Pay-Per-Call advertising has become a known term of digital marketing and its associates like performance marketing. It provides businesses with an immediate way to connect with high-intent leads.
Let’s say, you’re running a business, and potential customers don’t just visit your website, they even call you directly. And they are ready to talk, ask questions, and perhaps even make a purchase.
That’s the magic of Pay-Per-Call advertising. It connects your business with people who are serious about getting answers right away.
Instead of relying on clicks and hoping visitors browse your site, you’re getting something even better, a phone call. And when someone calls, it often means they’re ready to take action.
We’ll dive deep into how Pay-Per-Call advertising works, why it’s so powerful, and how it can help your business grow. We’ll also explore strategies you can use to get the most out of this method, so stick around.
What is Pay-Per-Call Advertising?
Pay-Per-Call advertising is a marketing method where businesses pay for qualified or eligible phone calls generated by their ads. Instead of paying for every click (Pay-Per-Click ads), you only pay when someone actually makes a call to your business.
These ads generally appear on mobile devices, where the target audience can click a button to call you directly. Such ads can show up on search engines, social media platforms, and other websites, allowing potential customers to quickly reach your business.
How Does Pay-Per-Call Advertising Work?
1. The Setup
You start by creating creative and clickable ads with a call-to-action button or a clickable phone number.
These ads can be placed on platforms like Google, Facebook, Taboola or even specialized websites.
2. Triggering the Call
When someone sees your ad, they are encouraged to call your business.
For example, if someone searches for “local plumber,” they might see an ad for your plumbing services with a clear call-to-action like “Call Now for Immediate Help.”
3. You Pay for Each Call
You only pay when someone makes a qualified call (the event when the call goes above 90 seconds), meaning a potential customer who is actually interested in your service.
This way, you don’t waste money on irrelevant traffic as you’re paying for valuable leads.
Why is Pay-Per-Call Advertising Effective?
1. Higher Conversion Rates
Phone calls are more personal than website visits for obvious reasons. When your target audience calls your business, they’re already interested and looking for resolution & information.
This leads to higher conversion rates, with the resolution & information provided, a greater percentage of these calls turn into actual customers.
For example, if someone is searching for legal advice or an emergency plumber, they are more likely to call directly rather than filling out a form. These customers often need immediate help, making phone calls a better fit.
2. Real-Time Conversations
One of the biggest advantages of Pay-Per-Call is the ability to have real-time conversations with potential customers.
You can answer their questions, provide solutions, and even close sales in a single phone call.
That not only makes potential customers trust you, but also encourages them for a purchase.
Other forms of online marketing, where people might visit your site and leave without engaging, Pay-Per-Call ads encourage instant contact.
3. Targeting the Right Audience
You can target specific audiences based on keywords, location, and time of day, just like with Pay-Per-Click ads.
This ensures that your ads reach the people who are more likely to require your product or service, improving the chances of getting valuable and qualified calls.
For example, for a local home repair service, you can target people searching for “emergency home repairs” in your area, making sure your ad is shown at the right time to the right audience.
How to Make Pay-Per-Call Advertising Work for You?
For your Pay-Per-Call advertising to be more effective, you need to use the right strategies. Let’s go over some key strategies:
Basic strategies of Pay-Per-Call Advertising
1. Choose the Right Keywords
For any online ad, choosing the right keywords are important. You want to choose keywords that indicate the viewer of the ad is ready to call, and possibly make the purchase. Instead of basic and generic keywords like “plumber,” try phrases like “emergency plumber near me” or “24-hour plumber.”
These action-oriented and persuasive keywords show that the person is not just viewing the ad, they’re ready to act too.
2. Craft Clear Call-to-Actions (CTAs)
What good is it to just view an ad and not act on it?
Your ads should make it clear that you want the viewer to call. Use strong call-to-actions like “Call Now for a Free Quote,” “Speak to our Executive Today,” or “Call Us for Immediate Service.”
By directly telling the person what to do, you make it easier for them to take action as you basically guide them, making their lives easy.
3. Monitor and Optimize Call Handling
Regularly monitoring the calls your business receives is as important as optimizing your ads and their placements. Review call recordings and scrutinize customer service quality & customer handling, and make necessary improvements.
This can help you squeeze out a high conversion rate and ensure that your money is well spent.
Advanced strategies for Pay-Per-Call Advertising
1. Use Call Tracking and Analytics
Call tracking enables you to trace which keywords, ads, and platforms are attracting the most converting phone calls.
And by this information, you can optimize your campaigns, and get reduced wastage on ad spend and a scope of improving your return on investment (ROI).
2. Optimize for Mobile Devices
As the majority of Pay-Per-Call conversations happen over mobile devices, you need optimizations specifically targeting mobile devices.
Some of them include:
– Ensuring that the ads are formatted and created properly for mobile screens, the universal ratio is ratio 1:1 or 1080×1080.
– Ads including landing pages, must load quickly on mobile devices to avoid losing potential leads. Avoid and keep looking out for the problem of lazy loading.
4. Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI)
DNI is a way where you can find the source of a phone call by dynamically changing the phone number that is displayed to the user when the call is made.
A user finding your ad over Google would see one phone number, and another user finding the ad over Facebook would see a different one.
This tactic enables the process of tracking which keywords or platforms drive/attract the best results.
4. Time-Based Targeting
This ensures that your ads only get seen to the target audience during business hours, when they are ready to answer the questions, this avoids wastage of time and ad spends.
Showing the ads normally between 9 AM to 5 PM is a good idea.
Benefits of Pay-Per-Call Advertising
1. High Intent Leads
People calling your business have already made their mind for a purchase, they just need that extra push/guidance to help them do the same.
That’s where you come in with your customer handling.
This makes Pay-Per-Call a reliable and often chosen way to attract leads that have made the intent of converting.
2. Measurable and Trackable Data
Pay-Per-Call provides advanced call tracking so you know who called you, for how long the call lasted, and the result of the calls.
Basically, you get the understanding of the campaign you run via measuring and analyzing every aspect of the campaign.
3. Scope of High ROI
Certain businesses can gather high ROI with only a few or handful of leads/conversions. For example, legal services and SaaS products can yield high returns as the payout for even one conversion can be worth a lot, when done rightly.
4. Budgeting with Flexibility
Pay-Per-Call advertising enables you to dynamically adjust and fit your needs for the campaigns as and when necessary.
A good way for controlling costs while generating valuable leads.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
1. Delayed Call Response
You would have to say goodbye to the callers and see them go to your competitors, if you don’t answer right away. So, make sure that you and your team are all set to attend calls immediately.
2. Usage of Generic Keywords
Focusing on the action-driven keywords is the way to go as they indicate the customer to take desired action. If your keywords are too broad and unclassified, your ads might disappear or worse, make you pay for calls that don’t convert.
3. No Clear Call-to-Actions (CTAs)
Your ads should really trigger the pain points of the customer and use bold and action-seeking CTAs, like: “Call NOW!”, “Get Free Consultation TODAY!” or “Speak with an Expert”.
Conclusion
Pay-Per-Call advertising is an incredibly effective way for businesses to connect with high-intent leads, make them drive conversions, and optimize ad spends for the same ad campaigns.
By focusing on phone calls, you’re directly engaging with potential customers who are ready to take action, rather than just clicks. The real-time nature of these calls allows businesses to answer questions, resolve issues sourced from those calls, and even close deals on the spot, offering a more personalized and satisfied customer experience.
When paired with the right keywords, strong CTAs, and proper call tracking, Pay-Per-Call advertising becomes a powerful tool for generating valuable leads, boosting ROI, and growing your business.
Common mistakes like delayed responses or using generic keywords can lead you to get only losses, aim at providing a clear pathway to measurable growth and customer satisfaction.
