Google is talking about how the click-to-call ads it introduced earlier this year are reducing acquisition costs for advertisers.  The company points to a case study from Esurance.

Jesse Haines with Google’s Mobile Ads Marketing Team writes, "Esurance developed an iPhone app that provides users with quotes, insurance information and claim resources. They also launched mobile optimized landing pages for the campaign so that potential customers could easily get information via the mobile web.  Additionally, Esurance ran click-to-call ads on both feature and high-end mobile phones.  With click-to-call, an interested person could get in touch with an agent to obtain a personal quote in just a few steps.  To track the results of the campaign, Esurance used unique 800 numbers in their ads and optimized performance as soon as the campaigns went live."

"The results were impressive. Esurance significantly reduced acquisition costs, acquiring customers at 30% less than through other marketing channels," continues Haines. "They also boosted conversion rates.  Click-to-call mobile ads drove a 30%-35% higher response and a 5-10% lower cost per click on mobile than on online."

The full case study is here. In it, Esurance’s director of online marketing Tolithia Kornweibel says, "Google mobile ads with click-to-call allow us to put an interested person in touch with a licensed insurance agent or dedicated claims representative, or obtain a personal quote on a mobile phone in just a few simple steps. Google’s mobile advertising solution is not only more convenient and faster for customers, but also is a less expensive lead acquisition vehicle for us."

Have you used Google’s Click-to-Call ad? Have they been successful for you? Let us know.