Commission Junction, a division of ValueClick, has launched PayPerCall, providing affiliates with a unique telephone number to display as the call to action in any creative.
Calls to this number can then be tracked, allowing for affiliate marketing to drive sales for expensive or complicated purchases, such as luxury holidays and mortgages, which are difficult to target through the affiliate channel.
A 2009 survey by Harris Interactive showed that 54% of online consumers want human interaction when making a substantial investment.
Commission Junction’s PayPerCall gives advertisers the opportunity to engage with customers by phone, whilst still being able to attribute that lead to the affiliate channel.
Commission Junction launched the service in the US earlier this year to huge success; statistics show that calls convert between 30 – 50% of the time, generating a significant boost to revenue and offering a substantial return on investment.
Commission Junction is starting to roll out the service to a number of clients within the network this week, building a substantial PayPerCall initiative in the UK market.
“Consumer behaviour changes as prices increase or when purchases are complicated and, until now, the affiliate channel has not been able to capture these higher-value sales,” commented Florian Gramshammer, UK country manager for Commission Junction. “From our global experience, we have shown that calls convert more purchases than online adverts for costly or complicated purchases. The PayPerCall service gives advertisers an opportunity to upsell and to expand their current programmes.”
Florian continued “We are looking forward to helping our clients earn more by expanding the reach of their affiliate network and improving overall ROI for their affiliate programmes.”