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Heralded as the next big performance-based online advertising model, Cost-per-Call is being successfully introduced in America and the UK looks set to follow suit.
Callgen Cost-per-Call generates qualified leads through online advertising and the advertiser only pays for the adverts that result in calls, in much the same way pay-per-click advertising only charges for visitors sent to a website. Established online brands can thus maximise the use of trained call-centre staff, while small businesses that lack a conventional web presence can benefit from online advertising for the first time.
Targeted at agencies, publishers and advertisers, Callgen Cost-per-Call offers an additional response channel and an alternative to pay-per-click campaigns. Generating telephone leads, Callgen’s freephone numbers and tracking systems integrate with most advertising formats and channels, from basic text listings, banners and buttons, to rich media campaigns.
According to James Barrington-Brown, director at Callgen, “Callgen Cost-per-Call is an innovative and effective method of merging the two most prolific and successful sales tools ever, the telephone and the internet”.
Customers typically call a freephone (0800) number and Callgen launches its new performance-based ad model with a fixed cost-per-call for all advertiser accounts. Advertisers only pay at the point of connection - when a customer picks up the phone and calls. Unlike pay-per-click, the advertiser pays for a motivated customer connection, not just a browsing action.
Charlie Dobres, co-founder of digital marketing agency i-level, believes that Cost-per-Call is another opportunity for advertisers to convert the sale, up-sell and cross-sell. He says, “Cost-per-Call offers an additional response alternative and it will become an important new buying model for advertisers and agencies. It can work especially well for high-value, or complex and sophisticated brand products and services. There will always be situations where it is easier for the consumer to call, and this new advertising model allows brands to offer the consumer the benefit of more personalised contact.”
Crucially, the Callgen service also helps those businesses that do not have a web presence, or those without transactional or ecommerce functionality. Smaller businesses often find it hard to compete online with the more established larger companies. Callgen is a ‘leveller’ allowing offline businesses to use web marketing as easily as online ones.
J Hertzog, at Exhibitions.com, comments: “The ability to use Cost-per-Call can allow even small exhibitors, in particular those with a simple or no website at all, to benefit from online advertising."
Alexandra White, director of AOP adds, "Our own latest research has shown that users respond to advertising on quality content sites in a number of ways: allowing users to respond by phone will, I'm sure, help drive overall response rates (and therefore revenue) for publishers."
Callgen will primarily work with online advertising agencies to introduce this new service to major brands and offline companies. Callgen’s web-based account management displays call patterns and measurable results from all campaign activity. Cost-per-Call is suitable for multi-channel advertising, combining offline and online campaigns enabling advertisers to track the exact results generated by each channel or activity.
According to Guy Levy, director at Callgen, “Cost-per-Call fills the gap when users have questions that cannot be quickly answered by a website, when they don’t want to submit their card details online, or when they simply prefer to deal with a real person.
“Business relationships often start over the telephone, and a lot of consumers prefer to find and call suppliers that are local to them. Traditionally, publishers could not monetise call traffic the same way they do with clicks. Cost-per-Call changes that.”
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