adwords with phone numbers in the ad?

[Ryan L]

Anyone know where I could find a study or whitepaper on results of adwords ads with phone numbers in the ads.

I have a client that insists on having the phone number listed for locally targeted ads, twice in fact. Feels that it both positions us as local and lowers cost.

I am of the belief that there isn't enough info in two lines of text to induce a call, and therefore we are losing potential sales. I want that real estate for compelling copy, so that I can get them to the homepage and have a better crack at them.

Any tips, links or ideas?

I have been trying for weeks to get him to at least try an ad variation but he seems to see that as a waste of money.

[abbottsys]

I've tested ads with phone numbers several times, and they have never performed for us.

My gut feeling is that they will not perform in general because folks are in "click mode" and expect to browse a good landing page for more info. Then, they seem far more interested in filling out a simple form than calling a phone#.

If your client thinks he's "saving money" by placing a phone# in an ad then he's almost certainly very wrong indeed. But, you *must* run a test and measure conversions to check your specific situation. It's all about conversions, the number, the quality and the cost/conversion.

[AnthonyCea]

There is nothing wrong with it, in fact it is a great marketing strategy for some companies, I would imagine 1-800-Flowers and many other companies that have domains incorporating their phone numbers think the world of it.

If you are selling office machines and other products that customers need assistance with live on the phone before a purchase it is a brilliant direct way to close sales while the iron is hot.

[Ryan L]

yeah I think maybe we'll run a who's calling number on the adwords number and check it against the regular sales line.

[AussieWebmaster]

Apart from obvious tracking requirements - standalone number etc. - you also need to know that most pay per call strategies work best for local search... people looking for plumbers etc.....

[Ryan L]

most of the conversions are local, product is expensive and people usually are looking for a hands on demonstration.

[AussieWebmaster]

need to develop a qualifying list... take the leads that will close at a high percentage and then give the others to sales trainees etc.

[searchengineman]

We have used phone number in our ADS, for some time now.
An interesting issue came up where we had one client wanted to remove a 1-800 number from our AD Text, and replace it with a Local Number. Why?

Because he felt a local number would give his AD local street crediblility, since his GEO target was local.

My 2 cents
Search Engine Man

[AussieWebmaster]

Local numbers are an old school direct marketing thing... using local vs 800 always improved close ratios

[abbottsys]

Just a reminder of the obvious - if you're running an AdWords *Mobile Ad* then a phone# is a great way to go.

Otherwise, if folks are sitting in front of their laptop or desktop I would not use a phone# but use the real estate instead to work on getting a click.

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

An interesting issue came up where we had one client wanted to remove a 1-800 number from our AD Text, and replace it with a Local Number. Why?

Because he felt a local number would give his AD local street crediblility, since his GEO target was local.


Did his plan work out and increase his ROI?

[Discovery]

I have a little twist on this.

First rarely do Phone #'s decrease costs as the prospect almost always clicks as well as calls. However, if your sales closing ratio for phone calls is far superior than that of online requests then it is a winning strategy.

The problem I see is getting the ad well ranked and placed.
What adsense site owner wants a "phone number ad" that potentially has less clicks. How can Google relate content on a content partner site to an ad where most of the copy are numbers? On search the ad rank drops, and you rarely get the impressions necessary to drive the traffic.

My Twist: use two ads in the adgroup.
One highly optimized without a phone number
One with a strong call us now call to action.
Run the non-phone # ad, when it reaches a high ad position and CTR, pause it and replace it with the phone number ad. When you ranking drops off, switch back.

The other thing you can do is site target high volume sites with phone number ads and a set cost per click. For example target MySpace or Friendster with a phone ad and a .15 cent bid. You'll still get a ton of impressions, few clicks and a number of calls. The quality these sites produce is a completly different issue!

Discovery

[searchengineman]

Unfortunately that client did not hang around long enough
to get an accurate reading. Any one else out there running split ADS (Phone Numbers?) -- One thing I do not understand is MSN seems to be the last hold out for allowing PHONE numbers in AD TEXT. Yahoo recently started allowing it. I hope MSN does it soon.

Search Engine Man


Did his plan work out and increase his ROI?