Google AdWord’s new Bid Per Call feature allows advertisers to bid one rate for clicks on an ad, while bidding a separate rate for phone calls which use a Google call tracking phone number.
This feature uses a Google call tracking number which displays for ads that receive at least 25 clicks within a 30 day period. And, the bid rate is set at the ad group level, not the individual keyword level. So, if you have a small AdWords budget, you’ll need to make sure your most popular keywords are in ad groups with Bid Per Call enabled. A potential problem with this is that your most popular keywords may be reaching a less targeted audience.
Google provides reporting on each call, including call time, duration, caller area code, and the ad group that drove the call. But, it does not record the call. It may be hard to determine the actual value of these calls without knowing the subject matter discussed.
Before an advertiser begins bidding for calls, they should carefully consider these questions:
For which of my ad groups is it better to drive a potential customer to my website where they can learn more about my products and services before calling? When you create your ad groups you should carefully consider where people are in the purchase cycle when they search for each keyword in that group.
- If someone searches “same day refrigerator repair” it’s likely that a phone call will convert this person from a searcher to a customer.
- If someone is searching “front load washers” they likely need more education about your products that is cheaper to provide from your website than over the phone.
How will I measure the effectiveness of a call vs. a click to my website from an ad? Google’s reporting will give you the day and time each call was made. Likely you’ll need to have your phone reps keep a log of the day/time of each call received and the subject matter and outcome of the calls. Then, cross reference these lists to Google’s reporting to determine which calls came from your ads. This seems like quite a bit of work when other call-tracking systems record the calls making it much easier to determine if the subject matter of these calls warrants paying a premium for them.