What is the biggest opportunity for loyalty marketers today?
According to a new Forrester Consulting study, commissioned by Marchex, customers who call a business are more valuable prospects for that business than those who don’t. The report found that phone customers convert faster, spend more, and have a higher retention rate than customers who contact brands via other channels such as in-store or online.
“Phone calls to businesses, especially from smartphones, are expected to exceed 100 billion this year alone,” said Guy Weismantel, executive vice president, marketing, at Marchex. “This is a vibrant and growing channel, providing a huge opportunity for marketers as consumers continue to use their mobile devices in the path to purchase. Being able to track and maximize those interactions is the missing link for many marketers in their omnichannel strategy.”
What’s more, 60 percent of marketers said that customers who call a brand convert an average of 30 percent faster than other respondents, and they spend an average of 28 percent more and 54 percent of marketers said they churn 28 percent less than customers closed in other channels.
Marketers who employ ads that drive inbound phone calls are seeing higher customer engagement in their other channels, both online and offline, the report notes. Data from phone calls, including customer references to specific campaigns or keywords, can provide valuable insights into how omnichannel campaigns are working, and how they can be optimized to better drive phone calls to boost engagement and sales. This results in better visibility for marketers and enables brands to display content that aligns with the interests of customers and prospects.
“We live in a connected world,” Weismantel added. “App stores have literally millions of options for our smartphones, but the one application that everyone has on their device is simple: the phone itself. That should be a powerful takeaway for marketers. Marketers have more channels than ever to target prospects, but the results of this survey are clear: Your best customers aren’t walking into your store to buy something, and they’re not driving onto your lot to schedule an appointment. Your best customers are calling.”
The report titled, “Pick Up The Phone: Your Best Customer Is On The Line: Why Customers Who Initiate Inbound Calls Convert Faster, Spend More, And Have A Higher Retention Rate,” shows that B2C marketers should look to leverage phone data from the best customers to:
Optimize marketing campaigns. Data from phone calls can help marketers understand keywords that are semantically related as well as how certain offers drive phone calls. This information should be funneled back into existing marketing campaigns to test and optimize advertising programs. Understand voice search potential. There is no doubt that voice searches on both mobile and home-based agents are on the rise. Marketers should consider the questions customers are asking over the phone and use those questions to shape content strategy to enable discovery of intelligent agents.
Shape business strategy. There are more phone calls than ever coming into businesses. Customers look to simple human interactions to help them make decisions. Business leaders need to consider how they can accomplish each of those objectives starting with phone interactions with their customers.