With calls-to-action to increase sales and revenue by making the 'connection', the click-to-call service could bring fortune to many by creating a more dynamic service for online and offline advertisers. By reintroducing contact with a human being when considering a product or service or making a purchase there could be greater opportunity for leads and sales.
A service that is already popular in the United States and available from a number of companies, click-to-call has recently been brought to the fore in the United Kingdom.
The service will not be limited to online advertisements. Radio, podcasts, billboards, direct mailings, mobile phones and anywhere a telephone number can be included will be an avenue for click-to-call. There will be much to say for a return to offline marketing even when it crosses over with online marketing and other online marketing services.
Market specialist Greg Sterling from Sterling Market Intelligence stated recently that, "it won't be long before it is established as a side-by-side model with clicks. Most people selling clicks will sell calls, either in tandem or as a substitute for certain kinds of advertisers".
The advertisers include those small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), local businesses and dealers who benefit from person-to-person contact. Sterling identified this as because:
"[There is] something more accessible about the telephone. [Some advertisers will] understand how to close leads on the phone, but the learning curve for online marketing is beyond the capabilities of a lot of businesses, who are occupied with day-to-day business."
One method that can be used for the click-to-call service is VOIP, where voice conversations are routed through the internet or an IP-based network. Otherwise, the service can use conventional phone service where users will enter their telephone number on the website after clicking through to the advertiser's site and the advertiser will ring the user back.
Google announced the availability of the service last week when they signed an agreement with eBay. Based on the agreement, which takes effect in 2007, users will be allowed to click on a link, typically signified by the green telephone handset icon displayed next to the text ad on a search results page, which will connect the user to the eBay sellers who choose to use the service and Google advertisers who choose to opt-in to the service.
Google and eBay will be using the VOIP application, taking advantage of eBay's Skype and Google Talk VOIP. This partnership will be seen as a very potent one.
Google is not the only search engine to take advantage of this service though. Yahoo! already works with eBay in a similar partnership and Miva and AOL all have click-to-call services or a similar pay-per-call service.
Will web-to-voice marketing bring advertisers full-circle to rely more heavily on offline marketing tactics? This has yet to be seen as the click-to-call service develops.
