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By Jason Wells
CEO, ContactPoint
The principal byproduct of the mobile marketing explosion is a dramatic increase in the number of phone calls businesses receive.
Consider the research:
– Google says that mobile search volume will surpass desktop search volume by 2013 or, perhaps, early 2014. (That’s just a few months away).
– Recent research from Nielsen and xAd found that mobile searches result in phone calls 73% of the time. Wow.
– These factors will combine to produce a massive increase in calls to local businesses. BIA/Kelsey says that the number of calls businesses receive will double by the end of 2013. You read that correctly. Most businesses will receive twice as many phone calls in 18 months.
Okay, you get the point. Mobile = more phone calls. But why does this mean higher conversion rates?
What Does this Mean For Conversions?
Data clearly shows that inbound phone callers are significantly more likely to convert to customers than web leads are. Research from a variety of sources—and common sense—indicate that only 4% to 8% of inbound web leads are ready to buy. However, inbound phone calls produce lead-to-customer conversion rates between 20% and 60%. We know this from call analytics research gathered inside of LogMyCalls. In short: phone calls are better than web leads.
Not surprisingly, the same BIA/Kelsey report notes that 61% of businesses rate their inbound phone calls as ‘excellent leads.’ Only 52% rate web leads as ‘excellent leads.’
What Can You Do Now?
1) Optimize your website for mobile visitors. Ensure there is a click-to-call phone number on your page that is easily accessible. This will improve conversions.
2) Begin mobile marketing campaigns. If you start mobile marketing you will also start receiving phone calls.
3) Put phone numbers on your ‘regular’ landing pages. Some marketers are afraid to do this. They are afraid that it will distract visitors from filling out their forms. Won’t this mess up your conversion rates for your landing pages? Won’t this make it messier to track? Won’t it discourage form fill outs?
Don’t be afraid. Your conversion rates will go up.
We track, very carefully, landing page conversion rates. Recently we ran a few online marketing campaigns and here’s an example of what we saw.
Campaign Example
Each campaign advertised the same White Paper download. We tracked how many people downloaded the White Paper via form fill-out and we tracked how many phone calls each landing page produced.
Here’s what we learned:
The landing page converted at 42.1%; a respectable, 11.7% of those leads wanted a demo of our product. We also placed a phone number prominently on the landing page. That phone number produced several phone calls. 62% of those phone calls resulted in a demo. (That’s higher than 11.7%:)
4) Prepare to track mobile analytics and conversions. The same metrics you’ve used for online marketing simply don’t apply. Track call analytics.
Don’t fear the mobile explosion. It will improve your conversion rates.
About the Author
Jason Wells is the CEO of ContactPoint. Their new product, LogMyCalls, represents the next generation of intelligent call tracking and marketing automation. Prior to joining ContactPoint, Jason served as the Senior Vice President of Sony International, where he led the creation and international expansion of Sony’s mobile business line from London.
Jason has spoken on marketing topics at SES New York, SES Toronto, Ad Tech, Digital Hollywood, CTIA and elsewhere. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
See Jason Live!
Jason is sharing more techniques for increasing conversions via phone calls at Conversion Conference Fort Lauderdale 2012 on October 9th and 10th in Florida. Join him in his session on “Mobile Targeting + Phone Calls = Higher Conversions.” See the full agenda or read more about this session. You can also follow Jason on Twitter for some pre-conference networking.
Save $100 when you register with Jason’s discount code FL12532. Only 10 days to go – get your Conversion Conference pass now!
