Q: Have you seen any affiliate providers offering click-to-call functionality in the links they offer their affiliates? This would enable the site visitor to make an immediate phone call to the vendor’s telesales assuming they had one. A very fast call to action. I imagine the compensation formula could be complicated. Any thoughts?
A: The only affiliate solution provider I have noticed offering this sort of functionality has been MyAP from KowaBunga! Technologies. That’s not to say that others do not offer it, but if they do, I am not aware of it.
I was using this technology a while back when I managed the affiliate program for InstrumentPro.com. The way it appeared to the consumer was that the affiliate ID would display with the phone number on the site.
So if somebody clicked on this link, the number would be populated with the phone number at the top of the site: www.instrumentpro.com/?kbid=1002
The header on the site would then read: Call Toll Free: 800.805.0852, Mention Code 1002, M-F 9-5 PST.
Assuming the customer mentions the code, then the merchant would be able to flag that sale as being referred by affiliate 1002 and compensate them.