The mass popularity of smartphones is creating a boom in inbound phone calls, making it one of the most rewarding areas of the marketing pipeline. While desktop searches are leveling off, mobile searches and the inbound calls they produce, are blazing. Currently, 61 percent of mobile searches culminate in a phone call and it is estimated that by 2016, mobile search alone will bring businesses close to 70 billion inbound phone calls.
Sixty-one percent of mobile consumers agree that the availability of click-to-call is most important in the purchase stage of the shopping process. Their reasons for calling rather than searching a website are to quickly get an answer, talk to a real person, get the most accurate information, or out of convenience and 47 percent of mobile searchers will explore other options if a brand does not have a phone number attached to its search results. From 2011 to 2013, the average number of calls per day has jumped from 34.7 to 80.9. With smartphones making calls a finger-tap away, smart companies are seeing how lucrative the Inbound Call Channel has become. In the infographic below, Invoca shows how click-to-call technology and the inbound call channel are becoming marketing's next big competitive advantage.
