Conversion Smackdown: Phone Calls vs. Form Fills

In an episode of Landing Page Optimization, LogMyCalls CEO Jason Wells talks about how call tracking gives a 360-degree view of interactions with customers as it provides an analysis of what happens offline and connect that to what happens online.

Jason and SiteTuners CEO Tim Ash agree that people buy the way they buy, and not the way marketers sell, so different response mechanisms should be made available. Jason points out that it’s a big mistake to hide the phone number just so lead conversion information is not lost. He says that the issue with lead conversion information should be addressed by tracking the activity – connecting the phone call and the conversation to the keywords that a company is buying.

The two talk about a couple of choices in attribution or how to get credit to the channel or the activity that brought somebody to the website that ultimately resulted in the sale. They discuss tracking the call, identifying whether it was closed, and identifying where the lead came from. They also talk about dynamically changing out the phone number so there’s a unique phone number that connects a particular ad to a particular phone call.

In the same podcast, Jason pointed out that 50% of calls are made on mobile phones, and that click to call has become the preferred response mechanism on mobile because it’s easier than filling out a form. He says that this has even made vanity URLS and the importance of 800 and 888 numbers irrelevant.

Jason mentions that a lot of people spend so much time focusing on the web that we forget that customers don’t always prefer the web. He says you can spend a lot of resources fine tuning your site, but if you don’t handle those who call in well, then you can “kill it all in 30 seconds. “ He also shares that a call has five to ten times more value than online form fill because callers are at the bottom of the funnel.

But is it really a competition between form fills and phone calls? Does one of the two produce better, cheaper, and more responsive leads? Or do they complement each other?

On July 11, Jason and Tim debated the merits of conversions through the different channels in the “Landing Page Rumble: Phone Calls vs. Form Fills” webinar. 

This FREE webinar focused on:
• Data about the value of phone calls from PPC campaigns and organic search
• Landing page optimization strategies
• Best practices: How to drive more form fill-outs and more calls

Watch the webinar: