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25/08/2012 by
3501 views

Google’s Click-to-Call Measurement #Fail

We are not a mobile marketing company. We are a call tracking and call analytics company. For testing purposes, however, we recently started conducting some click-to-call campaigns in behalf of some of our call tracking clients. One very interesting test we conducted was with a Holiday Inn Express.

Google’s Click-to-Call Measurement #Fail

I’ll explain what we did and why it was interesting. But first let me briefly explain what mobile click-to-call is.

Mobile Click-To-Call

Click-to-call ads are mobile ads that contain a clickable phone number. The most common way to serve these ads is via Google Adwords. These ads appear after a Google search. Again, there is a phone number in the ad itself. Google will then charge the advertiser on a pay-per-call basis (each time the phone number is tapped) rather than on a pay-per-click basis.

This gives Google a way to monetize phone calls via mobile. And it gives advertisers a way to generate phone calls.

The Background

When you set up Click-to-Call in Google Adwords (Google calls them call extensions) you have to also enter  a phone number you would like to use in the ad. Most businesses simply use their own phone number. However, you can use any phone number as a ‘call extension.’ We recommend that you use a phone number provided by a call tracking company. You’ll see why in a moment.

The Test

We used local phone numbers provided by LogMyCalls as the call extension number within Google Adwords. Thus our tool, LogMyCalls, was able to extract call analytics from each call.

Holiday Inn Express – Logan, Utah – June 2012

  • Results
    • Spend – $332
    • Calls Generated – Google charged us for 60 calls generated via click-to-call. This means that 60 people tapped the phone number in the ad. Google bills for all of these taps because it believes they are actual phone calls. (Note: Most mobile marketers are stuck with this information and this information only).
    • Calls Completed – Only 29 calls (48.3%) were actually completed and made it to the hotel. The rest were abandoned before the phone even rang. (Note: The only way we knew this is because we used a tracking phone number from LogMyCalls to measure call analytics.
    • Qualified Leads – Only 9 calls (15%) were actually looking for a hotel room. (Note: Again the only we knew this is because we used a LogMyCalls phone number and call analytics).
    • Closed Deals – And 6 ended in a room reservation (10%)(Note: Again the only we knew this is because we used a LogMyCalls phone number and call analytics).

Google Click-to-call ad

Implications

–          If we had used the standard business phone number and not a call tracking phone number we would have had vastly different data about our CPL, CPA and CPC. They, frankly, would have been wrong.

–          Having false data about CPA, CPL and CPC would have altered optimization, ad copy, future spend and of course, assumptions about the ad channel itself.

–          The way we look at it is simple: you have to use some phone number in your click-to-call ads, you might as well use a number from LogMyCalls that will give you data.

Our call-to-action to our audience: What are your experiences with click-to-call? We would love to hear about your experience.

About the Author
Jason Wells is the CEO of ContactPoint. Their new product, LogMyCalls, represents the next generation of intelligent call tracking and marketing automation. Prior to joining ContactPoint, Jason served as the Senior Vice President of Sony International, where he led the creation and international expansion of Sony’s mobile business line from London. Jason has spoken on marketing topics at SES New York, SES Toronto, Ad Tech, Digital Hollywood, Nokia World, The Microsoft Partners Conference, CTIA and elsewhere. Jason holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.