This article is part of our pay-per-call marketing series, where we study phone advertising, affiliate marketing, and lead generation. Implement proven insights from our guides to transform your marketing game.
Pay-per-call marketing is one of the safest customer acquisition approaches. It helps you attract clients relatively fast and instantly evaluate their needs, connecting them with the best sales representatives.
By strategically implementing pay-per-call advertising, you can improve the reputation of your company while directly impacting customer decisions. More than 60% of SMEs (small- to mid-sized businesses) worldwide actively use pay-per-call ads, with around 70% of marketers recognising its contribution to business growth.
A well-crafted pay-per-call affiliate marketing campaign can bring your business to new heights almost overnight, whether you are an affiliate, advertiser, or even an affiliate network. However, to achieve success, you should figure out which results you want to accomplish, and how pay-per-call lead generation can help you achieve them. Today, you’ll learn about the basics of this marketing approach and how pay-per-call numbers can help you achieve the desired results.
Pay-per-call advertising provides companies with a powerful way to grow brand awareness by up to 80%, mostly via personalised communication. By crafting the perfect advertisements, you can deliver the message to the right audience at the best possible time, generating high-intent leads at scale.
Pay-per-call lead generation is one of the most effective affiliate marketing approaches, as callers have 10 to 12 times higher conversion rates than other leads. However, to achieve the desired success, you need to properly determine campaign goals and where exactly you need to implement pay-per-call promotion to achieve the maximum results.
Here’s what a pay-per-call number is:
With this approach, you will receive a crystal-clear view of your clients’ actions, while providing reliable ROI expectations, giving you a powerful edge in lead generation.
One of the least enjoyable aspects of pay-per-call phone numbers is the regulations to comply with. For instance, the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) Code of Practice prompts companies to adhere to its strict yet honest regulations, including full transparency, confidentiality, consent to charge, etc.
In practice, many British companies often use 09 phone numbers because:
➥ “09” numbers involve charges set by the company. The tariffs’ threshold is limited by the government to £3.60 per minute.
➥ “09” calls are usually more expensive than standard long-distance calls.
If you opt for an 09 number, ensure that customers will be informed about the company’s name, price per minute, and details about offerings before they actually call you. Post all details on your website or other promotional materials you use to bring in leads and prospects. Ask affiliates and publishers to do the same, so consumers will know whether you use a toll-free or paid number.
The dark side of the 08 and 09 numbers is that scammers have exploited them to the point that users refuse to call these numbers, even though they know that they will have a conversation with reputable businesses. Despite all 08 and 09 numbers in the UK being regulated by the Phone-paid Services Authority, most UK users prefer not to call any paid numbers. Unfortunately, many scammers used paid numbers in the past; thus, many consumers naturally avoid these numbers.
It’s recommended to use numbers where leads won’t pay a penny to call you. As of early 2025, these are 0800 and 0808 numbers. Using them in your pay-per-call advertising can increase the volume of calls from potential leads. This means that your representatives can sell even more products or services. In the long run, this decision benefits you even more than the usage of the paid number.
Advanced software like Call Logic allows you to collect the tiniest details about your pay-per-call lead generation programme. Later, you can implement the insights you have collected to improve your promotion strategy. A real-time call dashboard will put you in the driver’s seat of the process, giving you access to call insights, recordings, marketing prompts, and many more.
Take a product tour to see how Call Logic can make every call count. Simplify management, improve tracking, and grow your business with Phonexa.
Since 60% of consumers still reach businesses by phone even after discovering them online, a strategically promoted pay-per-call number can take your company to the next level. Let’s examine the user journey to better grasp the importance of this marketing approach.
Here’s how pay-per-call works in affiliate marketing:
Pay-per-call networks serve as a bridge between merchants and publishers, saving time and effort for both parties. While you can still work independently, enrolling in a network grants access to a broader range of partners, saving time and effort, potentially unlocking new audiences.
This promotion approach can improve your overall marketing, enhancing customer engagement, and driving business growth. Here are 4 main benefits of using a pay-per-phone number:
| Minimal investments | Starting a pay-per-call business requires minimal investment, since you just need call-tracking software and pay-per-call numbers. There are a lot of affordable cloud-based call management solutions. |
| Global reach | Take control of your pay-per-call business by managing it independently. Leverage international pay-per-call numbers to connect with potential leads globally, all while operating from your current location. The usage of international affiliate networks makes this process even easier since the abundance of publishers unlocks new audiences worldwide. |
| Limitless scalability | Pay-per-call phone marketing offers never-ending growth potential, enabling you to explore countless possibilities. As you gain confidence, you can broaden your customer base, use more advanced software to scale your marketing, or even scale your business to new unprecedented heights. |
| Cost-effectiveness | With affiliate marketing, you pay only for the promotion that brings a targeted action. If the publisher posts a link, and it doesn’t bring sales, the merchant pays nothing for it. During the traditional collaboration with bloggers, the brand pays even if they don’t receive the results. In affiliate marketing, the brand pays an affiliate only after the lead performs the desired action. |
Pay-per-call marketing is a straightforward process that suits almost any industry. Let’s examine each step in detail to see how it works:
The first step is to grasp the specifics of pay-per-call affiliate marketing and its difference from the paid hotline. Pay-per-call is the promotional approach where advertisers (merchants) pay for qualified calls generated by the affiliate (publishers) during the campaign.
Meanwhile, the paid hotline isn’t a promotional method; it’s just an additional way to make money for businesses. There are only two parties in hotlines: business and client. When a user calls a paid hotline, they pay money to get a consultation.
While implementing pay-per-call, think strategically. Figure out how this promotion fits your overall marketing, choose your niche, set clear objectives, and implement practical outreach strategies. Consider mixing pay-per-call with other lead generation approaches to achieve the best results.
Let’s check what industries benefit the most from pay-per-call marketing:
All these industries rely on phone calls as the main source of communication with clients. They all require maximum personalisation, which can be achieved only by the direct communication of your representative with the client.
Once you capture the essence of this advertising method, it’s time to plan the campaign. Take a closer look at your marketing strategy and determine how pay-per-call promotion can benefit it. Let’s take a closer look at 5 most common objectives:
Direct phone communication fits any industry and niche: from insurance to tech, from retail to healthcare. There are a lot of out-of-box situations that can be fixed only through fast and direct communication with the company’s representatives.
We recommend you look for trusted pay-per-call service providers. Most of them also provide you with robust tracking tools. You can use those tools to simplify your marketing even more. Usually, the best pay-per-call companies are those that provide you with a basic kit for a reasonable price, allowing you to tailor the plan to your needs.
For instance, Phonexa has an advanced call-tracking solution Call Logic for pay-per-call campaigns, enabling seamless call monetisation, and providing both toll-free and local numbers.
Ready to enhance your business with robust pay-per-call software? Pick your subscription plan now, or take a product tour to discover Phonexa’s powerful inbound call management platform.
The path of least resistance in pay-per-call affiliate marketing would be to choose a reputable network that thoroughly checks its publishers. That way, you will be sure that your company gets promoted only by reputable publishers. There are a lot of pay-per-call affiliate networks in the UK, so you’ll have plenty of choice.
This part of pay-per-call marketing requires special attention since you need to carefully evaluate your marketing one more time and properly set up your campaigns. The exact process varies by industry and niche.
In any case, before launching the campaign, you need to ensure that you have enough human resources to handle the stream of clients. If customers wait for too long, you lose them. They may go to your rivals. The appropriate waiting time varies based on the industry and call urgency. However, the general rule is “the sooner, the better”.
Analyse clients’ habits to properly allocate your resources. In some niches, phone support can work only during traditional work hours, while others need a round-the-clock service.
Now, when you’re ready, it’s time to unleash your creativity:
Once done, you can proceed to the next step.
A holistic approach is key to successful modern advertisement. To cover the maximum audience, use multiple promotion channels.
It’s not enough to use only one promotion channel, as each one has slightly different lead demographics. To achieve the best possible results, mix both online and offline advertising channels.
| Online channels | Offline channels |
| Paid ads: Run a series of Google pay-per-call ads to raise brand awareness. Facebook and TikTok lead magnets: Target the audience with a catchy post and a “Call Now” CTA button. Landing page forms: Foster engagement by providing a phone number on tailored pay-per-call landing pages. SEO: Focus on organic traffic but handle challenges like dynamic number insertion to prevent potential confusion. You can use pay-per-call publishers or call centre affiliate programs with links to your website to improve the backlink strategy. | Consider traditional advertisement methods, such as TV, radio, print and direct mail, to maximise your marketing efforts.An offline advertisement may not reach as many potential clients as your web and mobile pay-per-call advertising, but it still synergises well with your brick-and-mortar activities.For instance, if you conduct a workshop, provide attendees with your contact data, including the phone number. |
While creating pay-per-call affiliate programmes, it’s better to use only digital online channels. It’s impossible to track the precise results of offline promotion. You can still use offline channels as the additional promotional method, but beware that you may not monitor the results of this advertisement.
Meanwhile, it’s easy to track each aspect of digital promotion. That’s why affiliates should post only online methods, such as pay-per-call Adwords campaigns. A key advantage of digital promotion is how easily it can be measured, so a merchant can easily determine whether an affiliate meets all campaign requirements. If yes, a merchant can provide compensation for these efforts.
Once you launch the campaign, it’s vital to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), such as call volume and duration, conversion rates, qualified costs, cost per call, and cost per acquisition. If done right, you’ll get enough data insights to maximise your ROI, improve customer experience, and build long-term growth.
Pay-per-call is a vital component of modern advertising, as it combines proven approaches of traditional marketing with the preciseness of digital promotion. To streamline the process and see your results faster, we recommend our call tracking and analytics software suite.
| Call Logic | Call tracking and distribution software |
| LMS Sync | Lead management software |
| Cloud PBX | Virtual phone system |
| Lynx | Click tracking software |
| E-Delivery | Bulk email and SMS marketing software |
| HitMetrix | Customer behaviour recording and analytics software |
| Opt-Intel | Suppression list management solution |
| Books360 | Automated accounting software |
Pay-per-call marketing is more than just having a phone to answer user queries; it’s the path to unlock more user engagement throughout all demographics. Meanwhile, this process requires more than just knowledge of how to set up a pay-per-call number. To achieve the best results, you must carefully evaluate your niche, choose the best pay-per-call networks for your case, set up campaigns and constantly track each interaction with potential leads.
Pay-per-call advertisement has collected the best from modern and traditional marketing. As a business, you should leverage the power of “human-to-human” connection during conversations, while gathering insights with your digital tools.
Unlock the true potential of your digital marketing with Phonexa:
Choose your subscription plan now, or book a demo to learn more about Phonexa.
Pay-per-call is a performance marketing approach where advertisers (brands, merchants) compensate affiliates (publishers, apartments) for generating quality phone calls from leads. Similar to click campaigns, advertisers create campaigns to drive customers targeted action, usually sales.
The process of how to set up a pay-per-call number is simple. First, connect to a telecom provider or intermediary specialising in premium rate numbers. Popular providers in the UK include Callio, Number Supermarket and Telecom2. The next step on how to get a 900 number is to register with the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA). The last step will be to decide your number type and set up revenue sharing with the provider.
You can buy a pay-per-call number by signing a deal with a telecom provider or intermediate specialising in premium rate numbers. Mostly, they are 08 numbers, as it’s pretty hard to get an 09 number. Ensure that you comply with the Phone-paid Services Authority regulations so they’ll approve your line.
1800 is a toll-free number that charges the cost of making a long-distance call to the owner of the number, rather than the person making the call. Users won’t get charged when they call a pay-per-call 800 number. The process of setting up these free pay-per-call numbers is similar to other premium numbers: sign the deal with a provider that specialises in such numbers and get approval from the Phone-paid Services Authority.
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