Let’s take a look at a simple example of how ignoring your call-in sales will lead to bad decision-making. Figure A is an analytics report for a fictional pet supply company showing performance for their important keyword phrase “pet supplies”.

Figure A

Note that based on this report, since neither of their target metrics were met, they’d want to find a way to reduce advertising costs for that phrase. They’d probably be tempted to lower their click costs by bidding that phrase down which would likely reduce their visibility while increasing their competitor’s visibility.

However, if we factor in orders that came in over the phone from customers that clicked on their PPC ads, their bidding strategy will not only be different, it’ll be more supportive of their goals as you‘ll see on the next page.

In general, the percentage of call-in sales will vary based on factors such as the prominence of the 800-number, the price of the product, and the relative complexity of the product or service sold.

For our example let’s assume, that on average, they receive 17% additional call-in orders from the "pet supplies" keyword.

Further, since their sales reps get the opportunity to up-sell and cross-sell to those callers, let’s assume that the average order value for their call-in sales from PPC ads is 20% higher than the online orders.


Click here to see how the profitability changes when we include call-in orders >