Pay-per-call marketing: The ultimate matchmaker between marketers and small business owners

Many business owners think it’s cheaper to advertise alone. That is, until they realize they don’t have the expertise, spend time they could invest in their clients, and waste resources.

This is where pay-per-call marketing steps in. It works like marketing agencies usually do but with a twist. You, the marketer, craft, monitor, and optimize ads on various platforms and drive leads to them.

But instead of being paid with monthly fees, businesses will pay you a commission on leads that convert into sales!

In this article, we’ll address key questions about pay-per-call lead generation and show you how to attract clients for your pay-per-call marketing business.

What is pay-per-call marketing?

Most, if not all, marketers are familiar with pay-per-click advertising. In this type of advertising, you place an ad on a website, search engine, or video and get charged whenever someone clicks on it. Hence, the name.

Something similar happens with pay-per-call marketing; the advertised business gets charged for every phone call that converts. The marketer in charge of ad campaigns that bring phone leads to clients gets paid a flat fee or takes a cut as commission each time a call converts.

Marketers use call tracking software to monitor, record, transcribe, and analyze their client’s calls so they can attribute them and get compensated. Attribution is maintained with unique tracking numbers the marketer acquires from their call tracking software and places on their marketing material.

We will talk more about call tracking tools, their features, and why they are the cornerstone of pay-per-call marketing.

What makes the pay-per-call marketer different from the rest?

Pay-per-call marketers focus on generating phone calls, rather than clicks, impressions, or other forms of engagement. Their marketing is geared towards customers who are ready to take immediate action, such as scheduling an appointment, making a purchase, or inquiring about services.

Their performance is based on the value of the calls they drive to their clients. The value is defined by the quality of the calls and whether or not it resulted in a sale. They only get paid for calls that meet said criteria.

Call tracking technology is an integral part of pay-per-call marketing, as it helps marketers track the origin, behavior, and outcome of calls, providing insights into campaign performance.

With it, marketing campaigns are optimized to encourage immediate calls through channels like Google Ads (call extensions), local SEO, social media click-to-call ads, and traditional media.

How to set up a pay-per-call campaign
in 5 steps!

1. Find a small business owner you want to advertise: Pick a partner and explain that you will be driving phone leads to his or her number.
2. Acquire a unique phone number from Nimbata and place this on the ad or your listing: This can be done using Google Ads and/or other lead generation sources. Each client has their own niche so it is worth experimenting in different channels and micro-communities!
3. A potential lead sees your ad and calls the number: Make the call to action as simple as possible!
4. You route the call to the buyer: Nimbata allows you to setup up simple or advanced call routing, ensuring your customers always receive the call.
5. Your customer receives the call and pays you for it: With call recording, call transcriptions and advanced reporting, you can prove to your customer that the call resulted in an appointment or sale, and gain the commission you have agreed!

Are phone leads still worth it today?

Yes! Even though digital interactions are becoming more popular and younger generations seem to prefer them, phone calls are still a huge source of high-quality leads.

The fact that phone calls are more personal and direct and bring solutions and answers more quickly, means that they won’t be going anywhere for a long, long time.

• 61% of call centers have seen an increase in inbound calls.
• 60% of smartphone users have contacted a business directly through the search results.

The total number of unique mobile users grew by 93 million in 2020-2021 and continues to grow by 1.8% each year.

These and many more statistics and research, prove that inbound call leads are more than just worth it. Not only in terms of volume but value as well. Inbound leads on average cost 61% less as compared to outbound leads.

Pay-per-call offers numerous advantages, including:

• High-quality leads: Phone calls tend to attract more serious and high-quality leads who are more ready to buy than any other type of lead, leading to higher conversion rates.
• Improved ROI: Paying for actual calls ensures that you’re investing in tangible interactions with potential customers.
• Enhanced customer insights: Conversations on calls provide valuable insights into customer needs and preferences.
• Increased accessibility: Pay-per-call opens doors for customers who prefer direct conversations or may have limited online access.
• The lead comes to you: In addition to cold calling, which often may perceived as “spammy” and “annoying”, inbound phone leads have chosen to call your business and are interested in your product/service. All you have to do is to craft a well-structured campaign and wait.

As a result, small business owners continue to rely on phone calls as a cornerstone of their customer engagement strategy, recognizing that in an increasingly digital world, the human connection offered by a phone call remains irreplaceable.

7 Must-have features to boost your pay-per-call lead generation

Like any good professional, pay-per-call marketers need the proper tools to deliver the best results. And in their case, the number one tool they need to invest in is call tracking.

Specifically, you should look for call tracking tools that, at a minimum offer these features:

1. Call recording

Recording calls is a must-have, allowing you to record and listen to calls. It also acts as proof of results, helping pay-per-callers show their clients how many valuable calls they generated for them. With Nimbata’s built-in player, you can listen to calls at 2x or even 3x speed, quickly identifying whether the phone call has been converted or not.

2. Call transcriptions

Listening to every call can be a time-consuming process. Call transcriptions allow you to quickly learn what the caller and your buyer discussed. Additionally, you can easily locate a particular call or identify calls that fit specific criteria with quick transcript search and report filtering options. Just a few clicks is all it takes to find exactly what you need.

3. AI call summaries

AI call summaries simplify the analysis process by automatically transcribing calls and generating concise summaries. These summaries provide an objective overview of each call, enabling you to uncover valuable insights, such as whether a sales call occurred or an appointment was booked.

4. Call whispers

Let your buyer know that the lead who’s calling is coming from you before they handle the call. Call Whispers are discreetly played to your clients just before they answer an incoming call so they can be prepared.

5. Call capping

Do you have a specific deal with your buyer about a certain amount of phone leads they are willing to pay for? Enter call capping. Set exactly how many leads a buyer is eligible to receive.

6. Email notifications

Buyer not answering the phone? Here’s how to set up an e-mail notification informing them that a lead calling them.

7. Workflows & automations

Automatically tag calls based on criteria and send calls as conversions to your ad accounts with workflows and automations.

How to nail your pay-per-call marketing campaigns and start generating quality leads for your clients

We will talk now about some of the best pay-per-call marketing practices you can implement, to improve your business, attract more clients, and generate more revenue for them.

Creative split testing

The same strategies do not work for different clients and cases. Testing different ad creatives is essential for identifying what resonates most with your target audience. Experiment with variations in messaging, visuals, and call-to-action (CTA) strategies. Use data from these tests to refine your campaigns and focus on the best-performing elements.

Understand your margins and optimize them

Knowing your profit margins is critical in pay-per-call marketing. Ensure that the cost of acquiring a lead (including the marketer’s fee) leaves ample room for profit. Regularly review and adjust your campaigns to maximize ROI, considering factors like call conversion rates, customer lifetime value, and ad spend.

Video is the future–do not miss out on it

YouTube is an excellent platform for targeting specific demographics with video content. Use call-to-action overlays or direct viewers to call with compelling messages. Highlight urgent offers or showcase how your business solves customer pain points, encouraging immediate action.

Tap into Facebook ads

Facebook provides robust targeting options that allow you to reach specific audiences with personalized messages. Utilize the click-to-call feature in ads to drive phone leads directly from mobile users. Combine this with re-targeting strategies to engage potential customers who’ve interacted with your business online.

Cap calls for better handling

Call capping ensures you don’t overwhelm your buyers or exceed their agreed budget for leads. Limiting the number of calls delivered, you maintain a clear understanding with your buyers and optimize resource allocation for other clients.

How it works

• Customizable limits: Call tracking software allows you to set precise caps based on the buyer’s needs, ensuring they only pay for a manageable number of leads.
• Automation: Once the cap is reached, the system automatically stops delivering calls to that buyer. This prevents over-delivery and maintains budget compliance.
• Real-time notifications: Many tools notify you and your buyer when the cap is approaching, allowing for potential adjustments or discussions about increasing the limit.
• Balanced distribution: For marketers managing multiple clients, call capping ensures resources are distributed fairly, preventing one buyer from monopolizing leads.

Benefits of call capping

1. Better call handling: Buyers can focus on managing calls effectively without feeling overwhelmed, ensuring high-quality customer interactions.
2. Budget control: Prevents overcharging buyers by staying within their agreed lead budget.
3. Transparency: Builds trust by aligning campaign performance with buyer expectations.

Split leads with weighted call routing

Weighted call routing is a powerful strategy for optimizing lead distribution among multiple buyers or service locations, ensuring that calls are handled efficiently and effectively based on predefined criteria. This feature leverages call tracking technology to allocate leads proportionally, based on factors like buyer priority, ability to convert leads, and budget per lead.

How weighted call routing works

1. Predefined weights: Assign weights or percentages to each buyer or location. For example, if Buyer A can handle more calls or pays better than Buyer B, you might allocate 70% of the calls to Buyer A and 30% to Buyer B.
2. Dynamic routing: Calls are routed automatically according to the weight distribution, ensuring that the system adheres to the defined parameters without manual intervention.

Benefits of weighted call routing

1. Optimized resource utilization: Ensure that high-capacity buyers receive a larger share of the leads, reducing the risk of missed opportunities.
2. Improved customer experience: Calls are routed to the most appropriate destination, minimizing wait times and ensuring callers reach the right person or department quickly.
3. Transparency and fairness: Weighted routing maintains a balanced distribution of leads among buyers based on their capabilities or agreements.
4. Scalability: As your network of buyers or locations grows, weighted routing can adapt to accommodate more participants without disrupting the flow of leads.

Emphasize call quality over quantity

You know that already of course, but we would like to suggest some ways you can do that using call tracking. No, we will not talk bout metrics or analytics and dashboards. We will talk about how you can use workflows to share quality leads with Google Ads accounts.

Why would you do that? That way, you can train the algorithm to bring your clients more high-quality leads by improving its targeting. Essentially, you tell the algorithm what a good lead means to your client and the algorithm tries to fetch more of them.

If for example, you are running ads for a plumber or revocation business, you can set up an automation with a minimum call duration to weed out wrong or low-quality calls, ads campaign as a source, and word and phrase spotting. The last one will keep an eye out for keywords that you deem significant and a sign of high intent.

In the example above, the automation will qualify, tag, and score leads and share them with your client’s Google Ads account, helping to optimize its targeting. More leads for less marketing spend!

Takeaway

Pay-per-call marketing can be a true goldmine for the savvy and entrepreneurial marketer. Key strategies such as creative split testing, understanding and optimizing margins, leveraging video and social platforms, and implementing tools like call capping and weighted call routing will enable you to deliver better outcomes.

The integration of advanced call tracking tools ensures transparency, efficiency, and consistent improvement in campaign performance.

The personal connection offered by a phone call remains irreplaceable. Pay-per-call marketing embraces this, connecting businesses with ready-to-buy customers while fostering trust, clarity, and scalability in lead generation. Stick to your strengths, call the pros, and let pay-per-call marketing work for you.

FAQ on pay-per-call marketing and advertising