Google has now made available a click to call feature for iPhones & other smartphones and Adwords. Within the Google Adwords interface you can now use a radio button to select the click to call ads and input a telephone number to be called. No vanity numbers are allowed, if you input one, Google converts it to the true number for display purposes??
You can also use extensions to allow geo tracking of your campaigns as well apparently. This would be something one of my clients who sells well on both coasts, but virtually nothing in Mid Americas could use to further target his campaigns though effective use of campaign metrics allowed us to localize the campaigns from US wide to bi-coastal.
Basically marketers and advertisers can now add clickable telephone numbers to existing AdWords campaign ads displayed on searchers smart phones that have full Internet browsing capabilities (some don’t?). The ads and related phone numbers are displayed based on the caller’s location, unless otherwise specified, so if a user searches for a restaurant or store, the ad will automatically display the closest location to the user.
Additionally I have another client who has staff working for them, who have requested that visitors be directed to call them, as opposed to visiting the website and using the web base contact forms. I will need to add this to their campaigns as well once it is made available. Apparently their day would be more productive talking to the potential client on the phone.
Internet has changed marketing quite a bit and turned advertising upside down in the last 3 decades but a phone call or face to face meeting will not be replaceable any time soon. Tweet all you want to who you want, the phone still rocks.
