Internet currency

Citation

(2012), "Internet currency", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 29 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm.2012.07729daa.002

Internet currency

Article Type: Internet currency From: Journal of Consumer Marketing, Volume 29, Issue 4

Edited by Dennis A. Pitta, University of Baltimore

Click to call: adapting the web to consumer habit

Over time, this column has noted the developments in marketing practice and technology that are evolutionary steps in advancing the profession. Repeatedly, new techniques and revelations that promise to revolutionize marketing, fail if they ignore marketing wisdom. Veteran marketers will probably remember the sage advice that our professors gave us. Namely, make it easy for the customer to act. In practice, baby steps are usually more effective than more complicated procedures. In short, the wisdom maintains that the simpler the required response; the more likely the response.

Click to call – making it easy for the customer

The future of online advertising is now thought to be mobile promotion and has been even named M-commerce. With the proliferation of mobile devices, the number of target customers, a measure of advertising reach grows each day. Data for the cumulative number of units shipped are revealing. In the first three quarters since introduction, the iPod shipped a few hundred thousand units, the iPhone, roughly 3 million units, and the iPad upwards of 14 million units. Analogously, during the first nine quarters after introduction, over 70 Billion Android phones had been shipped. 2011 represented the first time that smartphones and tablets outsold PC’s and notebook computers. These numbers show a robust mobile advertising channel (KPCB, 2011).

The switch to mobile advertising has changed the landscape for advertising. The Click to Call feature has become a game changer for e-business. Google provided one of the first mobile applications that allows smart phones to access the telephone number of the advertiser. Google’s research supports the view that when people search for goods or services using mobile devices, they confront one limitation of the phone, slow graphical response compared to networked personal computers. Even the newer faster mobile platforms offered by a few providers, cannot replicate the response speed of a broadband internet connection to a PC. Thus, consumers using their phones may prefer to call a store rather than visit that store’s web site. Google’s Click to Call app makes it easier for potential customers to reach advertisers. By adding a click-to-call business phone number in ads that appear on mobile devices with full internet browsers, advertisers may increase the likelihood that consumers will actually connect. Ads on a Google page present links to advertisers that exploit the connectivity of the web. Google is careful to stress the importance of the phone’s “full Internet connectivity.” On a mobile phone the ads appear and when a user clicks on one, it calls the advertiser. Both online and mobile ads make it easy for the customer to make contact with the advertiser.

Google’s stated purpose in providing the application was to increase response by increasing the number of ways customers might connect with the advertiser. One important consideration is the nature of the advertising platform. Back in the heyday of television, the platform among competitors was identical, namely the broadcast system. Even online advertising presents a more consistent ecosystem. In contrast, the mobile advertising ecosystem consists of a complex mix of device types and wireless carriers. Together they create a significant challenge for mobile marketers.

However, Google has overcome the complexity of the variety of platforms and exploits smart phone capabilities. From the user’s perspective, they don’t need to know new detail to access ads on the phones. For example, if a user is looking for a restaurant, he or she needs only to access Google search on his or her phone for “local restaurants.” Google will return a list of ads around the user’s location. Users can then access the local phone numbers of advertisers who have included click to call features in their online ad campaigns. The user can then call to verify the menu and prices as well as make a reservation. Overall, it is an easy to use, highly useful feature for local residents as well as tourists.

Google’s beta test of the feature showed increases in click through rates of 5 to 30 percent. Notably, the cost of the click on phone number to the advertiser is the same as the cost of a click to visit the advertiser’s web site. Thus, advertisers can provide consumers one more choice of contact, without increasing their own costs.

Making it easy for the advertiser

Advertisers using Google advertising, can insure that their ads contain a click to call telephone number by making a few simple choices. For example, Google ad campaigns can be customized by advertisers using an online program. The program contains a series of settings, organized by file folder like tabs. Under the Campaign tab, one would access the “Settings” tab and find the Locations, Languages and Demographics section. There one would select one of the options under “Show relevant addresses with your ads.” The advertiser would then be sure to select, “Show you ads on iPhones and other mobile devices with full Internet browsers” in the Campaigns setting. One more setting is needed. In the Networks, Devices and Extensions section, one would choose Desktop and laptop computers as well as iPhones and other mobile devices with full internet browsers. Writing the description is more time consuming and confusing than just making the selections. Equally important, advertisers can track the number of hits by type of online device, mobile (smart phone) or computer.

As mobile advertising matures, advertisers have to exploit its power to motivate. Unlike some noteworthy motivators which got their start using internet connectivity, like Groupon, the combination of connectivity and location that mobile provides seems to be more powerful. Mobile may provide real-time physical retail opportunities to advertisers. If a hungry potential customer is two blocks away from a restaurant and can make an instant call, the restaurant staff can provide directions, even step by step directions to get him to the front door. That ability promises to be powerful. If coupled with an online discount, it may be unbeatable.

In our next issue, we will investigate other informative sites and invite readers to submit their favorite internet sites for our consideration.

Reader requests

Please forward all requests to review innovative internet sites to: Dr Dennis Pitta, University of Baltimore, 1420 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-5779, USA. Alternatively, please send e-mail to: dpitta@ubalt.edu for prompt attention.