谷歌移动广告带动电话营销回潮

    投放了移动广告的公司发现了一个不同寻常的全新促销秘诀：通过智能手机广告，让消费者直接点击广告拨打电话给卖家。

    毫无疑问，移动业务已经成了广告业最热门的领域之一。据研究机构尼尔森公司（Nielsen）的统计，在过去两年里，美国的智能手机用户已经增加了一倍多.2011年，美国的智能手机用户已占到所有手机用户的44%。这些高级手机设备带动了数据消费的飙升。据谷歌（Google）公司称，在美国，69%的智能手机用户每天都会使用智能手机上网。美国的数据流量在2011年上升了89%。另据数字营销公司eMarketer的数据，到2012年末，美国的移动广告消费有望从2011年的14.5亿美元上升到26.1亿美元。

    移动广告消费的增长也催生了一场激烈的竞赛。目前，谷歌在这场竞赛中暂时领先，这要归功于谷歌强大的搜索功能和海量的安卓（Android）设备。2010年，谷歌出价7.5亿美元，击败了苹果公司（Apple），成功收购移动广告公司AdMob。同年，苹果也推出了自己的iAd网络。iAd可允许广告商在iOS系统的应用程序中植入丰富的多媒体广告，包括视频和动画等。由于苹果的移动广告业务并不火爆，该公司最近聘用了Adobe公司的前高管托德•泰雷西来对iAd进行改组。连Facebook也想在这场广告大战中分一杯羹。Facebook在近日提交的IPO文件中暗示自己也有进军移动广告业务的计划。

    早期的移动营销人员感到意外的是，最近移动广告领域流行的并不是某种花哨的新广告形式，而是让用户打电话。谷歌目前在移动广告领域处于主宰地位。去年，谷歌独占美国移动广告收入的半数以上，鲸吞了移动搜索广告市场的95%和移动显示广告市场的25%。2010年，谷歌推出了一种广告，用户只需在广告上轻轻一点就可快速拨打电话。现在，谷歌的广告每月可吸引用户拨打超过1,000万个电话。

    有些公司长期以来一直非常依赖电话销售开展新业务，他们非常欢迎这种广告形式。以旧金山的Esurance在线汽车保险公司为例，该公司表示它投放的点击拨打电话广告使该公司营销活动的功效提高了25%左右。尽管不愿披露更多细节，但该公司还是透露，与普通的咨询电话相比，来自这些广告的电话更容易促成销售。Esurance公司在线营销主任托丽西娅•科恩威贝尔称：“很多人希望通过打电话完成最终的交易。”

    Companies diving into mobile advertising have found success getting consumers to do something unusual with their smartphones: make calls.

    It's no surprise that the mobile space has become one of the hottest areas in advertising. According to research firm Nielsen, smartphone ownership in the U.S. has more than doubled in the past two years, climbing to 44% of mobile users in 2011. Sophisticated handsets have created a surge in data consumption as well. According to Google (GOOG), 69% of American smartphone users access the Internet every day. Data usage in the U.S. was up 89% in 2011. By the end of 2012, U.S. mobile ad spending is expected to reach $2.61 billion -- up from $1.45 billion in 2011 -- according to digital marketing firm eMarketer.

    That growth has created a heated race. Google leads thanks to its powerful search franchise and its Android devices. The company beat out Apple in a deal to acquire AdMob in 2010 for $750 million. That same year, Apple (AAPL) launched its iAd network, which allows advertisers to place rich media ads that include video and animations in iOS apps. While the mobile advertising business has had muted results so far, the company recently hired former Adobe (ADBE) executive Todd Teresi in an effort to revamp it. Even Facebook is looking to get a piece of the pie. The popular social network recently hinted to moving into the mobile ad space in the IPO it filed last week.

    So it may seem odd that what has taken centerstage for early mobile marketers is not a new breed of flashy advertisement but something rather more analog, making calls. Google is dominant in mobile advertising. Last year, the Internet search leader occupied more than half of U.S. mobile ad revenues, accounting for some 95% of the mobile search ad market and 25% of the mobile display market last year. In 2010, the company enabled ads that could be tapped to make a call, speed dial in disguise. Now, Google ads generate more than 10 million calls a month.

    Naturally, the approach has proved popular with firms that have long relied on call centers to generate new business. Take Esurance, the San Francisco-based auto insurance firm that provides services online. The company says that click-to-call ads have improved the efficacy of its marketing campaign some 25%. While it won't release specifics, it says calls coming from such ads were more likely to result in sales than typical phone inquiries. "So many people want their final transactions to be over the phone," says Esurance Director of Online Marketing Tolithia Kornweibel.