• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 27, 2015

According to the Call Intelligence Index published by Invoca, mobile marketing is driving high-intent buyers to call businesses at a rapid rate. For its first annual index, Invoca analyzed more than 32 million phone calls placed to businesses across 40 industries in 2014.

Industry commentary indicates voice conversations are the most influential, yet overlooked, interactions in a buyer’s journey, says the report. 75% of consumers say a phone call is the quickest way to get a response from a company, but many businesses still rely on online form fills for inbound leads.

Eric Holmen, president at Invoca “…  phone conversations are important… data shows that industries emphasizing the call channel… making it easy for their customers to move seamlessly from digital to voice interactions… come out substantially ahead…”

Mobile use initiates billions of consumer phone calls to businesses each year, and findings show that mobile marketing efforts spur more than half of all calls to businesses. Industries that use mobile advertising to drive call volume, not just clicks, drive more conversions.

The education industry, for example says the report, brings in 66% of calls from mobile search and display ads, while the automotive industry, one that has historically relied on offline marketing like TV and newspaper ads, receives only 16% of calls from mobile marketing.

Key findings from the 2015 Call Intelligence Index include:

With the rise in mobile device usage, and particularly mobile search, digital marketing is driving phone calls, the report shows that:

• 54% of all calls stem from engagement on a mobile device; mobile search marketing is the top driver, responsible for 45% of inbound calls.
• Online channels such as desktop search, online display and online review sites drive 30% of inbound calls.
• Offline channels drive just 16% of calls. The classic tool created for calls, the phone book, drives just two% of inbound calls to businesses.

Key Caller Trends

As call volume increases, so do the opportunities for marketers and ultimately, salespeople, says the report:

• The average call duration is 16 times longer than a website interaction, at 4 minutes, 7 seconds (compared to 15 seconds, as reported by data analytics company Chartbeat in 2014).
• Businesses receive the highest total volume of calls on Tuesdays, more than any other weekday and an average of 48% higher volume than on Sundays. Tuesdays are also the peak time for mobile call volume, in particular. As businesses monitor these trends, they can target customers with call-based ads during days and time with peak mobile call volume.
• 75% of all calls to business originate on a mobile phone. As marketers increase mobile usability of digital content and websites, this will continue to increase.

Calls by Industry:

Because call trends vary by industry, marketers should note those that specifically impact their industry and adjust their strategy accordingly, suggests the report.

• Education is one of the industries most ahead of the curve when it comes to mobile marketing, with 56% of all calls coming from mobile search ads, 24% higher than average.
• Automotive relies on offline advertising and faces a significant opportunity to expand into digital media. As a result of offline advertising, 57% of automotive calls come from landlines.
• Financial Services relies on mobile search as the largest single source of phone calls, but customers tend to rely on research from various sources before committing. For instance, 7% of calls to financial services providers are driven from online review sites, 15% more than average.

Other Industries:

The recreation and leisure and insurance industries had the highest call volume

• The home services industry had the longest average call duration (6 minutes and 48 seconds),
• the insurance industry call duration was 5 minutes and 26 seconds
• 79% of automotive calls came from offline channels (with TV a prime source), automotive calls lasted just 1 minute and 52 seconds on average;
• Offline sources also accounted for 44% of financial services calls, although mobile search was the single largest source of calls at 21%
• Radio accounted for 7% of insurance calls (versus 6% of calls overall), with insurance being a key advertising vertical on radio.

Invoca analyzed 32 million phone calls, a representative sample of calls that ran through its platform between January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014. The calls spanned over 40 verticals and sub verticals.

For the full 2015 Call Intelligence Index, available for free download, please visit here.