Turning Calls into Cash with Smart Strategies
What is a pay-per-call strategy? Pay-per-call, also known as PPC, is an advertising model that charges advertisers based on inbound phone calls rather than clicks or impressions. For publishers and affiliate marketers, pay-per-call offers an excellent way to monetize mobile traffic and earn commissions by driving phone leads.
With pay-per-call campaigns, advertisers only pay when a call to their business is generated from their ad. This performance-based pricing model provides advertisers with qualified leads since callers have indicated enough interest to pick up the phone. Meanwhile, publishers can generate steady commissions from high-converting call traffic. If you have a website, blog, or mobile app with targeted traffic, integrating pay-per-call offers is a smart tactic to capitalize on your existing audience.
Now that we’ve answered the question, “What is a pay-per-call strategy?” we will review some proven methods for how to make money with pay-per-call present-day strategies and techniques.
Find Relevant Pay-Per-Call Offers
The first step is finding pay-per-call offers that are highly relevant to your site’s niche and audience interests. Look for offers with irresistible hooks that compel visitors to call the advertisers.
For example, suppose you run a home improvement site. In that case, pay-per-call campaigns for services like HVAC installation, plumbing, roofing, solar panel installation, etc. tend to see higher conversion rates from motivated site visitors.
There are a few places to find targeted pay-per-call offers:
Pay-Per-Call Networks
Joining pay-per-call networks such as Aragon Advertising provides instant access to a vast marketplace of offers across many verticals. Networks provide tracking numbers, call analytics, and handle payments. You can browse offers until you find ones that align with your site’s categories.
Individual Advertiser Campaigns
Research advertisers running pay-per-call campaigns independently through platforms like Google, Craigslist, Facebook, and others. Reach out to them directly about becoming a publisher. This may require more setup work, but it enables the formation of ongoing partnerships with advertisers.
Pay-Per-Call Affiliate Programs
Some large lead generation companies run in-house affiliate programs for their pay-per-call offers. These specialized programs recruit publishers to promote their calls and provide marketing assets and support. Search for “[industry] + pay-per-call affiliate program” to find ones that fit.
Thoroughly vet any pay-per-call offers before promoting them. Call the tracking numbers yourself to verify the quality of the advertiser’s experience. Only work with legitimate advertisers that provide value to consumers.
Place Call-Only Ads Strategically
Once you’ve compiled some offers, it’s time to drive calls by placing highly visible call-only ads across your website and mobile app.
Keep the ads simple and action-oriented. For example:
“Get a quote from [Brand] by calling [Tracking Number].”
Or:
“Call [Number] to schedule [Service].”
Some ideal placements for call-focused ads:
- Sidebars and Widgets
- Between Paragraphs
- Page Headers
- Page Footers
- Pop-ups and Overlays
- Content Recommendations
- Related Posts
- Category or Tag Pages
- Mobile App Menu Pages
Avoid placing too many competing call-to-action ads together. Space them out evenly throughout the content to capture visitors’ attention at different points.
Prioritize placements on high-trafficked pages and locations where visitors exhibit buying signals, like product, service, and pricing pages. The more targeted the placement, the higher the call conversion rate.
Optimize Call Tracking Numbers
When running multiple pay-per-call offers, use unique phone tracking numbers provided by the network or advertiser.
This enables attributing each call to the corresponding offer and ad placement. You can then optimize by eliminating low-performing offers and further promoting the most profitable ones.
Be sure to follow call-tracking best practices:
- Only display the full tracking numbers; don’t try masking them.
- Position the numbers prominently near the CTA buttons.
- Use regional numbers when available to build trust.
- Keep the numbers active at all times. Don’t let them expire.
Proper call tracking integration is crucial for maximizing the earnings from your media spend and traffic.
Promote High-Converting Call Offers
When you are questioning how to make money with pay-per-call, simply placing call-to-action ads may not be enough to maximize conversions. You need to take proactive steps to actively promote your highest-earning pay-per-call campaigns across channels. This involves driving targeted, high-intent traffic to the offers and making it extremely easy for visitors to call the tracking numbers. Some effective promotion tactics include:
Dedicate Landing Pages
Create dedicated landing pages for your top-paying offers. These pages provide more details about the advertiser and encourage calling by prominently displaying the tracking number.
Drive traffic to these high-converting pages through paid ads, email marketing, and social media campaigns.
Show Dynamic Call Extensions
If you run Google Ads, enable call extensions tied dynamically to your call tracking numbers. This displays a clickable phone icon in text ads that users can tap to directly call your advertisers.
Create Click-to-Call Buttons
For mobile apps and responsive sites, build click-to-call buttons that activate the native calling function on phones. Reduce friction for users by enabling one-tap calling.
Blog About the Offers
Write blog posts and long-form content formatted around specific high-value pay-per-call offers. This content marketing attracts organic search traffic and positions your site as an authority. Prominently mention the tracking numbers within the articles for easy access.
Driving targeted, intent-based traffic to your call offers boosts the potential commissions earned.
Negotiate Favorable Payout Terms
Payout structures in pay-per-call programs come in a variety of models. The amount earned per call can be fixed, tiered, or variable based on duration, quality scores, etc.
Take time to thoroughly understand the payment models before promoting offers. Negotiate directly with advertisers and networks to secure the most favorable rates for your traffic and audience.
Be sure to ask about:
- Cost-per-call or minute rates
- Call duration bonuses
- Geographic bonuses
- Commission bumps for volume
- High-quality lead bonuses
- Exclusivity bonuses
- Recurring commissions from downstream sales
Even small increases in payouts per call can tremendously impact your profit margins. As you scale traffic, those extra pennies turn into big dollars.
Scale Your Earning Potential
One of the biggest factors in how to make money with pay-per-call is preparing for growth. Once your pay-per-call campaigns generate a consistent baseline of commissions, it’s time to scale up. The key is continuously compounding your earnings through reinvestment and expanding the reach of your top offers.
Some smart ways to increase your income potential over time include:
- Reinvest Profits: Compound your earnings by reinvesting a portion of your profits into more paid advertising and traffic generation. This increases the overall number of calls and commission potential.
- Expand Your Reach: Test new marketing channels, GEOs, and demographics to extend your pay-per-call campaigns to untapped audiences. Diversify traffic sources to increase call volume.
- Build Internal Campaigns: Develop in-house pay-per-call offers if you have an existing customer base. Offer incentives for current customers to call for upgrades, renewals, or cross-sells.
- Create New Assets: Produce more website content, videos, podcasts, and other media optimized around your top-paying offers. Blanket the web with calls to action.
- Form Advertiser Partnerships: Develop deep relationships with advertisers through exclusive partnerships. Offer to help them fine-tune conversion paths for higher ROI.
With deliberate effort, pay-per-call can evolve into a hands-off income stream as profits compound over time. Treat it as a long-term strategy rather than a short-term tactic. The key is consistency: set it up correctly, reinvest continuously, and let your income grow organically.
Don’t just dabble in pay-per-call. Make it an integral part of your business model. Build multiple recurring revenue streams around call campaigns. Form exclusive partnerships with advertisers. Create assets like dedicated landing pages, blog content, videos, and podcasts optimized for your top offers.
The more touchpoints you have actively promoting calls, the more commission potential you have. With a diversified, well-rounded approach, pay-per-call profits can scale dramatically over months and years. Be patient, think long-term, and allow your earnings to grow through smart reinvestment.
Leverage the Top Pay-Per-Call Networks
One of the best ways to quickly get started with pay-per-call is to join an established pay-per-call network. These networks provide instant access to a large portfolio of offers, campaign tracking, and analytics and handle advertiser payments for you.
A top pay-per-call network to consider is Aragon Advertising. Aragon works with over 1,500 advertisers and provides publishers access to offers across multiple verticals like home services, healthcare, insurance, travel, and more.
Joining the Aragon network gives you the ability to browse hundreds of relevant offers and immediately start driving calls and earning commissions. Aragon also provides publishers with transparency into analytics like call durations, volumes, and geographic performance to optimize their campaigns.
If you want to accelerate your pay-per-call earnings, joining a specialized network like Aragon Advertising is highly recommended. The combination of proven offers, transparent reporting, and automated payments enables you to get your campaigns running quickly at scale.
Recap of Strategies
In summary, what is a pay-per-call strategy, and how do you make money utilizing this process?
Pay-per-call, also referred to as PPC, represents an advertising approach wherein advertisers are billed based on incoming phone calls as opposed to clicks or impressions.
Some proven approaches for profiting from pay-per-call include:
- Vetting relevant offers aligned with your audience and niche
- Strategically placing call-only ads across your website and mobile apps
- Optimizing unique phone tracking numbers for analytics
- Actively promoting the highest-converting offers through dedicated landing pages, call extensions, click-to-call buttons, and content marketing
- Negotiating favorable payout terms like higher cost-per-call rates from advertisers
- Reinvesting profits to compound earnings and expand your reach
- Exploring in-house pay-per-call campaigns and exclusive advertiser partnerships
With the right offers, placements, and promotions, pay-per-call can provide a steady revenue stream that compounds over time as your traffic scales. Approach it strategically and continuously optimize based on the data.
Key Takeaways
Pay-per-call advertising presents a lucrative opportunity for publishers and affiliate marketers to extract value from their existing audience and traffic sources. As a performance marketing channel, earnings grow in direct proportion to your ability to drive targeted, high-intent calls to advertisers. By mastering how to make money with pay-per-call, you can maximize commissions over time.
Implementing the strategies outlined in this article will help maximize your commissions while providing a valuable service to consumers by connecting them with providers that fulfill their needs.
Approach pay-per-call campaigns with patience and always prioritize quality over quantity for sustainable long-term profits. With deliberate optimization and promotion, calls can convert into a satisfying income stream.
Want to learn more about Pay-Per-Call Strategies?
FAQ on How to Make Money with Pay-Per-Call
Q: How do publishers make money from pay-per-call campaigns?
A: Publishers display a business’s tracking number on their website, mobile app, or other channels. When a consumer calls that number, the advertiser pays the publisher a fee for facilitating the lead.
Q: What are some ways publishers can find relevant pay-per-call offers?
A: Joining pay-per-call networks, contacting individual advertisers running their own campaigns, leveraging pay-per-call affiliate programs, or building internal campaigns.
Q: Where should publishers place call-to-action ads?
A: Effective placements include sidebars, between paragraphs, page headers and footers, pop-ups, content recommendations, related posts, and mobile app menu pages.
Q: How can publishers maximize conversions for their top offers?
A: Use dedicated landing pages, call extensions, click-to-call buttons, blog content, and targeted paid ads to actively promote your highest-earning offers.
Q: How can pay-per-call income be scaled up over time?
A: Reinvest profits to increase traffic, expand reach to new channels and GEOs, create more assets optimized for top offers, build exclusive advertiser partnerships, and develop in-house campaigns.