If you have heard about Consumer Generated Inbound Calls, but are wanting to have a better understanding of how they work and the consumer journey, then this article is for you.
What does the execution of a consumer generated inbound call (CGIB) social media campaign look like for the Marketer/End Buyer? What is the Customer Journey?
The Marketer/End-Buyer contracts with an affiliate marketing partner such as Optimize to Convert, that are experts in creating and publishing ad content on social media platforms such as Facebook for lead generation. The sponsored ad, promoting the client’s offer, viewed on the consumer’s cell phone while they are surfing on a social media site such as Facebook, catches the attention of the consumer. The ad invites the consumer to “call now” with a click on the ad and they are directly connected via toll free number to the End Buyer’s call center and with a sales agents.
Alternatively, the consumer might first click the ad and be taken to a website URL (“landing page”) with some questions to engage them (and qualify them) before seeing the number to call. Landing pages are often used when it is important to pre-qualify (or disqualify) a call on certain attributes. In either case, whether it is a direct click to call ad, or an ad that connects to a landing page first, once the consumer makes the call, the sales representative can masterfully qualify and pitch the consumer to help close the sale.
Consumer Targeting
The targeting of the media for the CGIB social media campaign works like the targeting of any social media ads. The Publisher partner is able to target for the right demographic/age group and also geographies (national, states, zip codes). The publisher might also choose to use other targeting tools such as “look alike audiences” or other options provided by the digital media platform.
What to Look for in a CGIB Call Provider/Publisher
- Proven Experience and Track Record
You want to be working with experts in the field of affiliate marketing who generate consumer initiated inbound calls. Find out how long the partner has been doing this kind of social media marketing. How knowledgeable do they seem? What kind of call volume have they been generating for their current clients? What verticals are they most active in?
- A Publisher That Generates All It’s Traffic “In House”, not a Broker
The relationship between the Marketer/ End Buyer and Publisher needs to be a trusted collaboration. The Publisher is responsible for content, quality, honoring compliance guidelines, and managing all of the detailed specifications of the Buyer’s campaign. You want your Publisher to be directly managing these details and not farming out or brokering your important campaign to third party publishers who they do not directly control or manage. Not only does brokering put the integrity of the creative at risk (who knows what the third party is actually doing?), it also costs the Buyer because a broker will be wanting a higher price in order to pay it’s third party or will pay the third party a lower rate which could compromise quality of calls or call volume.
As a note, there are hundreds of “brokers” in the pay per call industry that represent themselves as direct publishers. Marketer/buyers need to beware and conduct due diligence.
- A Publisher That is Trusted, Service Oriented and Responsive
When you have questions or needs, you want to be able to connect with your Publisher easily and have a productive conversation. You want your Publisher partner to offer suggestions. You want them to respond to urgent requests with urgency. You want your Publisher partner to have integrity. What you want is a true Partner.
If you are looking for a Publisher partner for a Consumer Generated Inbound Call campaign, please reach out to the team at Optimize to Convert.