Marketing Profs

Was it merchant John Wanamaker or soap magnate Lord Leverhulme who once said, "Half my advertising spending is wasted. I just don't know which half"?

Historians are fuzzy about which legendary marketer first uttered those words. Regardless, the sentiment is growing for advertisers investing in pay-per-click ads via search engines, directories, and online yellow pages. The model has certainly proved successful for many, but marketers are beginning to question how and when they should spend their budget in this area.

One emerging trend is investment in technologies and services that drive phone leads from the Web rather than click-throughs to a business's Web site. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) view this as a powerful way to get more qualified leads when they may not be able to make the Web investments of their larger counterparts (in fact, they may not even have a Web site). Likewise, larger corporations are leveraging phone leads to facilitate complex transactions that their customers may not be comfortable completing on the Web.

Click-to-call, the technology that enables instant phone leads, has garnered considerable attention from a range of businesses. With the click of a button, buyers can be connected immediately over the phone to advertisers from any Web site or ad listing.

This technology enables pay-per-call advertising models, which allow advertisers to pay on a per-call basis for leads generated online. The success of pay-per-click advertising revolutionized advertising for online merchants. It's a model that works great for simple, low-cost online transactions. But, as mentioned, for more complex sales of products and services, or for smaller advertisers that do not have a formidable Web presence, a phone call still works best for closing the deal. That's why major Internet brands are experimenting with offering click-to-call to their advertisers.

However, local advertisers aren't the only ones seeing the benefits of click-to-call. For years, companies like DaimlerChrysler and Ogilvy have integrated click-to-call applications on brand Web sites, email campaigns, banner ads, and other online communications in an effort to...

1. Increase sales conversion

2. Reduce site abandonment

3. Improve customer satisfaction and loyalty

Both local media and enterprise businesses have seen the benefits of giving customers a direct response mechanism that puts them in contact with a human being. And though there are some differences between local media and enterprise click-to-call solutions, one thing is certain: A click-to-call solution is much more complex than simply connecting a phone call.