Today’s consumers make purchasing decisions with different logic and influences in mind. Gone are the days of effective TV ads where a loud, booming voice screams inane details of a product at viewers. Consumers in the 21st century are highly influenced by the tech toys in their hands, pockets, and purses. Smartphones, as well as tablets, provide a strong digital influence on purchasing behavior among consumers.
Consider Deloitte’s look at digital influence in the retail sector. It found that 64 cents of every dollar spent in retail locations at the end of 2015 were influenced by digital marketing. That’s equivalent to $2.2 trillion. Digital influences aren’t just occurring before the store either. Deloitte found that consumers using digital inside stores convert at a 20% higher rate. Perhaps most important of all, 76% of consumers interact with a brand or product before even setting foot in a store.
Businesses are moving online and digital adspend is steadily increasing, online sales are thriving which causes ad bids to become increasingly competitive. On top of increased ad competition, businesses are getting involved with various new advertising platforms which if left unmonitored can create large information gaps for marketing campaigns, making it more important than ever to actively monitor and track your marketing efforts and results.
Marketers need to understand how digital channels are influencing purchasing behavior and react in kind with omni-channel marketing that bridges that divide. While digital marketers are adapting, there’s one area in which many fall short: inbound calls.
What is Omni-Channel Marketing?
Before moving on, let’s quickly review omni-channel marketing. Simply put, omni-channel marketing refers to the need to offer consumers a seamless experience when interacting with a brand or product. Consumers can engage a brand or product from a desktop at home, using a dedicated mobile app, or via a social media account on their tablet while they are in bed. Each individual piece in this puzzle needs to be consistent and complementary.
The Tripping Point
As alluded to earlier, the tripping point for many marketers comes in the form of inbound phone calls. This is the ultimate example of offline-to-online conversions, and vice-versa. For many consumers, the vast majority of their research and decision-making process can take place online without any need to interact with a representative of a given brand or product. When it comes to getting answers though, consumers don’t like to settle for lead forms and waiting on an email response especially for expensive or important purchases.
If someone is investing a lot of money in a product or service, they want to be sure. And the best way to be sure is to speak with someone directly on the phone.
Consumers want to make these phone calls, most often they need to make these phone calls to complete their purchase in many cases.
Google has the raw facts and figures:
- 70% of mobile searchers have used click-to-call to connect with a business directly
- 61% state that click-to-call is the most important step in the purchase phase of shopping
- 47% say a business without a phone number associated to ads is one they’ll skip over
Unfortunately, for many marketers this proves to be a hurdle too high to overcome. Tracking inbound calls is vital in making a connection between online and offline paths in the purchasing process. At Retreaver, we understand the influence that digital advertisements have on purchasing behavior, and we can help your business to better track these engagements.
Call Tracking with Retreaver
Our call-tracking software allows your brand to track the exact start point of every phone call it receives. You can break down the data by the channel the call originated from, the specific marketing campaign, or even the exact ad that convinced a consumer to call.
With Retreaver, you can:
- Collect engagements from multiple channels using a variety of monitoring & tracking tools
- Generate data-driven reports to help organize your marketing & sales efforts
- Tag individual callers and store potential leads into CRM's automatically for follow up
- Pre-screen leads to identify the call intention and products eligibility
- Use individual caller data to route the call to the right department/agent
Don’t let phone calls fall through the cracks in your marketing analytics.
Digital interactions are vital influencers in the purchasing behavior of 21st century consumers. Include Retreaver into your omni-channel marketing strategy, and seamlessly bridge the divide to provide a better experience for your consumers from start to finish.
Looking to add Retreaver into your omni-channel marketing strategy?
Contact Retreaver for an online demonstration, We will provide you with all the resources you need to optimize your advertising outreach, maximize sales results and deliver excellent customer service.