Affiliate Networks are jumping on the Pay-Per-Call bandwagon left and right. Back in early August, Linkshare opened its Pay-Per-Call service. Commission Junction followed suit and now also offers a similar program. Just today, ShareASale is the latest to formally provide a Pay-Per-Call program and is doing so for all of its 2500 merchants (after an exclusive beta).
"Pay-per-call offers a great new revenue opportunity for both merchants and affiliates," said ShareASale CEO Brian Littleton in a press release issued earlier. "Affiliate marketing is no longer just online. Consumers who were more difficult to reach in a purely online environment are now a new audience for affiliates to target. The system is simple to set up, easy to use, and integrates with a merchant's traditional online initiatives."
But therein lies the problem; how does a traditionally online affiliate move offline and monetize their efforts through Pay-Per-Call programs? While there might be opportunity in offline thanks to less competition, you've invested heavily in the Web realm - so why not make the most of it.
The ShareASale Pay-Per-Call program (powered by RingRevenue - the same vendor powering CJ) already features more than 30 pay-per-call campaigns available to affiliates (some with commissions as high as $50.00 per-call). Clearly the merchants are hungry for the traction and are willing to pay a premium to get new customers. What is often missing for affiliates is how they might actually use Pay-Per-Call to generate profit online. Why does no one really discuss best practices when it comes to the Pay-Per-Call model? Because it's so much more complicated than placing a few banners on your website.
Let's slow down a bit and discuss how Pay-Per-Call works. Advertisers create pay-per-call campaigns, then approved publishers are provisioned phone numbers that they can use in both online and offline campaign ads. When a consumer calls the provisioned number, the call is routed, connected, and tracked by the pay-per-call system. Phone call activity and payouts are then reported in the respective advertiser and publisher accounts.
In any successful advertiser/publisher relationship you need two things - an advertiser looking to acquire a lead/sale and an entity (an affiliate) to provide that lead. Perhaps the best idea for leveraging the surge of Pay-Per-Call activity is through local online directories. Since a significant share of advertisers and merchants in the ranks of Pay-Per-Call are local merchants - from attorneys to plumbers - it only makes sense that a local Web portal or directory would be a good fit. But where should you begin - or should you begin at all?
Pay-per-call for as long as I can remember has been called the next evolution of lead generation. In reality, it's never, ever taken off. But what's behind the influx of networks adopting providers like RingRevenue - is there hope for that business and advertising model yet? Don't hold your breath. As in all things - affiliates (publishers) drive traffic and unless you buy in the whole idea may just be hot air.
Is Pay-Per-Call the next big thing for affiliate marketers?
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