One of the biggest concerns for a small business pursuing Google Adwords or other paid per click (PPC) advertising is the budget. Especially in competitive industries, a daily budget of $25 to $50 can get burned through quickly in a PPC campaign. Now that Google has really blurred the lines between paid, local and organic search results, gaining a non goal oriented click on a PPC advertisement can be a dime a dozen. If someone clicks on a Google Ad and the corresponding web page takes too long to load or leaves the person feeling like the search result is not what they were looking for, than they will quickly go back to the list of Google search results.
5 Reasons To Use Call Only Ads
Cutting out the pitfalls of the sales funnel is where “call only ads” come into play. Call only ads for small businesses can be a game changer, in the world of paid per click advertising. If you are a small business who has the power to close a sale when your phone rings than this is for you. Here are five reasons why call only ads should be a part of your AdWords campaign in 2017.
Press One To Speak To A Human
Although texting with emojis have replaced phone calls and lots of companies funnel customers to online support with chat or email, at the end of the day people still want to speak with a live person when it comes to sales. If someone is interested in your products or services and are somewhere between the researching and buying stage, they most likely would prefer to speak with you (or your sales team) by phone to find out more information.
If you are a natural closer when you get a potential customer on the phone, then call only ads are for you. Think about all the potential pitfalls you can avoid with a call only ad. You don’t have to worry about someone clicking on an PPC link, waiting for the site to load, deciphering your landing page, finding your call-to-action and actually completing a form or making a phone call. For some businesses this can be a big waste of time, money and resources. If the goal is to get a potential customer on the phone, then give them the ability to click and call you directly from the search result. Boom! Your bottom line just increased!
Your PPC Budget Will Decrease
It’s no secret many small businesses need to stretch every marketing dollar to get the most out of their advertising budget. Call only ads can be super cost effective for the simple fact that only those truly interested in your product or service will actually make the phone call. There is something in the human psyche where we will unconsciously click on a link but will give additional thought to actually making a phone call. So if this innate human behavior can reduce the cost of your PPC budget by simply eliminating people who are not in the buying mode, then that can reduce the overall money spent in your AdWords campaign. Let’s keep your money where it belongs…in your pocket!
Websites Not Included
For many reason countless businesses still do not have an online presence in the form of a website. Fortunately for those businesses, call only ads do not require a website. Since the only option is to make a phone call with call only ads, you don’t have to worry about creating a custom landing page or connecting an ad to a website. Maintaining a website can certainly eat up a chunk of your marketing budget. If your company thrives with a Facebook page as your point of contact online, then call only ads would be great for you.
Always Be Closing
Looking for a way to increase your conversion rate for PPC? When potential customers search for a product or service on a mobile device and your company’s call only ad appears, if they click to call then all you have to do is close. People who actually call are in the buying mode, want more information and in fact are generally ready to give you their money. Now that call only ads have removed the costly in between steps of traditional paid per click campaigns, now all you have to worry about is how quickly you can connect the potential customer with someone on your sales team when they click to call.
Results You Can Measure
There is so much that goes into analyzing a paid per click advertising campaign.
- What keywords are generating impressions?
- What ads are generating clicks?
- Are people clicking through to your website?
- What’s the bounce rate?
- Do people complete your intended call-to-action (CTA)?
- Do people click through to additional web pages?
- Do people exit your site before completing the intended CTA?
There are so many factors to consider during a traditional PPC marketing campaign. There is some ambiguity or most often a ton of data to sift through to see into the minds of potential customers. With click to call only ads you get a direct connection to the consumer and can easily track each call. You can simply decide to count a conversion if the phone rings or place a time limit on a call to make it a conversion. Either way at the end of the day if the phone rings you have accomplished your goal to find new leads.
The Wrap Up
Take a look at your current PPC account and see if you feel that you are spending extra money without receiving your desired results. If the goal is to get a potential customer on the phone, then call only ads are definitely something your business should consider. These types of Google ads are cost effective and easy to measure. If you have any questions about Google AdWords and PPC marketing, please send us a message or call us at (202) 683-6881.
