Call generation presents a lucrative opportunity for publishers, since calls often have higher payouts than other affiliate campaigns. In some industries, pay-per-call conversions may reach a 30% rate, which is times higher than the traditional 2-5%.
Unlike the pay-per-sale model, where commissions depend on the advertiser closing a deal, pay-per-call advertising allows affiliates to earn by driving calls that meet predefined criteria, regardless of whether these calls convert into a sale.
Read on to uncover all the ins & outs of pay-per-call advertising.
What is Pay-Per-Call Advertising?
Pay-per-call advertising is a type of performance marketing where advertisers pay for qualified phone calls rather than clicks or impressions. Instead of driving traffic to a website, the goal is to get potential customers to call a phone number, usually connected to a business or call center.
Pay-per-call marketing methods can be used across various platforms, including social media, search engines, mobile apps, landing pages, online directories, and even offline channels like print ads, radio, or TV when paired with trackable call numbers.
How Does Pay-Per-Call Advertising Work?
For affiliates, pay-per-call advertising is about generating qualified phone leads and getting paid for each one that meets the criteria. To better understand what you’ll face during this journey, let’s examine the 6 steps of the pay-per-call marketing for the average publisher in the insurance niche:
- Join a pay-per-call network or affiliate program
- Get tracking numbers and creatives
- Launch your campaign
- The user makes the call
- The call gets routed to a call center or advertiser
- You get paid for the qualified call
Step 1 – Join a Pay-Per-Call Network or Affiliate Program
As an affiliate, your first step is to find a pay-per-call platform that works with insurance offers and media where you post your content. Look for niche networks that support various content, so you can:
- Tap into high-converting verticals that general networks might overlook
- Avoid oversaturated campaigns and get better payouts
- Scale with less competition
Once approved, you’ll get access to pay-per-call programs inside the network, where you can find the one that suits you.
Step 2 – Get Call Tracking Numbers and Creatives
The next step after you sign into the affiliate program is to get a trackable number, so when pay-per-call leads call the advertiser, they will know that you drove these clients.
Step 3 – Launch Your Campaign
Depending on how you are going to promote the advertiser’s phone number, you may run Google pay-per-call ads, Facebook ads, TikTok ads, create SEO-optimized copy, and more. The world’s your oyster as long as your promotional methods and traffic sources are allowed by the affiliate program.
Make your call offer persuasive, yet gentle
It’s worth noting that since phone call ads encourage users to contact the advertiser immediately, you should add urgency to your CTAs. The success in pay-per-call lead generation lies in balancing gentle communication with persuasive promotion.
Step 4 – The User Makes the Call
You have no control over whether a user who has discovered your ad makes a call immediately or later (which they can do as long as the offer displays the phone number), but you can choose a comfortable ad display time.
For example, displaying your ads during the advertiser’s working hours will increase the chances that the advertiser picks up the phone and talks with the lead, qualifying the call for a payout.
Step 5 – Call Is Routed to a Call Center or Advertiser
If the call meets the campaign’s rules, it’s forwarded to the call center working with the advertiser. The customer is then connected with a licensed agent who qualifies them and tries to close the deal.
Step 6 – You Get Paid for the Qualified Call
If the call lasts long enough and meets additional criteria (if any), it’s marked as qualified (you’ll see it in your dashboard), and you get the payout. Remember, it doesn’t matter whether the caller buys a policy since you’re paid based on whether the call is qualified.
Pay-Per-Call Marketing Across Different Platforms
When it comes to pay-per-call campaigns, each advertising platform has its strengths and challenges. As an affiliate, you need to understand how they work to get the most out of each place.
| Google Ads | Google Ads is one of the most powerful platforms for posting pay-per-call ads, where you can show ads directly to users who are actively searching for your product. Google pay-per-call ads work best in urgent or complex industries like insurance, legal, home services, travel, or financial services. |
| Meta Ads | Meta’s platforms are another goldmine for pay-per-call advertising if you know how to target the right demographics. While these aren’t “search” platforms, they work well for discovery-based campaigns. In Facebook Ads, you can put precise targeting based on age, interests, and behavior on Meta’s platforms. Such promotion works well for retargeting and awareness campaigns. However, such leads typically have lower intent than pay-per-call advertising on Google. |
| YouTube Ads | YouTube is the platform where users seek solutions and actually watch videos. If you showcase yourself as an expert, you’ll quickly establish authority and lead users to the targeted action. At the same time, you can incorporate calls to action inside the video, into its description, and in the comments. Video ads can work wonders in verticals that require trust, empathy, or demonstration. Pay-per-call advertising campaigns are driven by in-stream or discovery ads, often combined with strong verbal CTAs. |
| Organic Call Sources | If you have a large website or social media following, native pay-per-call ads can be your best long-term asset. However, if you’re just about to start creating content, note that it takes time and expertise to rank among the top. |
| Offline or Hybrid Call Sources | Offline or hybrid campaigns (radio, TV, flyers, print ads) can be redirected to tracked phone numbers. More importantly, this type of advertising is underrated, less competitive, and works fine for older or local audiences. For instance, you can create print ads and send them by mail to get pay-per-call small business leads. |
Best Industries for Pay-Per-Call Advertising
Not all verticals are equal: some naturally fit phone conversations due to complexity and urgency, while others don’t. As an affiliate, choosing the right industry can be the difference between wasted budget and consistent five-figure payouts.
Below are some of the top-performing pay-per-call verticals:
| Auto Insurance | Auto insurance is always in demand and pays well, with a fairly short sales cycle. Most policy seekers are quite proactive when shopping for new coverage or trying to lower their premiums, and people are generally more likely to switch auto insurance providers rather than life or home insurance. |
| Health Insurance | Health insurance is one of the most competitive and lucrative pay-per-call verticals in the U.S. Campaigns typically spike during Open Enrollment (OEP), but private PPO offers and short-term coverage are active year-round. While creating ads to generate health insurance pay-per-call leads, you can sell multiple coverage options from the same provider. Since users need to make more complex decisions in health insurance, they typically have longer calls, which means more calls qualify for a payout. |
| Life Insurance | Life insurance is another beneficial affiliate marketing vertical that thrives on emotional triggers and family-oriented concerns. People don’t want to leave their loved ones unprotected, and phone consultations help them feel reassured. |
| Home Insurance | Often bundled with auto policies, home insurance offers can bring in great commissions, especially for homeowners looking to refinance or switch providers. Pay-per-call advertising shines here since the house is a high-value asset, so people naturally want to speak to someone who helps them pick the most suitable options. |
| Finance | Financial services are another high-performing sector in pay-per-call because most people prefer to talk to someone before making money-related decisions. From debt consolidation to tax help, these verticals attract long, high-value calls. |
Is Pay-Per-Call Advertising Worth It?
Yes — if done right, pay-per-call marketing is incredibly profitable for affiliates.
But let’s be clear: it’s not free money. You’ll be paying for traffic, so your earnings must outweigh your ad spend. Otherwise, you’re burning cash.
Again: focus on campaigns that convert. Don’t just throw money at keywords or creatives that sound good. Test and refine. Then scale.
Pay-per-call VS Pay-per-click VS Pay-Per-Lead: What to Choose
| Pay-Per-Call | Pay-per-call generally delivers the highest payouts, especially in verticals like insurance, finance, legal, and home services. It’s a strong choice if your audience includes older demographics or people seeking urgent services. |
| Pay-per-lead (PPL) | Pay-per-lead (PPL) hits the middle ground: you get paid for completed forms or signups. It’s scalable and works well in niches like SaaS, education, and sweepstakes. |
| Pay-per-click (PPC) | Pay-per-click (PPC) is the easiest to get into but offers the lowest earnings per interaction. Here you’re paid for traffic, not results. Meanwhile, this approach requires a massive volume to make a decent profit. |
You can combine multiple affiliate marketing models if the program allows you to, or you can run several affiliate marketing programs at the same time.
Pay-Per-Call Metrics to Track Your Performance
Running pay-per-call campaigns without tracking your performance will quickly burn your budget. To stay profitable and scale with confidence, you need to monitor not only call volume, but also:
- Call Duration. Most offers require a minimum qualified call time. If your calls are consistently too short, you won’t get paid.
- Conversion Rate. Find out how many of your calls meet the offer’s requirements and trigger a payout. A low payout rate often means poor targeting, a mismatch with the offer, or traffic quality issues.
- Call Source. Track where each call comes from, since it helps identify which channels actually drive converting calls.
- Payout Per Call. Calculate your ROI and adjust bidding strategies on paid call campaigns.
- Call Abandonment Rate. Find out how many users hang up before reaching the call center. A high call abandonment rate may point to suboptimal call routing.
Monetize Your Web and Call Traffic with Profitise
Profitise is a leading insurance and solar affiliate network for affiliates selling quality web leads and phone calls. With hundreds of businesses already joined and more to come, Profitise is the go-to place to monetize your traffic.
With Profitise, you get:
- Embeddable JavaScript forms to generate qualified insurance and solar leads
- Large lead market to sell your traffic instantly
- High price for your web and call leads
- Free assistance from your affiliate manager
Sell leads with Profitise as an affiliate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is pay-per-call advertising?
Pay-per-call advertising is a performance marketing model where affiliates earn commissions for driving qualified phone calls to businesses. Instead of clicks or form fills, affiliates generate inbound calls to the advertiser’s call center.
How do you choose a reliable pay-per-call service provider?
To choose a pay-per-call provider, check their offer selection, call qualification criteria, payouts, and whether they provide help with call tracking and creative assets. Look for affiliate networks with clear traffic rules and a spotless reputation.
What’s the difference between a pay-per-call and a pay-per-lead business model?
The main difference lies in how you get paid: pay-per-call pays you when you refer a qualified phone call to a business, whereas pay-per-lead pays you when a web user submits their information through a form. Calls convert better and pay more, but web leads might be easier to scale.
