When consumers need a B2B vendor, they almost always start with online research. But when it comes time to convert, consumers want to speak to a real human being to answer their lingering questions, whether they’re shopping for business services, software vendors, logistics providers, or manufacturers. To optimize their digital advertising ROI and drive revenue, business-to-business marketers are now taking a data-driven approach to driving these valuable call conversions. Below are 10 statistics that illustrate these trends.

1. 90% of B2B customers start their journey with a search. To attract top-of-funnel leads, B2B marketers should refine their SEO strategies (source: Forrester).

2. Consumers make 12 searches on average prior to engaging on a specific brand’s site. B2B consumers are highly educated and like to comparison shop for the best possible value (source: Google).

3. 90% of B2B customers research 2-7 sites before they make a purchase. To drive conversions, it’s important to provide B2B consumers with quality content that differentiates your company from its competitors (source: Digital Commerce 360).

4. B2B costs per lead (CPLs) often exceed $100. Business services leads are among the most expensive B2B leads to drive ($229), while consulting leads are among the cheapest ($50).

Cost per lead for B2B marketers

Sources: Forrester, Google, Digital Commerce 360, Growth Point, HubSpot, Bizible

5. 74% of B2B consumers conduct half of their research online before making an offline purchase. Since B2B purchases are highly considered, these customers often call to convert. In the process, they can get answers to their lingering questions or learn the specifics of their use case (source: Forrester).

6. 92% of customer interactions happen over the phone. These interactions don’t just happen during the purchasing phase — they take place throughout the customer journey (source: Salesforce).

B2B customers call throughout the decision-making process

Source: Google

7. Calls will influence $1 trillion in US consumer spending this year. In our mobile-first world, calls are often the most convenient way for customers to convert (Source: BIA/Kelsey).

8. Phone calls convert to 10-15x more revenue than web leads. Calls are often the most valuable conversions B2B marketers can drive. By tracking the calls driven by your B2B ads, you can measure your full ROI and optimize accordingly (Source: BIA/Kelsey).

9. Callers convert 30% faster than web leads. Calls provide a more immediate return on your B2B marketing investment (Source: Forrester).

10. Caller retention rate is 28% higher than web lead retention rate. Driving calls from B2B campaigns is also more profitable in the long-term — callers are more loyal than web leads (Source: Forrester).

So What Can B2B Marketers Do to Drive More Calls?

  • Make it easy for B2B shoppers to call you. This includes using call extensions on Google Ads, making “call now” an action on web pages, and including a call option on web forms.
  • Track callers from marketing source to sale. This will help you understand how your digital marketing is generating calls that convert to customers, so you can optimize for what drives the most revenue.
  • Integrate call data with your CRM and advertising tools. In turn, you’ll gain a holistic view of the customer journey and allocate your budget more effectively.
  • Target past callers and lookalikes with the right ads. Your callers provide a wealth of targeting data you can use to more effectively acquire new customers and retarget qualified callers who failed to convert.
  • Use call analytics to personalize the caller experience. To convert callers, it’s important to provide a frictionless, personalized experience that makes them feel valued and known.
  • Analyze conversations to measure what percentage of calls aren’t being answered at each location, if long on-hold times result in high call abandon rates, if the caller was a good lead, if they converted, and which agents or locations are best (and worst) at converting callers to customers. You can then make the appropriate adjustments to your marketing and coach your agents if necessary.
  • Optimize, analyze, repeat. Once you start generating more calls, it’s important to continually test and scale your processes, while correcting issues that hurt your ROI.

To learn more B2B marketing best practices, download our ebook — The Secret to B2B Marketing ROI: Inbound Calls.

Read more: Questions for B2B Marketers