Voice Clicking
Pay-per-call encourages potential visitors to pick up the phone and call advertisers instead of visiting their web sites. While typical companies may not want to have customers calling them, many mortgage companies welcome this option due to the high amount of skill sometimes required to answer questions. Other companies that are likely candidates include any service were there is either a high conversion rate (travel agents, lawyers, florists) or immediate need (tow trucks, plumbers, electricians), or both.
Most people still conduct their mortgage transactions by phone, so when a potential customer contacts you, they’re not browsing, they are verifying their intent on using your service.
Pay-per-call ads cost more than pay-per-click fees, but you receive more for your money. When your potential visitor clicks on your Pay-per-call listing, they are transported to a more comprehensive “details” page offering additional information about your mortgage company. These details include such items as: your hours, any special offers, your rates, description of your products and service, promotional offers, your street address, a map and logo. Only after the visitor see this information, will they call, so you receive a “pre-screened” customer.
In addition to offering the click through hyperlink, a toll free phone number appears. When a potential customer dials that number, the advertiser is billed a fixed amount.
To feature their ads, advertisers need to bid on keywords for these ads, just as they do with pay-per-click ads.
Another advantage is that once you have a caller, you are preempting them from visiting a multitude of competitors’ online sites.
Pay-per-call companies state that click-fraud will go away for pay-per-call clients, as more work is involved in dialing than clicking. Also the companies state that they employ other safeguards against fraud, such as not charging advertisers for unusually brief calls or repeated calls originating from the same source. In example, Miva.com states there are no extra charges for multiple calls from the same consumer made within a 10 day initial period.
You can set a maximum cap on the amount you want to be billed each month. In example, you could set a limit of $500 and when you have reached that value in calls, your pay-per-call ad is removed from the search results display, until the beginning of next month.
Just like with pay-per-click, advertisers bid on the maximum amount they will offer for pay-per-call listings. The higher the bid, the higher your ad will appear in the search display results.
Mortgage companies without a web site can even use the pay-per-call service.
Many companies view advertising as an expense, but the better you design your web site to meet your customers needs, or the more skilled your “phone closers” can actually make your pay-per-call and pay-per-click really revenue-per-call and revenue-per-click.
(Rod Aries and Robert Farris are co-founders of MortgagePromote.com, a leading Internet marketing provider to corporate mortgage clients.)
Originally published May 2006.