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Contact method as a lead quality signal

When there is a Google Ads lead quality problem most people start by checking the search terms report. If they can't find the answer there, they look at the keywords, ad copy, landing pages and conversion tracking.

These are all smart things to do.

But, sometimes the answer isn't there. The search terms look relevant, conversion tracking is firing and there have been no recent changes to the ad copy or landing pages.

If that's the case it can be worth looking at one place most people don't consider: the contact method.

Aside: I wrote about this topic previously in How Contact Method Influences Lead Quality. This article takes the idea a step further. Rather than discussing whether contact method matters, I want to look at how to measure it and use it to improve lead quality.

Sometimes how people contact you (call, form, message etc) correlates with how likely they are to buy.

Let me give you a couple of examples from businesses I've worked with.

An emergency locksmith found that his best leads were people who called from the click-to-call button on his ads. (The call asset). They were locked out. They Googled for help and clicked the first call button on the list. Most of the time the first available locksmith got the job.

But, calls from the number on his website hardly ever turned into jobs. These calls usually came from people who had already clicked the first button and were horrified at the cost. They then clicked the links lower on the page which don't have click-to-call buttons, looking for a better deal. They'd get to his site and call the listed number. He charged about the same as everyone else so he didn't get the job.

A specialist luggage courier found the exact opposite. Most calls from their ad assets were people looking for their suitcases. Sometimes they weren't even her customers.

People who called the number on their website were far more likely to want to book. They'd checked that the business served the area they were travelling to and were comfortable with the service.

The website acted as a filter.

And one more. A legal document translation service. They had a form and a WhatsApp button on their website.

They found that leads that contacted them via WhatsApp were more likely to be individuals in a hurry. A foreign birth certificate for a passport application, a foreign degree for a job interview and so on.

These weren't great leads. They were in a hurry, they were once-offs and they didn't pay much.

Leads from their contact form were usually better. Mostly businesses who needed ongoing translation services for things like export paperwork. The work could be scheduled in advance and they weren't as sensitive to the price.

Once you know which contact methods produce the best (or worst) leads it becomes another optimisation lever. You can change ad assets, landing pages and even bidding strategies to take advantage of this.

The problem is that a lot of businesses can't prioritise the best contact method because they don't know which one it is.

The information exists at the lead source:

But, often once the lead starts the sales process, it's discarded. At that point it's just another lead.

And so most businesses can't answer questions like:

Here's how to change that.

Step 1. Identify the contact method

If you're using Google Ads then people can contact you via:

You can identify where a call came from using a call tracking service like CallRail or WhatConverts. Or, you could use a separate phone number for each type of call. Phone numbers are cheap from services like Twilio.

You could use something like Convertista (I built this) to track messages from a WhatsApp button on your website.

Forms, messages, emails and live chat don't need a separate system to identify them as the contact method.

Step 2. Link the contact method to the lead.

I use Litiro (I built this too) to create a parallel record for every lead. It stores the contact method along with the outcome data (was the lead qualified, did they buy etc).

This means the contact method doesn't get lost when the lead enters the sales process and allows me to compare outcomes by contact method later.

In practice, that's harder than it sounds. Some clients don't have a CRM. Some have one that doesn't preserve the contact method. Some have one that preserves the data but can't report on it. Some use several systems that don't talk to each other.

Keeping a parallel record with the data I need means I can help my clients get better value from their Google Ads without having to do a bunch of systems engineering first.

Step 3. Analyse outcome by contact method

Once you've got enough data you can start to figure out there is a difference in outcome based on contact method. Here's how Litiro surfaces it.

How different contact methods influence Google Ads lead quality

Although this report shows sales, I prefer to use qualified leads for the comparison. In my mind qualified leads are a better metric for looking at how well the marketing is doing than sales.

You see, sales are affected by factors outside marketing. For example availability. My locksmith could get call from a lady locked out of her car. In a rough area. Holding a baby. In the rain. And the dark. But if all his guys are out on jobs he won't win the sale.

It's still a good lead though.

That's why I prefer qualified leads. They tell me if the marketing is attracting the right kind of people, without being distorted by what happened afterwards.

Most people think lead quality starts with targeting. They're right, mostly. But sometimes how people contact you is a factor.

If you're struggling with lead quality and the usual explanations don't fit, it might be worth looking digging into this.

Most Google Ads Problems Aren't Google Ads Problems
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