Remember that amazing smartphone feature that allows you to connect with another person and talk to them voice to voice? Turns out, lots of people still use their phones as phones. We’ve got new findings on Australian consumers’ attitudes and behaviours about Click to Call.
Modern consumers expect to be able to find answers the moment a question pops up. That is, right in that exact moment. In these micro-moments, consumers turn to their smartphones—sometimes for product information, sometimes to compare prices, and often, to find a way to connect directly with your business.
In partnership with Ipsos, we surveyed 2,390 Australian smartphone users from 18 to 74 years old who used or purchased something in one of our key verticals in the past six months. We wanted to understand how they think about and interact with mobile ads, specifically Click to Call, a feature that displays a clickable call button with your ad. In short, consumers want it, love it, and use it. Marketers can boost their online presence and maximise their return on marketing investment by incorporating this simple feature.
Click to Call is widely used among smartphone users
Click to Call occupies that perfect space in advertising: a tool that benefits both the consumer and the business. In this case, it provides convenience to the consumer, who has another way to get answers quickly. And this held up in our research. Three in five smartphone users have used the Click to Call feature when searching for information on a smartphone, and 66% say it is extremely or very important to have the ability to call a business directly from a smartphone search results page.
People call businesses for all kinds of reasons. The top reasons by industry are:
Having a robust mobile site is still the best way to help consumers obtain answers or get tasks done. But when requests are more involved or just require a human touch, Click to Call can help consumers get help quickly.
We found that 50% of clicks to call are for making a purchase, booking, reservation, or appointment. Especially in retail, restaurant, and local, people are calling because they’re ready to make a purchase or decision. And those are exactly the people your business wants to capture, right in that moment.
Consumers Want the Ability to Call Your Business Directly
Along the path to purchase, Click to Call is most valued during the research and purchase phases
When we broke it down by each stage of the consumer journey, we found the two stages in which it’s most important to have Click to Call functionality: research, when someone is actively looking and researching purchases, and purchase, when someone actually completes the purchase. These are the most crucial stages for businesses to be there with a seamless contact function for consumers looking for answers.
% who find the ability to call the business extremely/very important during each phase of the path to purchase
Click to Call is underutilised by businesses and can help you reach consumers in their micro-moments
As important as Click to Call functionality is to consumers, we found it's underutilised by businesses. Three in five smartphone searchers told us that they don’t think Click to Call is available widely enough.
Additionally, when consumers want to reach you quickly and can't, they remember. Sixty percent of smartphone searchers said they'd have a negative perception of a company or brand that didn't have Click to Call readily available and would turn to competitors to get the access they need.
Sixty percent of smartphone searchers said they'd have a negative perception of a company or brand that didn't have Click to Call readily available.
Click to Call can be an important part of providing your customers with an end-to-end frictionless experience on mobile. Our research shows that consumers see the functionality as useful, helpful, and time-saving—all things you'd want your business to be known for. With consumers likely to switch to a competitor if they encounter barriers, being accessible and helpful is more important than ever in this rapid-pace, highly competitive micro-moments world.
