While we love our websites and enjoy the benefits of allowing customers to do their own buying, there is still this little invention called the telephone. People are as connected to their cell phones as they are to the world wide web. In some industries, it’s a toss-up as to the number of customers who make their purchases online as to those who find the product online and then pick up the phone and call their orders in. Some people still like talking to a real person, especially if they have questions.
Moderator Chris Boggs, Manager, Search Engine Optimization, eMergent Marketing/BRULANT, Inc. along with Marc Barach, Chief Marketing Officer, Ingenio, Inc. and Dan Hight, Director of eCommerce Sales – Agency Division, Superpages.com remind us how to get connected with all those people using telephones.
Reaching Customers at the Point of Decision This cost per action works across the internet as well as yellow pages, directory assistance, mobile searches and PPC. This targets specific customers just as PPC targets to keywords.
Businesses that don’t have websites, or have brochure websites, and existing performance based internet sites are prime candidates for pay-per-call services.
Pay per calls can generate calls from many other media and not just internet. Companies, such as Ingenio, are able to market and generate calls across a broad spectrum of media outlets. Customers like to pick up the phone and call. Research shows that clicking through to call is not a popular choice.
Pay per call works the best for financial institutions for credit or loans, insurance, and cable television companies.
Ads on mobile are easily connected to the pay per call number. Pay per call is a great fit for mobile. Top mobile searches are for food venues, travel, shopping, education, real estate, and health and medical.
Pay per call is for the company that wants to only pay for successes instead of being forced to pay a base amount regardless of performance.
Pay Per Calls and Local Search Delivers high quality leads using key place in the buying circle and quality demographics. Pay per call works when customers are doing their research online and are at the point of making their decision to purchase.
Only 3% of U.S. retail spending is done online. Offline (phone calls or store visits) still accounts for most of the spending. However, most people do their research online first and then go and buy the product offline. Of people who did research online, 39% preferred to visit a store and 44% preferred to make a phone call. Local search users had 42% visiting the store and 38% making the call.
Local search users have about twice as much income than other users. Your return on investment will be enhanced by converting customers from local searches.
By doing all the right things, you can increase your online sales to as much as 35% depending on your industry. Pay per calls and local searches are just part of the whole package of internet marketing strategies available to you.
