"Phone calls are the new click," reads the title of a research report by BIA Advisory Services, an American research firm specializing in advertising. That may sound strange, at a time when we are making more and more purchases online. Yet we at Qooqie wholeheartedly agree with this statement. And not only us, because the Local Commerce Monitor of the same research firm shows that American SMEs find inbound phone calls the most valued leads. There is no recent research known about this in the Netherlands, but we expect that the conclusions would be similar. There are several reasons why a caller is often worth more than an online lead. In this article you will read the five most important ones.

1. Telephone leads are of higher quality

Now imagine that one lead calls you, and another lead fills out a form on your website. One thing you know for sure; both are interested in your product or service. Yet the caller is a lot more likely to convert. The reason is that callers are usually already further along in the sales funnel. They often still have some substantive questions and are more open to proceed directly to purchase. Online leads are not yet to that point. Research by Marketing Sherpa and Hubspot shows that only 2% of forms filled out online lead to a conversion. For inbound phone calls, as many as 25 to 40% do.

2. More mobile search = more phone conversions

Just over half of online searches worldwide are now done from mobile, and this trend continues. We are moving in this direction in the Netherlands as well. I guess it's no surprise that mobile searchers are also more likely to call a company. After all, this target group already has the phone in their hands. They are additionally triggered to call because more and more companies are optimizing their websites for mobile use. Consider not only responsive design, but also strong call to actions and call buttons aimed at the mobile user.

3. Phone calls create a better experience with your brand

Personalization of the customer journey is a hot topic these days. This is for good reason, because the more personalized someone feels like they are being helped, the better their experience with your brand. Not only does it ensure that a lead becomes a customer faster, but it also increases the likelihood that this will become a loyal customer. Therefore, on your website and in your campaigns, steer for telephone contact, as this offers a personalized experience par excellence. Do you give your leads clear answers to their questions during phone calls? Because they are already further along in the sales funnel, chances are that you can close the deal right after this.

4. Greater insight into phone leads

As an online marketer, you are able to gather insights about your leads who fill out a form on your website. But did you know that you can gain even deeper insights about callers, who convert better on average? With call tracking from Qooqie, you'll discover which campaigns, keywords and landing pages trigger leads to call. You can then use our call recording module to listen back to conversations. That's how you find out, too:

• why call leads;
• Whether they are qualified leads;
• How to ultimately optimize your ads for phone leads.

5. 71% of online leads are not followed up on

The fifth reason why callers are more valuable than online leads is because 71% of online leads are not followed up. This is according to research by American business magazine Forbes. As a business owner, this hits you twice in the wallet. Missed leads mean missed sales, even though you have already incurred costs to generate leads. For a portion of this 71%, an attempt was made to call the lead, but on average it took 46 hours and 53 minutes. And after an average of 1.3 callbacks, attempts to get in touch were discontinued. Again, this is an American study and not very recent. But it is plausible that also in the Netherlands some leads are not followed up or are followed up too late. You don't have this problem with telephone leads, as long as your reachability is in order. Are you starting with call tracking? Then you also get insight into your missed calls, broken down by day and time.

Put full effort into phone leads with Call Tracking

So now you know that phone leads are worth more than you might have thought. But how do you get the most out of your campaigns? By making the telephone channel measurable with call tracking from Qooqie. Our technology makes it crystal clear which marketing efforts generate telephone contact moments and conversions. Using these learnings, you can then optimize your campaigns so that even more highly converting leads contact you.

Wondering how your business can benefit from call tracking, too? Then contact us today, or make an online appointment directly in our calendar.