tailored information from the vendor, or to arrange a face-to-face appointment. This is why Pay Per Call works well for housing contractors, realtor, and legal representative firms.

However, Pay Per Call is not suited to products or services that are only required very infrequently or require a lot of forward planning and thought. This means that the decision-making process of the customer is likely to be slower, decreasing their responsiveness and reducing the cost-effectiveness of your ad.

Pay Per Call will work well, on the other hand, for services based locally that are often needed urgently and selected for convenience of availability and price. An automobile repair outfit is a good example of such a service.

Read More: How Professional Service SMBs Can Maximize Pay Per Call Campaigns

A Strong Contact Centre

How much a company pays for a Pay Per Call campaign is often dictated by certain parameters, such as how many calls are generated from the campaign and how long the caller remains on the line. The chances are your service provider will be able to put together a tailored price plan based on your business’ current market position and goals.

You will need a strong contact centre team who will be able to handle the potential increase in traffic that your Pay Per Call campaign may bring. This not only means having enough staff to man the lines, but also the right kind of staff who will be able to engage effectively with callers to keep them curious and interested. They must also be able to make the caller feel instantly positive about his/her decision to call so that they will be willing to stay on the line to find out more. Willingness to accommodate individual customer requirements also demonstrates great customer service and is likely to bring greater returns on your Pay Per Call program.

Accurate Tracking Tools

Pay Per Call is usually only cost-effective if call volumes are consistent. Large fluctuations from month to month will not bring about great ROI and you may be penalised by your service provider if you do not meet the agreed parameters. It’s therefore essential to have a dedicated and reliable tracking system in place so that teams can effectively monitor incoming paid calls and determine how well the Pay Per Call is working.

Tracking calls enables you to see where paid calls are coming from in terms of location, as well as how the caller picked up the ad (giving insight as to which platform is working best at promoting your PAY PER CALL campaign). You will also be able to see which search engine terms may be bringing you new callers; which channels bring about the most promising leads (when judged on call duration and successful sales), and the times of day that invite the most calls.

Read More: Call Tracking Mistakes to Avoid in Your Pay Per Call Campaign

Solid Marketing Tools Already In Place

Pay Per Call works best when it is combined with one or more other marketing features, such as email marketing and social media.

RingPartner’s Mike Williams explains in more detail why mobile email marketing and Pay Per Call is a match made in heaven, but for now, it’s useful to know that having a strong mobile-centric audience already is likely to make your Pay Per Call campaign much more effective.This is probably largely down to Google’s call extension feature released last year, which integrates a ‘Call Now’ button in online pay per call ads when they are viewed on smartphones.

Either way, call conversions from a mobile device are measured at 57% as opposed to from a desktop, which is just 7%, according to whatrunswhere.comWhen customers access content on mobile, they are often searching for specific information with a relevant outcome in mind, so campaigns can be more simplified and more driven towards a definitive call to action.

Twitter also helps to accelerate Pay Per Call returns because it shares this same notion of directness and simplicity. Using the platform’s concise 140 character feature to create snappy, clickable headlines along with its built-in analytics will help to target specified audiences and track progress. Having an audience who has already proved themselves to be social media-savvy, therefore, will help open up this excellent opportunity for boosting sales.

About the Author

Adele Halsall is a writer and researcher for Customer Service Guru. She is passionate about retail and consumer trends, and how this is shaped and governed by advertising and social marketing. She is particularly experienced in marketing and customer engagement, and enjoys contributing to ongoing debates related to best business practices, start-up culture, and the culture of customer relations. Email her at adele@customerserviceguru.co.uk or @gurucustomers