The general manager of goWholesale explains how this search strategy can help small B2Bs increase direct sales leads-- whether or not they have a website.

In the B2B world, having an online presence is a critical element of driving new customers to your business. A study by Google and Thomasnet in 2005 revealed that 80 percent of B2B buyers use search engines for sourcing vendors and products. However, according to researcher Kelsey Group, 70 percent of small and midsize U.S. businesses (SMBs) don't have a website. These numbers add up to a lot of missed opportunities for B2B SMBs. 

In all fairness, until recently these businesses have had few cost-effective options for creating a meaningful online presence. However, the newest online advertising solution, pay-per-call, is on its way to changing that.

Pay-per-call advertising has been making major headlines since late last year when Google revealed its initial launch of the service. As the major players battle to develop the most effective pay-per-call features, marketers are trying to determine the benefit and best ways to integrate pay-per-call into the overall advertising strategy, as well as which search engines will provide the highest ROI and new customer acquisition rates.

The pay-per-call model
As a new and groundbreaking form of search engine advertising, pay-per-call is an online advertising service that connects internet searchers with businesses over the phone. Similar to pay-per-click advertising, marketers create online ads that appear in the results page of keyword-specific search queries. However, a pay-per-call ad provides either a click-to-call option, or a special toll-free number instead of a link to the company’s website that current pay-per-click models provide. Some players, such as our vertical search engine, goWholesale, offer pay-per-call advertisers a splash page that provides further details about the company such as merchandise sold, business hours, ordering and shipping information and the company logo.

Pay-per-call is free for buyers, and advertisers are only charged when a potential customer contacts them through the phone number provided. The calls are generally tracked for billing and reporting purposes by the search engine or an outsourced provider such as Voicestar, Ingenio or eStara. These outsourced companies typically provide services for connecting the call, logging the call, charging the advertiser and, of course, sharing the money with the search engine on which the ad appeared. Pricing models vary slightly across search engines; marketers either bid for placement or negotiate a flat-fee for each call received through the dedicated phone number.  

Pay-per-call advertising also differs from pay-per-click in that it is not exclusive to businesses that already have a website. Since the billable event is a phone call instead of a click, pay-per-call allows all businesses to participate and take advantage of search advertising, even if the business is not established online. 

Additionally, pay-per-call can complement a pay-per-click campaign for businesses that do have a website by providing another powerful pay-for-performance marketing channel.

Benefits of pay-per-call
Pay-per-call is an ideal way for millions of businesses to leverage the power of search engines. It is no longer a requirement for a business to have a website to take advantage of search advertising services. This not only allows for a highly trackable ad campaign, but also allows buyers and sellers to connect in a productive way. The service enables advertisers to make a direct connection with potential buyers, which research has shown to be highly effective in generating sales conversions. 

The Kelsey Group reports the response rate for telephone-based ads is eight percent, compared with three percent for pay-per-click ads. This is because sales departments and call centers are better able to provide insight into product and pricing information, answer buyer questions and overcome objections, and build customer relationships through pre-sales, up-sells and future transactions. 

By establishing credibility and trust over the phone, B2B businesses are more likely to close a sale than they are from relying on website sales conversions. 

In addition, pay-per-call is less susceptible to fraudulent activity because the transparent nature of telephone leads helps providers to determine a fraudulent inquiry. For example, hang up calls and calls that last less than a pre-determined time are often considered to not be a genuine sales lead, and therefore the advertiser is not charged. In addition, customers that prefer to not share personal and credit card information online can be assured of privacy and security through a phone transaction.   

Deciding where to spend pay-per-call ad dollars
As with any advertising campaign, marketers must consider which venues will generate the highest return on investment (ROI) for the money spent. For B2B marketers, the biggest return on pay-per-click advertising will most likely come from local and vertical search engines. These types of search engines attract a highly targeted audience that is looking for products or vendors in a certain category, such as wholesale, or they are targeted by country, region, state, city or even specific zip code. Professional services such as insurance providers, real estate and travel agents or shipping companies might also see a big pay off on pay-per-call advertising since many purchasers, both consumer and business, are more comfortable making a decision through a live contact. 

Pay-per-call services can generate a high ROI for companies in specific verticals, such as wholesale in which many companies, manufacturers, drop shippers and importers do not have an online presence or have websites that are not optimized for sales lead generation. By leveraging pay-per-call search networks, these companies are able to expand their market reach by connecting with consumers that generate millions of searches.

Advertisers must also consider providers or agencies that have the ability to manage multiple types of online advertising, including pay-per-click and pay-per-call, using one advertising platform and associated services. This makes tracking the success rate of campaigns more effective, and marketers are easily able to adjust spending, keywords and frequency of ads to create the most effective overall campaign.

The goal of pay-per-click advertising is to provide marketers with an efficient and effective way to reach target audiences. While the service is in its infancy, marketers are quickly understanding the value that pay-per-click brings to the table. By integrating pay-per-call into their overall advertising strategy, marketers and small businesses will capture the full benefit of using the internet to capture new customer sales leads. 

Asad Haroon is general manager of goWholesale.