• Marketing Land
  • Sections
    • CMO
    • Social
    • SEM
    • SEO
    • Analytics
    • Display
    • Retail
    • MarTech
    • Resources
    • More
    • Home
  • Marketing Land
  • CMO
  • Social
  • SEM
  • SEO
  • Analytics
  • Display
  • Retail
  • MarTech
  • Resources
  • More
  • SUBSCRIBE

Marketing Land

Marketing Land
  • CMO
  • Social
  • SEM
  • SEO
  • Analytics
  • Display
  • Retail
  • MarTech
  • Resources
  • More
  • Home
  • Newsletters
  • Home
Martech: Analytics & Data

Calls to businesses rose more than 375% over past two holiday seasons

A new study finds inbound call volume has grown significantly during Black Friday weekend. Here's how you can take advantage of that growth.

Robin Kurzer on November 5, 2018 at 11:46 am
  • More

Inbound calls to businesses over the holidays are on the rise, according to new data out Monday from call analytics provider CallRail.

The company analyzed inbound calls to more than 100,000 businesses that used its service on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Green Monday in 2015, 2016, and 2017.

The data shows that the combined call volume on those key shopping days has increased 379 percent over the past two years.

Calls on Green Monday made an astronomical jump. Green Monday, the second Monday in December, is considered one of the most profitable sales days of the year. CallRail’s research showed that calls to businesses on that day have risen a staggering 1,621 percent over the past two years. Black Friday saw a 229 percent increase and Cyber Monday, a 235 percent rise over the same period.

People do make calls on smartphones. “Whether it’s an appointment a customer needs to make or a question about inventory, many people still favor picking up the phone for expedient responses,” said Jules Tompkins, CallRail’s content and communications manager.

Tompkins says the increase in call volume is largely due to the rise of smartphone use as well as how phone numbers are displayed prominently in search results.

The human touch. It seems a sure bet that one of the reasons consumers call a business is to talk to an actual human being. But aren’t chatbots the new customer assistants?

Tompkins says no. “Chatbots and other machine-automated forms of communication may be sufficient modes for a number of activities, but we believe that most people often still want to speak to a human when it comes to performing a transaction, scheduling an appointment, or inquiring about pricing,” he said.

Why it matters to marketers. Clicks and conversions aren’t the only way to measure shoppers’ engagement — don’t disregard your phone calls. The report underscores the importance of measuring phone calls performance from online campaigns and recommends prioritizing customer support training to ensure callers get the right information quickly — particularly during the busy holiday season.

“What this increase in call volume means for businesses across all industries is that they need to focus on calls, not just clicks, this holiday season,” Tompkins said. “Paying attention to why your customers are calling –– what questions they’re asking, what’s confusing them, what products or services they’re interested in –– is an important part of providing great customer service and driving more business leads year-round.”

This story first appeared on MarTech Today. For more on marketing technology, click here.



About The Author

Robin Kurzer
Robin Kurzer started her career as a daily newspaper reporter in Milford, Connecticut. She then made her mark on the advertising and marketing world in Chicago at agencies such as Tribal DDB and Razorfish, creating award-winning work for many major brands. For the past seven years, she’s worked as a freelance writer and communications professional across a variety of business sectors.

Related Topics

Channel: Martech: Analytics & DataChannel: RetailHoliday Retailer

We're listening.

Have something to say about this article? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or our LinkedIn Group.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS

MarTech 2021: March 16-17

MarTech 2021: Sept. 14-15

MarTech 2020: Watch On-Demand

×

Attend MarTech - Click Here


Learn More About Our MarTech Events

April 13, 2021: SMX Create

May 18-19, 2021: SMX London

June 8-9, 2021: SMX Paris

June 15-16, 2021: SMX Advanced

June 21-22, 2021: SMX Advanced Europe

August 17, 2021: SMX Convert

November 9-10, 2021: SMX Next

December 14, 2021: SMX Code

Available On-Demand: SMX

Available On-Demand: SMX Report

×


Learn More About Our SMX Events

White Papers

  • The 7 Phases of a Website Redesign
  • Rearchitecting Revenue: Accelerating Demand Through Data
  • Save Your Marketing by Fixing Bad Data, First
  • Precision Demand Generation: Create Meaningful Connections With Your Buyer
  • The Media-First Approach Why visual media must be a primary consideration for e-commerce businesses
See More Whitepapers

Webinars

  • The AI Revolution Is Coming to Every Stage of Your Buyer’s Journey
  • The Fundamentals of Link Building for E-Commerce & Affiliate Sites in 2021
  • Your Customer is Calling: Make the Most of Your Marketing Spend with Call Tracking
See More Webinars

Research Reports

  • Local Marketing Solutions for Multi-Location Businesses
  • Enterprise Digital Asset Management Platforms
  • Identity Resolution Platforms
  • Customer Data Platforms
  • B2B Marketing Automation Platforms
  • Call Analytics Platforms
See More Research
Receive daily marketing news & analysis.

Channels

  • MarTech
  • CMO
  • Social
  • SEM
  • SEO
  • Mobile
  • Analytics
  • Retail
  • Display

Our Events

  • MarTech
  • SMX

Resources

  • White Papers
  • Research
  • Webinars

About

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS
  • Youtube

© 2021 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.