Is Pay Per Call Lead Generation Working in 2025?

In a world of Whatsapp, Messenger, and Instagram, the way we communicate has changed.

Nowadays, people seem to prefer typing rather than talking.

But here’s the kicker…

“While everyone’s busy sliding into DMs, the real money’s still in actual phone conversations.”

Why Phone Calls Still Matter (Even in 2025)

Let’s drop some truth bombs:

• 42.1% of sales teams say the phone is their most effective sales weapon
• People who actually pick up the phone are usually serious buyers
• Clients will pay premium $$$ for qualified call leads

The Golden Opportunity Nobody’s Talking About

While your competition is busy chasing Facebook likes and Instagram followers, here’s what they’re missing:

• Live calls = higher intent
• Higher intent = better close rates
• Better close rates = more money

And guess what? Businesses will pay through the nose for these leads.

Why? Because Math Doesn’t Lie:

• Text lead: “Maybe I’ll buy… someday” 🥱
• Chat lead: “Just browsing…” 😴
• Call lead: “My AC is broken and I need help NOW!” 🔥

In a world where everyone’s hiding behind screens, the person who picks up the phone is usually ready to buy.

But Here’s the Catch…

You can’t just throw some ads up and expect the phone to start ringing. You need:

• A solid strategy
• The right targeting
• Perfect timing
• A system that actually works

Ready to learn how to crush it in pay-per-call?

What Is Pay Per Call Lead Generation?

Pay per call is a type of performance-based marketing in which businesses pay for inbound phone calls from potential customers.

Here is how it works…

1) As the marketer (Or publisher), you run campaigns featuring a company or client’s phone details about a service or offer.

These campaigns can be run as Ads, SMS, on a website, emails, or whatever you think will best reach potential customers.

2) The calls are tracked, so it’s clear that the inquiries came from your specific campaign.

3) The potential customer calls your client after seeing your campaign because they’re eager to do business with them.

4) You get paid a commission. (Based on what you agreed with the client)

It’s a win-win for both you and your client.

You get paid, and they connect with a customer who’s ready to do business.

Pay Per Call – Google Ad Source: PayPerCallExposed

How Much Can You Charge for Pay-Per-Call Leads?

The average cost for pay-per-call leads varies widely across industries. In some niches selling leads can go for $30, while in others, you can charge much, much more.

It can depend on a few factors:

1. Niche/Industry: Different industries have different demand levels.
2. Service or Offer Cost: What is the value of what you’re promoting?
3. Commission Goal: The agreed terms, like call duration, sales, or other client stipulations.
4. Marketer competition: More marketers in pay-per-call can drive prices down.
5. Location: Economics matter. For example, the USA usually pays more than India.

Check out our full guide on Lead Generation Pricing

Check these pay-per-call offers to see some examples of prices and industries from one of the popular pay-per-lead platforms – OfferVault.

Use our calculator to find out how much to charge

Pay Per Call vs. Pay Per Lead

Pay per call and pay per lead models are very similar. The only difference between the two is how you acquire a lead from your ad campaigns.

Pay per lead is when you get a lead, usually by filling out a form or opting in for a lead magnet, so they enter your funnel.

Or by using a LeadsHook Decision tree below.

Pay-per-call is when a prospect sees a phone number from your campaign and calls the client or business directly.

Technically, pay-per-call is a subset of pay-per-lead marketing. Both methods have prospects entering a funnel; they just use different mechanisms.

The Best Niches for Pay Per Call Marketing

There is no single best niche in pay-per-call marketing.

Some niches are simply more suitable than others, depending on your interests, experience, and external factors like competition.

Here are a few examples of very profitable pay per lead niches:

• Personal Injury
• Home Insurance
• Hotel Booking
• Debt Settlement
• Motor Vehicle Accident

Our advice: Choose a niche you have experience in or one that resonates with you the most.

However, If you’re new to this business model, just pick one and STICK WITH IT!

Once you become an expert in one niche, the lead gen skills you’ve learned are pretty easily transferable to others.

Choosing the Right Pay Per Call Network

There are two main ways to find or Pay For Call offers: Using a network or affiliate platform, or direct dealing directly with the business.

Pay Per Call Affiliate Programs (Or Networks)

Pay-per-call affiliate programs let you earn a profit by promoting pay-per-call offers.

Here’s how it works: An affiliate (the person promoting the offer) gets a tracked phone number to share online, much like tracking clicks.

When a potential lead dials the number, you make money with each conversion. (Note: A ‘conversion’ is defined by the offer owner, such as a call, time on call, or a completed sale.)

There are multiple affiliate networks to choose from. Some examples include:

1. ClickDealer
2. Aragon Advertising
3. Acceleration Partners
4. Offervault

Each network has its pros and cons, so do your research to find the one that suits you best.

Also, look for a network that thoroughly vets all its call sources, reviews and approves affiliate creatives, and screens calls for quality assurance.

(This screening process will help your conversion rates too.)

Also, ensure your network has established integrations with quality control vendors.

Especially those that focus on authentication of consent or run litigation scrubs from known predatory litigators.

You can use tools like TrustedForm for TCPA compliant lead generation.

It filters your potential leads and helps you stay out of trouble.

Direct Business Deals For Pay Per Call Campaigns

Though it might take more time and effort, direct deals with businesses can really pay off.

Here’s why:

By cutting out the ‘middle man,’ you increase your profit margins since the network isn’t taking a cut.

But that’s not all.

Working directly with a client lets you build strong relationships with the business and access direct data to improve your targeting. This means more successful campaigns, leading to—you guessed it.

More Profits.

Another benefit is that you can target businesses based on their location. This can be a game-changer because it further personalizes your ads and allows for scheduling in-person appointments.

Which will greatly increase the chances of a conversion.

Compliance in Pay Per Call

The pay-per-call industry is regulated by laws and regulations that protect consumers’ privacy.

To stay out of trouble, it’s essential to understand these regulations.

Protecting your brand from threats in the lead gen industry means knowing when compliance issues are triggered.

Here are some of the most relevant laws and regulations in pay-per-call model:

• Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA): This law regulates telemarketing calls and prohibits unsolicited calls to consumers without their prior express consent. It also requires telemarketers to provide opt-out mechanisms for consumers who wish to stop receiving calls.
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR): This rule requires telemarketers to disclose certain information during calls, such as the identity of the seller, the purpose of the call, and the terms of any sale or promotion. It also prohibits false or misleading statements during calls.
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations: These regulations include rules on call blocking, caller ID spoofing, and the use of automatic telephone dialing systems (ATDS) and prerecorded messages.
• State laws: Many states have their own telemarketing and robocall regulations, which may impose additional requirements or restrictions on pay-per-call companies.
• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS): This standard applies to companies that process credit card payments and requires them to implement certain security measures to protect consumer data.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regulations: These regulations apply to companies that offer financial products or services to consumers, including certain types of pay-per-call services.

Now, these are primarily for the US so please be aware of your own country’s regulations so you know how to safely operate without getting yourself into any legal hot water.

How to Start Pay Per Call Business

Now that we’ve established that pay-per-call is a great and potentially profitable marketing model, let’s dive into how to start a pay-per-call business and the steps you need to take to make it successful.

#1: Research, Targeting & Positioning

The most important (and often overlooked) step of a successful pay per call campaign is to do your due diligence and take your time with research.

(This step can save you a lot of headaches in the future.)

If you don’t know your target audience, your ads won’t resonate, and chances are, no one will click your ad and make a phone call.

That’s why it’s essential to research your potential leads before diving in.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when researching your audience:

1. Who ‘generally’ is my target audience (Sex, Age, Demographic)
2. What are their biggest pain points
3. What mistakes are they making
4. What keeps them up at night
5. If they could click their fingers and solve their issue…What would that look like?

Forums like Reddit are a goldmine for this type of information, and you’ll also be able to see what language your audience uses.

Once you know your audience, it’s time to create an ideal “caller” persona. You can do that with tools like Make My Persona from HubSpot. See the example below:

Source: HubSpot

You just fill in the basic information you’ve researched, and the result will look like the above.

All this information will give you ideas and hooks for your Ads, so they resonate.

And ultimately increase the chance of them calling your tracked client phone number.

WARNING: This type of research is NOT bulletproof.

Yes, if you get the targeting and the Ad from the start, the chance of having a winning campaign shoots up.

But it can be a struggle to get it right the first time.

A more effective alternative is to run a test campaign and see which audience resonates most with your initial ads.

This is a powerful strategy we use in LeadsHook – Reverse Market Research.

In a nutshell, it goes like this:

1. Create a Decision Tree with your relevant segmentation questions (Age, location, Pain points, etc.)
2. Send Test Traffic
3. Use a Pivot Table to see who’s sticking. (Calling the pay per call offer)

Then Reverse.

Use the hard data to find out who your audience REALLY is.

Focus on them… Optimize your Ads, Hooks, and Angles…

And stop wasting time, money, and marketing resources on those who aren’t.

Reverse Market Research works in any vertical and is one of the most powerful but least-used features in LeadsHook.

And when put into action…

There’s a good chance you’ll discover audiences none of your competitors even know about, which means you’ll be the only one fishing in this big blue pond.

Read on to learn more about how to leverage Reverse Market Research to the fullest.

AD TIP #1 : In your ads, position yourself as an expert and promote something more valuable than just a phone call.

Basically, sell the benefit of your product – what potential leads desire.

Make your ads benefit-oriented and focused on the end result.

Is this something that can only be supplied by your ad?

Source: Cristian De Nardo

Don’t just stick to one type of ad—try different approaches, hooks, images, and more.

You can’t predict what will work; you can only guess. That’s why it’s essential to create multiple variations of your ad and run A/B tests to see which ones perform best (LeadsHook allows serverside split testing).

Source: Optimizely

In essence, you divide the audience in groups and run multiple variations of your ad simultaneously.

This allows you to see what resonates with your audience and drives better results.

Not sure where to start with Ads?

Our article about the strategic marketing edge will give you a full breakdown on how to come up with winning ideas for your next campaign, whatever the vertical.

Now, you have your optimized Ads ready…

#2: Turn On The Juicy Traffic

You could have the best campaign and Ads in the world, but if no one sees it, you won’t generate any calls.

The next step is to choose your marketing channel.

These are the channels or platforms you will promote your pay per call offer on.

The main channels are:

• Social Media Posts
• Pay Per Lead Advertising – Google, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok
• SEO & Content Marketing
• JV Deals
• Email Marketing
• Print

But it’s important to remember…

There is no single ‘best’ channel to choose.

It all depends on what suits your target audience, market, or vertical best.

(Not the other way round.)

For instance, if your target audience is mostly on social media, you should go with that.

The other thing to consider is competition.

Chances are, your audience hangs out in multiple channels as your competitors. Try to find the least competitive channels that work and advertise there.

That way, you increase your chances of your Ad getting noticed.

#3: Capture Leads

Creating a pay-per-call ad with a great headline and engaging content is not enough.

To increase the chances of leads calling your client, you should direct them to a place that builds trust first.

Landing Pages

Landing pages provide additional information about the business, its products, benefits, and services. This boosts the chances of the lead making that call.

Source: Disruptive

Here are a few components every high-converting landing page should include:

• Strong headline
• A clear unique selling proposition
• Compelling benefits
• Plenty of social proof

Make sure the landing page has a clear call to action and a phone number or contact form to make it as easy as possible for potential customers to get in touch.

But it doesn’t stop there…

To push this to the next level, you should also collect data to optimize future campaigns.

And the easiest way to capture leads is by using Decision trees.

And that’s where LeadsHook comes in.

LeadsHook allows you to create decision trees to further qualify your leads.

You’ll also provide more than just a phone number…

You’ll provide actual ‘value’ (Report, Real Time Calculation, Bespoke Lead Magnet)

This greatly enhances the chances of them picking up the phone and making that call.

(And you getting that commission)

Don’t worry if the Decision Tree above scares you – It’s based on a simple drag-and-drop canvas.

Or you can use any of the pre-made templates provided or lead capture forms. And not to mention full training and support is available.

#4: Stack Offers for Maximal Revenue Potential

This is where you can really step it up a gear.

If you’ve been in the pay-per-call business for a while, you’ve probably managed multiple pay-per-call offers as separate campaigns.

But if you want to make the most out of every lead…

You can stack offers on top of each other, (E.g. Home, Car, Medical Insurance) and compound your profits.

Or if the lead isn’t suitable for your initial offer, send them to another pay per call offer that is to recoup traffic costs.

This is all possible with LeadsHook.

Check out this article on affiliate offers and how you can use LeadsHook to compound your profits from each lead.

#5: Use Pay Per Call Services & Software

The technical setup for pay per call marketing involves several components. Here is a quick run down of the software that is used.

Tracked Phone Numbers

Unique tracking phone numbers are set up to track the performance of each ad campaign. Every time you sign up for a pay per call offer, you get a phone number.

This unique number is used to track the performance of your ad campaigns and the leads you generate for the business you are promoting.

Call Tracking Software

Call tracking software is used to track and monitor the calls received from your unique tracking number.

It features a dashboard with detailed insights about the call, such as:

1. Call duration
2. The source of the call
3. The outcome

This can show you and the business owner how your leads are converting and whether to make changes in your pay per call lead generation strategy.

Source: PPCBasic

Here are some of the most industry-standard software solutions to use:

1. Invoca
2. CallRail Call Tracking
3. CallTrackingMetrics

You can pick whichever suits you – they are basically the same.

Landing Pages

Landing pages are created to provide additional information surrounding your offer.

They provide more information about the business, its products, benefits, and services they offer to its target audience.

Integration with CRM

Usually, a type of Customer relationship management (CRM) software is integrated with the call tracking software to store the information and details about leads you generate.

Source: Monday

Combining all of these elements is what makes pay per call marketing a seamless experience and can effectively track and measure your performance.

Allowing you to optimize your ads and maximize the return on investment.

Conclusion

Like all pay-per-lead marketing models, pay-per-call can be very profitable—if done well.

To be successful, it certainly helps to have a good foundation in marketing, or at least the motivation to learn and solve problems when they arise. (And they will arise.)

If you have that, you’ve won half the battle…The other half is to understand the market you are working with.

This is where LeadsHook shines.

You can provide individualized lead magnets and provide real value to your prospects.

In turn, with this newfound trust, they’ll be much more likely to call your clients, so you get your hard-earned commission.

All the while, you’ll be collecting valuable first-person data you can use to optimize future campaigns so you achieve even fatter margins.

And that’s just scratching the surface of what Leadshook can do.

Take advantage of our 14-day Free Trial to get started with your pay-per-call business or any pay per lead business right now.

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