I have always believed that voice communication coming after reading some information about a seller (B2B or B2C) aids in the "conversation interaction" that brings buyers and sellers together. So, when I first heard of "Pay Per (phone) Call", I liked the basic premise, and I still do. But, for many B2B seller-advertisers like Tower Tech who makes Cooling Towers for industrial purposes, I believe, that most buyers and specifiers (engineers) want more written information upfront than what can be put in Pay Per Call ads.
This August, 2005 BtoBonline.com article caught my attention as it mentions Tower Tech as being invited to test the launch of Verizon Superpages's new version of this. Tower Tech seemed happy with the growing results in early August, but it looks like they only have their listing and a nice Sponsored Link ad, as of today? My opinion is that most of their buyers want to see their web site first before they call Tower Tech. Most industrial buyers want to be sure that the supplier has exactly what they want, or has the potential to make it, before they get on the phone with a salesperson.
So what is to prevent the buyer from doing a separate search for their website, and then calling Tower Tech's regular toll free or local phone number? While the Pay-Per-Call lead does not have to be paid for this way, there is also no tracking of the ad in that online publication to determine effectiveness of the specific media and ad copy.
Here is an example of one version of eStara's pay-per-call set up actually showing a link to the advertiser's web site right next to the pay-per-call toll free number! Then, this eStara Superpages Demo shows the same thing, but with their VOIP "Push to Call" technology ( click on the "Talk for Free" button). Of course the advertiser could put the Pay-Per-Call phone number on his web site without his regular toll free number or local numbers, but most advertisers don't want to have to change back if they cancel the Pay-Per-Call advertising.
Miva's Pay-Per-Call Demo Ad ( click on "Next" in the demo) has room for much more information than their old version did. This is great for local, B2C retail sellers who don't ever want to have their own web site. But, even this larger "opens to a new window" ad would not give sellers like Tower Tech enough space to properly inform their industrial buyers. My opinion is that Pay-Per-Call is great, but better suited to B2C retail sellers who don't need or want to bother with a web site. What is your opinion?
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