Marketing over the phone is nothing new — in fact, it can even seem old-fashioned to some marketers, who may prefer the finer targeting controls and conversion info provided by online ad campaigns.
But while online marketing has been treated as the best way to target younger audiences, new studies show that customers are less interested in online-only marketing and more responsive to more personal forms of marketing — like a one-on-one phone call.
And telecommunications technology has evolved significantly in the period of time where online marketing dominated the scene. New, more advanced phone systems, like VoIP, offer distinct advantages over traditional phone systems.
As technology evolves, businesses and marketers will need to learn how best to take advantage of new development — or risk being left behind. New, internet-based phone services, like VoIP, have unique features that marketers can use to boost their marketing strategies.
What Is VoIP?
VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol — effectively, a kind of phone service that uses the internet to connect callers.
If you've ever used Skype or video chat on Google Hangouts, you've already seen VoIP in action. Many outbound call centers use VoIP, rather than traditional phone lines, to manage all the calls they have to make in a day.
Most businesses have two options when setting up a phone system — VoIP or a traditional landline. While landlines have remained popular for businesses and marketers, VoIP is one alternative that can provide many unique benefits.
As long as you have a fast and stable Wi-Fi connection, VoIP will usually provide better call quality and stability than traditional phone lines. And with the arrival of new and improved telecommunications tech like 5G, you may not even need Wi-Fi to use VoIP in the future.
If your business isn't working out of a physical office space, then VoIP is a great way to centralize your phone service.
VoIP systems also offer many other benefits that aren't supported by traditional landlines — like integration with third-party apps, and features like call forwarding, call recording and instant voicemail-to-email conversion. And unlike with a landline you can take your VoIP numbers with you, so long as where you're going has a strong internet connection. These features can be especially useful for marketers.
Here are 6 simple ways that you can leverage the unique features of VoIP for your marketing strategy.
1. Use Multiple Numbers for Better Ad Reporting
With landlines, it can be difficult to quickly add phone numbers to your office. With VoIP, scalability is much easier. It's much simpler to add a new phone number for every team member — or for just about any other need.
That means that each ad campaign you run — and maybe each advertising method — can have its own VoIP phone number. When customers respond to your advertisement, you'll have instant feedback on which ad campaigns and advertising methods are the most effective. One of the easiest ways to A/B test ad campaigns that don't usually lend themselves to ad reporting.
Some online ad networks — like Google Ads — are even set up so that advertisers can easily track phone call conversions. When integrated with your phone system, these ad networks can show your team how often your online ads are leading to calls.
2. Connect Remote Workers with Customers
With a traditional landline phone system, remote workers can't really be integrated into the phone system. That means you can't hire remote staff for your phone marketing team, and you'll need to keep certain team members in the office, even if they'd prefer to work remote.
More and more talented workers are becoming digital nomads — workers who take advantage of remote positions and contract work to earn a living while traveling like a nomad. At the same time, companies are changing how they work to recruit these nomads — 66% of companies offer remote work and 16% of companies are fully remote.
If you rely on a traditional phone line, these workers will be difficult or impossible to integrate into your system.
Added benefit of being able to hire workers outside of your own time zone — so even if it's the dead of night at your office, there can be a remote worker awake ready to listen to your customers.
3. Create a Communications Network
VoIP systems can be hooked up to instant messaging systems, emails and video conferencing software, giving customers more ways to get in touch, and more ways for your team members to keep each other in the loop — tracking conversions, referring customers to team members with better knowledge and keeping track of the information that the team needs.
You can also use VoIP to offer video calls and video conferencing to your customers. Many VoIP programs and services already offer some kind of video call functionality. Face-to-face meetings are one of the most effective forms of communication. With video, you'll get a lot of the benefits of face-to-face meetings — both customers and team members will be able to see and respond to nonverbal cues like smiles and hand gestures, for example.
And adding video won't exclude customers. Even if a client or customer doesn't have a device that will record video, it's often possible to still join into an audio-only version of a conference call.
4. Add Click-to-Call to Your Website or App
The average user sticks around on a web page for less than 15 seconds — if they don't find what they're looking for in that time, they'll click away. Reducing the amount of time it takes for customers to find what they need can naturally improve conversions rates by making the most of those 15 seconds.
With click-to-call, a user can connect with your marketing team with just one click. By reducing the number of clicks that a user has to make to get information or make a purchase, you can help ensure that a customer will be more likely to convert.
If you want customers to call, make calling as easy as possible. Adding a click-to-call button to your website, or somewhere inside your app, is a great way to make navigating your web presence easier for customers.
5. Build an International Presence
Toll-free numbers are no longer as common, because most domestic calls are free, even if you're calling someone on the opposite side of the country. But while domestic calls are almost always free with traditional phone systems, international calls aren't guaranteed to be the same. Businesses that rely on landlines can't always take calls from international numbers — unless they want to pay big. Some businesses with landlines even find themselves forced to block international numbers to avoid picking up the tab for those calls.
Many VoIP apps and providers offer free international calls — so businesses that want to court international audiences will be able to, without worrying about the cost of hearing from international customers.
And if your business needs to expand overseas, it can be easy to add new local numbers to your phone system — even if you need those numbers that are based in different countries. These numbers can help assure international customers that your company can serve local customers, and is familiar with local needs.
6. Reduce Hold Times with ACDs
A majority of customers agree that being on hold is the worst part of calling a business. But it's not always easy to cut down on hold time without revamping business processes or hiring more marketers.
Automatic calling distribution systems (or ACDs) are systems that automatically receive and direct incoming calls. These systems can direct customers to the next available support agent, or to a specific department or team member based on the number called.
Traditional ACDs are limited in the number of calls that they can distribute at a time — but new, smart ACD solutions have arrived on the market that can intelligently queue and distribute large amounts of calls to your team. These smart ACDs can handle higher call loads than traditional ACDs.
These systems can help your team make sure that even if your receptionist is busy, customers will get through to your business. These systems can send customers to the proper departments, notify marketers that they have a call waiting and even allow customers to provide information about why they're calling without needing to talk to any staff members.
ACDs can also be combined with other systems, like automated attendants and phone menus. With these, you can reduce the amount of time that customers spend on the phone by getting information that a customer service representative or marketer will need — like a name, address or invoice number — if the customer has to wait to speak with a staff member.
Using VoIP to Improve Your Marketing Strategy
Phone marketing can seem a little old-fashioned, and many marketers may prefer the control and information provided by online advertising. But more customers are expecting authenticity and one-on-one interactions — rather than the impersonality of a PPC ad campaign.
One of the best ways to deliver that personality is through phone calls. And VoIP technology has a number of benefits over traditional phone lines that you can use to strengthen your marketing strategy. By using features specific to VoIP — like an ACD system, VoIP-specific technology like click-to-call and digital phone numbers for remote workers — you can make your business's phone marketing strategy even more effective.
Kayla Matthews is a MarTech journalist and writer, whose work has been featured on Marketing Dive, Contently, Outbrain and Convince and Convert. To read more posts from Kayla, please visit her personal tech blog, Productivity Bytes.
