Back in November of last year, Google announced that they would be starting the slow roll-out of a feature in AdWords that would allow advertisers to get more phone calls for the advertisements and track those calls with detailed reports. It took a long 8 months, but the wait is finally over…call metrics are now available to all advertisers in the United States and Canada!
For those of you who are completely unfamiliar with Call Metrics, check out this article Bryan wrote for PPC Hero back when Call Metrics were first announced. The core purpose of these Call Metrics is to allow advertisers to track back how call-in customers found them, rather than relying on asking the caller how they found the number, etc. Google gives you a toll-free forwarding number to place in your ads and anytime a user calls that number, data is collected on where the caller is calling from and the length of the call.
As an advertiser, you then have the opportunity to take a look at that data and determine if budget adjustments or account structure optimizations are necessary in order to target those Call Extensions effectively. A word to the wise, though: these calls are billable for more than just a click in certain circumstances. If the customer calls your number from a direct click to your ad from their mobile device you’ll only be charged for the click. On the other hand, if a customer sees your number in an ad on their PC, laptop or tablet and dials from another source, you’ll be charged a $1 (USD) fee on top of the click cost.
There have been some reports that adding the Click-to-Call feature into your AdWords account can increase CTR by 5-30% in some cases, so there’s definitely potential. However, with the inability to forecast the number of calls you might receive from desktop users and the bill that could rack up accordingly, are you weary to dive in headfirst? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below!
For further information about this topic, check out the following links:
- Now all US and Canada advertisers can get more phone calls and detailed call reporting-Inside AdWords Blog
- Call Metrics-Google Ad Innovations
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more news updates from PPC Hero!
