Like most digital marketing, the only constant in paid search advertising is change and an increasingly competitive landscape. Identifying trends and opportunities before others is so crucial to maximizing marketing spend, especially in a lean business environment. Today, we’re here to give you one such nugget of wisdom.
Research on the value of click-to-call for your business indicates that click-to-call will grow to $13.7 billion in the next two years; it currently sits at $7.41 billion.
Why the bullish outlook? For one, click-to-call leads are more valuable. In one case study discussed in Search Engine Watch, a click-to-call campaign conversion rate hit 24.6 percent; for context, a paid search campaign conversion rate usually hovers in the single digits. Additionally, the cost per conversion in that campaign was 61 percent lower than a traditional paid search campaign.
You might now be wondering, “why isn’t this a bigger deal?”
There’s a fun paradox in most search marketing; when conversion and customer value are good, the volume is usually much lower. In the case of this study, the click-to-call campaign received a tenth of the impressions of a standard paid search ad. As user behavior tends to move further towards mobile search, it seems like this gap will close.
Click-to-call data is also an amazing tool for improving your web experience. According to the survey, “51% say they ‘always’ or ‘frequently’ need to call a business from a mobile search ad. 59 percent of those surveyed said the main reason they call is to get a question answered. Not only can giving that answer improve that person’s likelihood of becoming a customer, but it also provides valuable feedback on your web experience.
For example, if you keep getting a similar question on calls, and all those customers with that question come from your home page, you can use that feedback to modify your website experience. Because click-to-call campaigns are easy to track, you can gather that data to make important web marketing decisions.
All this to say, if you haven’t considered this web conversion option yet, you should. Particular business types, like auto, tech and travel, may benefit the most, according to the study. Make sure you check out the rest of the research to get more information on how to plan your call strategy.
Born in Boston and raised in California, Connor arrived in Texas for college and was (lovingly) ensnared by southern hospitality and copious helpings of queso. As an SEO professional, he lives and breathes online marketing and its impact on businesses. His loves include disc-related sports, a pint of a top-notch craft beer, historical non-fiction novels, and Austin's live music scene.
