How to Earn More By Introducing a Phone CTA on Your Affiliate Website
With current global revenue of $17B, expected to grow to nearly $28B by 2027, there’s no question that there is money to be made in affiliate marketing. But those kinds of numbers also make for an intensely competitive landscape, and in order to thrive, affiliate marketers need to think strategically.
In this article, we’ll introduce you to several methods affiliates can use to diversify their operation to take advantage of growth trends and hedge against unexpected market downturns. We’ll also explain why you should consider including a phone CTA on your website, and which industries pair best with pay per call marketing.
The Affiliate Marketing Landscape
The affiliate marketing landscape is more competitive and complex than ever before. The space has become saturated with affiliates promoting similar products and services. Success has always been closely tied to your ability to stand out in the crowd, and with the sheer volume of competition, that’s become increasingly difficult to do.
On top of this, affiliate marketers must keep up with the latest updates to search engines and social media algorithms, the growing popularity of ad blockers, and broader economic uncertainty.
Diversification is the key to adapting to these challenges and ensuring long-term success in affiliate marketing.
Becoming too dependent on a single affiliate program or monetization method is risky, no matter how solid it may seem in the short term. Changing market trends, shifts in consumer preferences, technological updates, or any number of disruptions to that program can significantly impact your earnings. With a well-diversified strategy, when one income stream takes a hit, others can compensate and lessen the overall blow to your income.
Successful Diversification Strategies
Diversification sounds simple in theory. We’ve all been told to not keep all our eggs in one basket. But it can be a little bit trickier to put into practice. It’s natural to want to double down on what’s already working, but here are a few proven diversification strategies to build on your current approach to affiliate marketing:
Niche Expansion
One relatively easy option is expanded into related niches, effectively reaching a broader audience while maintaining relevance. This is a relatively simple and intuitive strategy, though smart affiliate marketers will look to traffic data and audience behaviors to be sure they expand in the optimal direction.
Cross-Promotion
Some affiliate marketers have successfully partnered with complementary businesses to cross-promote each other's products, creating a win-win situation. This is a great way to expand your audience without necessarily expanding your core topic or industry. By getting your content in front of people who have shown an interest in a related area, you can increase your impressions while also building domain authority and name recognition.
Multiple Monetization Methods
One of the most effective ways to diversify your affiliate marketing operation is by using various monetization methods, such as content marketing, email marketing, and the introduction of phone call CTAs.
Introducing Phone CTAs
In the world of affiliate marketing, seeking growth opportunities and embracing innovative strategies to take advantage of them can be a game-changer. For example, positioning yourself at the cross-section of two high-growth industries: affiliate marketing and pay per call lead generation.
We’ve already mentioned the huge market and growth potential in the affiliate marketing space. Now consider the fact that global PPCall revenue grew from $5.93B in 2015 to $13.7B in 2020. That’s revenue you can get a piece of, simply by adding a phone CTA to your website.
Source: Ringba
What Exactly is a Phone Call-To-Action (CTA)?
Simply put, a phone CTA is a strategically placed ad or similar element on a website that encourages visitors to make a direct phone call to the business offering the product or service. It differs significantly from traditional CTAs, such as buttons or forms, which usually lead to actions like filling out a contact form or making an online purchase.
Phone CTAs differ from these other CTAs in several important ways:
Direct Interaction: Unlike traditional CTAs that guide users to take actions within the website, a phone CTA aims to initiate real-time, one-on-one conversations between potential customers and the service provider.
Instant, Bi-Directional Communication: Traditional CTAs may lead to delayed interactions through emails or forms, whereas a phone CTA enables instant communication through a phone call, facilitating immediate clarification and conversion. This also creates a much faster feedback process. Calls are immediately recorded and scored, giving you nearly instantaneous information on how well the calls are performing and the quality of the leads you’re generating.
Why Businesses Love Phone Call Leads
As an affiliate marketer, it’s important to understand why phone leads are so attractive to advertisers.
Businesses don’t just want any old leads, they want high-quality, high-converting leads. If your leads are weak, they’ll stop buying from you. As an affiliate marketer, diversifying into phone CTAs gives you the opportunity to start dealing with high-value, effective leads in a number of rock-solid industries.
Here are a few reasons both businesses and their customers love phone leads:
Highest ROI Type of Lead
Phone calls are often considered the highest return on investment (ROI) type of lead. Conversations initiated through phone CTAs tend to yield more profitable outcomes compared to other online interactions. The personal touch and real-time engagement play a significant role in this high ROI.
Highest Level of Intent
When users decide to make a phone call, it signifies a high level of intent. They are actively seeking information, answers, or solutions, making them more likely to convert. This intent can result in quicker and more decisive purchase decisions.
Improved Conversion Rates
Phone CTAs can play a pivotal role in improving conversion rates. A direct call option simplifies the path to conversion, reducing the friction in the customer journey. Making a phone call requires effort and interest on the part of the potential customer that indicates a readiness to engage with a company and make a purchase.
Immediate Response
As we mentioned above, unlike most types of digital CTAs, phone calls result in a live, real-time conversation between a company and a potential customer. When customers have questions or concerns, they can get immediate answers through a phone call, which often leads to quicker decisions.
Fostering Trust
One of the benefits of phone conversations is how effectively speaking to someone can build trust and credibility. Hearing a human voice on the other end of the line can reassure potential customers, making them more likely to complete a purchase.
Reduced Overhead
Traditional CTAs like web forms or data leads require a lot of work on the part of the purchaser. Once they buy the lead, they need to expend effort and resources to get in touch with the potential customer. This often leads to a long, drawn out process with multiple touchpoints and follow-ups, and even software to manage leads through the sales funnel. With pay per call, the only cost is the time it takes to answer an inbound phone call and book an appointment with an interested customer.
How a Phone CTA Can Boost Earnings
Clearly there’s a lot for businesses to love about phone calls, but what’s the upside for affiliate marketers in offering a phone CTA? Apart from providing your advertisers and networks with a high-value asset, there are several compelling reasons to dive into pay per call.
Higher Revenue Per Visitor (RPV)
We’ve already discussed how phone leads deliver a higher ROI to lead buyers than other common lead types. The proximity to sale and high conversion rate doesn’t just benefit the business – it also leads to a higher return per visitor (RPV) for the affiliate that generated the lead in the first place.
Simply put, advertisers will pay more for leads that are easy to convert into sales, and phone leads are among the highest-converting lead types out there. Visitors are more likely to pick up the phone and call than fill out a form or click on an ad – especially for certain industries (more on that later).
Compatibility with All Traffic Sources
Expanding your media offerings to new formats is a great way to grow your affiliate marketing operation, but doing so also adds a lot of complexity. Emails and text messages function very differently from websites. With phone CTAs, those differences don’t matter. No matter what type of media you’re most comfortable buying, your ad’s unique phone number will come across and get properly attributed without issue.
Industries Where Phone CTAs Prove Successful
Phone CTAs are an ideal fit for industries that deal with complex purchases and big-ticket items. The two-way, verbal communication a live phone call provides makes it easier for both sides to make themselves understood, and gives the business an opportunity to build trust.
1. Home Services Industry
Home services, including plumbing, HVAC, roofing, and landscaping, often involve complex purchases. The specifics of a given caller’s situation can be very important, and often best communicated verbally. Customers may also be looking for detailed information and assurances regarding the business’s abilities and potential solutions or plans of action before making their decisions. Most importantly, home services needs are often pressing and immediate, and homeowners don’t want to take the time to fill out a form and wait for a reply.
2. Automotive Services
Apart from their car, the most expensive thing most people own is their car. On top of that, cars come with a wide array of technical specifications and moving pieces. The average person may not be confident that they know the right terminology to express the issue they’re facing, and the opportunity to speak with someone knowledgeable about cars on the phone can help them get a sense of the severity and urgency of the issue.
3. Insurance
Some industries provide important services that customers need. Others are confusing and frustrating to navigate and understand. Insurance is both, making it an ideal fit for phone CTAs. The complexity of insurance options coupled with the stress of getting it right leads to more potential customers eager to actually speak to someone on the phone.
4. Legal Services
The legal system is complicated, and another area of life that is generally out of the average person’s wheelhouse. Any legal customer is going to be putting a great deal of trust in whichever legal expert they hire, as missteps can be extremely costly. Many people may also be hesitant to share legal information via online forms or other CTA types. Phone calls give legal services businesses the opportunity to establish that trust more effectively.
Conclusion
The introduction of a phone CTA is more than just a trend; it's a strategy with the potential to revolutionize your approach and protect your operation. Phone CTAs, with their personal touch and real-time engagement, offer unparalleled benefits, including higher ROI, intent-driven leads, and faster conversions.
As an affiliate marketer, consider the power of direct communication and trust-building through phone calls. By incorporating phone CTAs into your website, you not only enhance your earnings but also embrace the future of affiliate marketing. It's time to take the call and experience the difference.
