Google launched call-only campaigns in February, and in June made them the exclusive way to display only your phone number in ads on mobile devices.
The intended idea behind call-only campaigns is great: Pay Google only when someone actually calls your business. But is that really how call-only campaigns work?
We wanted to see what our advertisers’ actual cost-per-call was from their call-only campaigns, so we compiled call-only campaign data from across a number of the client accounts we manage.
We compared the number of clicks from call-only campaigns to the number of phone calls Google tracked from each campaign. Our date range was May 1 through July 31, 2015.
Our finding: There were 18% more clicks than calls from call-only campaigns.
That data is based on nearly 25,000 calls received across a wide range of client accounts.
This means that our advertisers’ actual average cost per call during that date range was 18% higher than the figure we’d reach if we were defining each call-only campaign click as a real-life phone call.
What could cause this discrepancy? It comes down to the mechanics of how call-only ads work.
When you tap a call-only ad on your phone you are not instantly making a phone call. Your phone will show you your calling screen, with the advertiser’s phone number entered, and you must tap again to make a call. It’s probably between those two steps that we’re seeing most of that 18% discrepancy.
There are several reasons someone may not finish making a call.
- They want to visit a website, not make a phone call
- They tapped the ad accidentally
- They change their mind
It would be wise to carefully monitor the call-to-click ratio in call-only campaigns and look for abnormal discrepancies. Significant discrepancies may point to scenarios where most users want to visit the website to get more information before calling, or other issues.
Interested in getting started with pay-per-click advertising, or unsure if you are wasting money on your current campaigns? Contact us for a free AdWords evaluation.
