Why You Should Care and How to Set Up Your Own Campaign!
To successfully run your own business, you need to have customers. That being said, you have to advertise yourself to reach out to your clientele. Well, advertising your business just got easier with the launch of Google Call-Only campaign. This campaign has the purpose of engaging the customers and encouraging them to call you by simply clicking on your ad. Therefore, instead of the usual clicking that would lead to your website, now, your ads can be set to show when your business can take the calls. That way, you can never miss an opportunity to connect with the potential customers.
According to some research, there will be 162 billion calls to business by the year 2019.
How it all started
It all started by opening the floodgates for phone calls. In response to that, Google made sure that the advertisers were ready to take the advantage. Therefore, they added call extensions first. Afterward, they added call tracking from the landing page. And, lastly, they added call-only campaigns.
Driving and tracking calls became super simple with these call-only campaigns. For this reason, we prepared some of our best tips and tricks on how to be sure that you’re getting the most out of your call-only campaigns.
Tip No. 1 – Use the URL
Unlike a traditional online ad, call-only campaigns leave very little space for you to work with. Hence, you have to make an effort to use this tiny space smartly. As you won’t be having a headline or a regular landing page, the URL becomes the most essential feature. You have 35 characters to use, so you’re quite limited. Therefore, try adding a CTA or a keyword at the end of your display URL. Use this opportunity to make your message stand out!
Tip No. 2 – Copy Testing
Your call-only campaign ad needs to be extremely concise and clear, given the limit of 35 characters. So, it’s crucial for you to include your CTA that will encourage people to call you. The call-to-action is the key ingredient to absolutely every marketing program out there. Think about it as an appeal to potential customers, an invite to their response – you would want them to respond, wouldn’t you?
Tip No.3 Go high or go home
Alright, if you’re starting a new call-only campaign, you undoubtedly need to bid high. Yes, you may lose money at first. However, what you gain is far more valuable. By bidding high, you will obtain useful data that will undoubtedly pay off when you’re optimizing.
Tip No. 4 – Use the right words
Again with the keywords, but that’s how important they are! You need to make sure that you’re using the words that will target the audience, who will be most likely to respond to your invite. These keywords can be location-based, or just something that you’re sure will establish an immediate connection with your customers. You need to remember that call-only ads don’t lead to your website, where the customers can do their little research. Instead, the keywords need to make them take action immediately and call right away.
Tip No. 5 – Schedule your call-only campaign efficiently
This tip is something you absolutely don’t want to neglect. With Google call-only ads, you can schedule the run-time of your campaign according to your business hours. That way, no call will be left unanswered. You certainly don’t want customers to call you and then back out after realizing that their call won’t get them anywhere. So, use this option wisely. You can even look at peak call times and days, to fully take advantage of the trends in consumers’ behavior and preferences.
Tip No. 6 – Location targeting matters, too
If you own a local business, then location targeting is another option you’ll need to take into consideration. Therefore, you need to make sure that you’re using a local phone number and that all the calls are directly routed to the store that’s the nearest to the location of the caller. That way, you might just discover that some areas bring more callers than other. So, once you figure that out, you can even increase your bids for that particular area.
Tip No. 7 – What’s your call-through rate?
What you’re paying is the click. However, not every click will lead to a phone call. For instance, when someone clicks on your call-only ad, an auto dialer will appear on the user’s phone, which they then must click to make the call. You can use the data to find out how many clicks lead to actual phone calls. That way, you can learn how to optimize your bids based on calls versus clicks.
You should look at it like this. If there’s a far more significant number of clicks than calls, maybe it’s time for you to rethink your ad copy or keyword strategy.
Tip No. 8 – Even the quality of calls needs to be measured
Now that you know how important it is to keep track of the number of actual calls, you’re still not done. Counting calls won’t suffice when you want to measure your performance and understand how to optimize everything efficiently. You now need to learn how many callers turn into real customers. You can easily track this by using an intelligence solution that will keep track of the phone call outcomes. Another important aspect is the call duration.
Therefore, when you figure out the quality of the calls, you can begin to optimize bids, to increase quality traffic over quantity traffic.
Tip No. 9 – Think about the caller experience
Once you start getting the calls, that’s when your quality level kicks in. Don’t risk losing your potential customers to the poorly organized phone menu. You have to make sure that your callers are immediately directed to the right sales agent, who can then provide them with all the needed help. Once you see the calls flooding in, don’t lose yourself in numbers. That’s the point where you need to show your dedication and keep those calls coming.
Tip No. 10 – Retarget your audience
With call-only campaigns, you will be aware when a call didn’t turn into a sale. So, that’s when you can hit the callers with a retargeting ad. Callers are the perfect fit for retargeting ads, as they are highly engaged, quality prospects. Not only will you know whom exactly to retarget, but you’ll also avoid the risk of offering a discount to a caller who already converted into a customer over the phone. You certainly don’t want that to happen, do you?
How to create your first call-only campaign?
#1 First things first – Add a verification URL
To show phone numbers along with your ads, you’ll need to add a verification URL while creating them. This URL has the purpose of linking to a landing page, where Google will be able to verify the phone number you’ve chosen to show and use. It’s redundant to say that these two numbers absolutely have to be a match.
#2 You need to determine which Google Ads experience is the most suitable for you and your business
Start by registering your account. Once your account has access, the Google team will send you an email to notify you that your access has been granted. And, more importantly, you’ll be able to see an introductory tutorial when you first sign in to your account.
#3 Campaign creation – Step-by-Step
Let’s say you’ve decided to create your first call-only campaign. The next step is the creation itself, and it can be done in the following way:
● Start by signing in to your AdWords account;
● On the Campaigns tab, left click on the +Campaign drop-down menu, and select the Search Network only option;
● Now it’s time to add a name to your campaign;
● Afterward, it’s necessary to choose the campaign type Call-only;
● Then, go ahead and select your networks, devices, and location targeting;
Under “Devices,” note that your ads will only appear on devices that can make calls!
● Now, pay attention to the Bid Strategy, as all clicks on your ads should match the value of a call to your business;
● You can now select any additional settings you’d like for your campaign to have;
● And, finally – click on Save and continue.
Final Thoughts
This new ad format is promising to make the existing call extensions an ancient history. It’s quite an upgrade if you really think about it. While call extensions are, in fact, a handy way to promote your business number in an ad, the call-only campaigns make everything even better. You should think of call-only ads as a direct hotline that routes the customer call straight into your business’ contact.
What you absolutely need to have is a high-quality, dedicated team behind the phone number that you put in your ad. The reason for that is the fact that now the callers don’t care about your website and they don’t rely on it. Instead, they rely on the person answering their call. Basically, something you said in your ad made them call you. So, make sure to have the right people with the correct answers.
If you are ready to set up your call only campaign and need a bit of help feel free to shoot our team a call or email and we woul be happy to answer any questions you have. info@digital1010.com
