If you’re a savvy marketer, you’re probably already closely tracking your sales funnel as it relates to email and website campaigns. But if you’re not including a pay-per-call element (and the corresponding analytics) in your comprehensive strategy, you could be missing out on major revenues.
PPC campaigns are notorious for their positive ROI, and they can round out your omni-channel strategy so you can attract a wider range of customers with different channel preferences. Studies show millennials, in particular, appreciate a range of channel choices when conducting business.
Among other reasons to implement a call-tracking campaign:
- Mobile is huge. Not only is the number of mobile phone users forecast to reach 4.77 billion next year, but 75 percent of calls to businesses come from those phones. Need we say more?
- Phone calls convert better than clicks. Why? Because potential customers don’t act on impulse as they sometimes do when clicking, meaning they’re closer to a purchase decision. And your agent can tailor sales strategy on the spot according to the conversation and the caller’s objections. A report this year, in fact, found calls result in 30 to 50 percent conversion rates, while clicks top out at 1 to 2 percent. “With email, you’re stuck making guesses at what the most-likely customer pain points could be,” explains Stuart Leung on Salesforce.com. “With actual, real customer interaction, you will be able to pinpoint the problem by asking specific questions, and offer the prospect a solution. This is one of the many ways email can never replace human interaction.”
- Email isn’t everything. As e-commerce continues to drown the web with waves and waves of promotional messages, audiences are becoming somewhat waterlogged. On a worldwide basis, the average person who receives business email gets 121 emails daily, a number expected to reach 140 by 2018. And partly due to suspicions of spam, many don’t even open those messages. Depending on your industry, your business can expect average open rates of only about 6 to 24 percent.
- Certain buyers prefer the phone. Research shows that’s especially true among older demographics and when someone is buying a relatively complex item and/or needs more information before proceeding. Interestingly, studies show men are more likely to buy something by phone. And recent research shows most respondents 55 and older prefer the phone over other channels when they need customer service.
- Neglecting the phone leaves a gap in your digital strategy. If you’re not measuring phone calls, your marketing strategy has a blind spot because you’re disregarding what may be a significant sales channel. Conversely, paying attention to your call-generated conversions lets you accurately measure your ROI across different channels so you can determine where to place your next advertising dollars.
Far from becoming the dinosaur some prognosticators predicted after the digital world took off, phone sales remain a key part of many marketing strategies.
“You need to make an effort to create genuine connections with your customers, either through face-to-face meetings or over the phone,” Leung advises. “It shouldn’t come as a surprise that human interaction actually works in sales: after all, salesmen have been around much longer than any computer has been.”
Dial800 can design your entire pay-per-call campaign, including the analytics that can help you closely identify your customer base. Call us for a consultation at 1-800-700-1987.
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