Marketing Smoke and Mirrors: Phone Call Still an Important Factor for Both Men and Women

LONDON, January 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

New research by Call-based Marketing Automation company ResponseTap, has revealed that when marketing to women, being relatable and thorough in your communication with them, is a key factor towards securing a sale. However when marketing to men, a speedy approach with concise messaging wins the day. This new research sheds light on breaking some of the gender myths around the purchase process especially when a phone call is involved.

Female consumers feel more confident about using the phone as part of their customer journey than their male counterparts, compared to purely transacting online. Nearly four in five (79%) of women said that speaking to a well informed person on the end of the line that solves their problem was the most important thing about calling a company.

When it comes to speed and efficiency, just over one third (34%) of all respondents asked said that a well informed agent would make them more likely to purchase. Alongside this, 33% of men said they would be inclined to make a decision faster, showing that males value the fact that a phone call can be a quick and easy way to solve an issue - and lead to a swifter sale. When it comes to using internet search data to start a conversation with a consumer where they left off online, men feel more comfortable than women with brands having access to information. Over a quarter (26%) of men asked, said that it wouldn't matter to them if the conversation was picked up from this point; however, 58% of women said that they would rather this was not the case.

"In the battle of the sexes, there is a misconception that women tend to rely on the phone more than men, however our research shows that men gain just as much value from the phone call, just in different ways. Neither gender avoids them - and the majority of both sexes find a call extremely useful during the customer journey," explains Bhavesh Vaghela, Chief Marketing Officer for ResponseTap.

The findings of the research, carried out as a major piece of international research in August 2014 polling 4,000 US and UK consumers, reveal that on the whole the phone call still plays a critical role at point of sale. The ResponseTap whitepaper 'Voice as the relationship milestone' is available to download at: http://bit.ly/1voc12e

About ResponseTap 

ResponseTap Call-based Marketing Automation takes call tracking to another level and amplifies the depth and breadth of data across the end-to-end customer journey creating relevance and insight at every click. The addition of the telephone call to your online metrics lets you see the whole journey, adding valuable sales attribution back to marketing while improving the overall customer experience. Over 1,600 brands use ResponseTap - including Aviva, Hiscox, TUI, Wickes, and What Car?.

SOURCE ResponseTap