It’s no secret that phone calls are way more expensive than web leads: web leads may cost around $20 to $30 per qualified lead, while a purchase-ready caller may cost up to $100 and even more under certain circumstances (for example, live transfer calls).
This is why pay-per-call affiliate marketing is so profitable with affiliates who can generate qualified phone calls and sell them to relevant advertisers. In fact, it’s a win-win: affiliates can sell their call traffic at their target price, while advertisers can acquire the leads who are likely to convert into actual sales and may even become brand advocates.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about pay-per-call affiliate marketing.
Why Is Pay-Per-Call Affiliate Marketing?
First of all, it’s worth noting that, as a performance marketer, you don’t necessarily have to rely only on pay-per-call affiliate marketing. The pay-per-lead model is also great, and the rule of thumb is that you should combine both to maximize your lead generation potential.
But then again, pay-per-call affiliate marketing is unique because advertisers only pay for calls that result in real interactions, while affiliates earn more per qualified call than they would, say, per click. In general, callers are way more likely to make a purchase – up to 50% conversion rates – than web leads or someone who’s clicked on an affiliate link.
How Pay-Per-Call Affiliate Marketing Works
| Step 1 – Call Generation | Call generation starts with locating traffic sources — SEO, PPC, email marketing, and offline media like TV and radio. You want to route this traffic to a call tracking number. |
| Step 2 – Call Routing | Trackable toll-free numbers connect the caller to the advertiser while ensuring the proper attribution. In other words, you can be sure all generated leads belong to you and that you’ll get payment for all qualified calls. |
| Step 3 – Call Qualification | There may be two call qualification stages. First, the call gets qualified to a specific advertiser depending on the source of the call and other parameters. For example, calls from New York go to company A while calls from Minnesota go to company B. |
| Step 4 – Payout | The second call qualification round usually boils down to whether the call lasts the minimum amount of time required for the affiliate to get the payout. The most common practice is that calls that last 120 seconds or more are qualified. |
Once the call ends, marketers analyze it independently and together with accumulated data to adjust their marketing and sales strategies. For example, if a few similar calls are rejected, you might want to send such calls to another advertiser.
How To Launch a Pay-Per-Call Campaign
| Step 1 – Find the Right Advertiser | Explore your affiliate network or independent affiliate programs to find an advertiser that accepts your type of phone calls and offers a decent revenue per call. |
| Step 2 – Get the Right Call Tracking Number | Use local, international, or even vanity call tracking numbers depending on whether you’re running local or international campaigns, or you want to double down on the marketing component by imprinting your brand’s name or ideas in the caller’s mind. |
| Step 3 – Create Compelling Content To Generate Calls | Make sure you’re targeting the right leads with the right content at the right time to trigger the maximum number of calls. |
| Step 4 – Ensure Smooth Call Routing | Whether call routing is being taken care of by the advertiser or affiliate, make sure your callers are distributed to matching advertisers. |
Once your pay-per-call campaigns are up and running, you can analyze your calls to double down on the most profitable call generation methods and programs and eliminate ones that underperform. In this context, it’s important to remember that it’s all about ROI, not the quality or quantity of calls you generate; even lower-intent calls can grow your business exponentially if it takes no money and effort to generate them and at least some of them convert.
How Do You Choose the Right Pay-Per-Call Affiliate Network?
| Relevance | Make sure your advertiser accepts the calls you generate. For example, some advertisers may not accept social media traffic or traffic from certain locations. |
| Payment Size and Structure | The more you earn per call, the better, but it also matters whether there are bonuses, loyalty rewards, or payment tiers. Explore how you can maximize your revenue. |
| Marketing Assets | As an affiliate, you’d like to get customizable creative materials, like banners, ads, or lead generation forms, so you don’t have to design them on your own. |
Without a doubt, the magic of pay-per-call affiliate marketing is its personal touch. Customers prefer direct conversations when making high-stakes decisions or complex purchases. This human connection makes pay-per-call leads far more likely to become loyal, paying customers.
The Best Traffic Sources for Pay-Per-Call Affiliate Marketing
| Search Engine Marketing (SEM) | Targeting high-intention search phrases helps affiliates generate calls right from SERPs. |
| Paid Ads (PPC) | You can run ads linking straight to your pay-per-call tracking numbers. Targeting the correct keyword will help generate more call traffic. |
| SEO | Optimizing your website for crawlers will increase organic traffic to your pay-per-call numbers. Though requiring time, SEO is a great strategy for generating steady traffic. |
| Social Media | Through ads and content marketing, sites like Facebook and Instagram can be fantastic for generating high-intent phone calls. For example, you can use a click-to-call button to connect callers directly to your advertiser. |
The Best Software for Pay-Per-Call Affiliates
With the development of AI tools, many manual tasks can be automated:
- Lead Scoring: Call scoring software can assess the likelihood of converting a call based on the conversation’s content, length, and intention.
- Call Tracking & Analytics: AI-powered call tracking & analytics software can track consumer behavior in real-time and provide post-call insights like the keywords used, the duration and context of the conversation, and more.
- Predictive Analytics: Predictive analytics affiliates forecast future results based on the accumulated call data. Affiliates can focus on successful campaigns and prevent the waste of money on low-conversion ones.
- Chatbots: Although they do not directly affect pay-per-call campaigns, they can perform pre-call lead qualification.
The more data you collect, the more data-driven decisions you can take while avoiding guesswork and making your lead generation as cost-effective as possible.
The Pay-Per-Call Industries
| Industry | Niches |
| Home Services | Plumbing, HVAC, roofing, pest control, water damage restoration, flooring & carpet cleaning, solar installation, and more |
| Legal Services | Personal injury law, criminal defense, family law, bankruptcy law, social security, and more |
| Insurance | Auto insurance, homeowners insurance, life insurance, health insurance, Medicare & final expense insurance |
| Finance | Credit repair, debt consolidation, business loans, tax relief |
| Healthcare | Drug & alcohol rehab centers, mental health counseling, weight loss & wellness programs |
| Travel & Hospitality | Hotel reservations, vacation packages, cruise bookings, car rentals |
| Education | Online degrees, trade schools, language learning programs, student loan assistance |
| Automotive Services | Auto warranty & extended vehicle protection, roadside assistance, car dealership leads |
| Real Estate & Moving Services | Mortgage & home loan services, property management, home buying & selling assistance |
| Tech Support & Software Services | Computer & mobile device repair, security software, smart home & IoT services |
Monetize Your Traffic with Profitise
Profitise is a leading insurance and solar affiliate network for affiliates who are selling quality web leads and phone calls. With hundreds of businesses already joined and even 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?
Pay-per-call affiliate marketing boils down to generating calls and selling these calls to an advertiser. More often than not, only qualified calls are paid, which are calls that satisfy the advertiser’s criteria (for example, the minimum length of 120 seconds).
How to start a pay-per-call business
Pick a relevant niche, select a pay-per-call affiliate program that accepts your type of phone calls, and start generating calls with quality content that hits the chord with your audience. Once you’ve started generating calls consistently, track results to improve your campaigns and scale.
How to get an advantage in a pay-per-call business
Profitise provides customizable forms you can use from day one to generate pay-per-call traffic. All you have to do is put the JavaScript code on your website.
