Should there be a phone number in emails?

With the proliferation of smartphones in Australia, you'd be forgiven in thinking the humble phone call simply takes a back seat to "smarter" functions like web-browsing, instant messaging and social media.

Despite all of this, there is strong evidence indicating that consumers still want to be able to make a call to your business when conducting a purchase. A recent study by Google saw 3000 participants surveyed on their online purchase habits.

One of the more remarkable statistics was that 70% of mobile searchers had used a click to call function and indicated that calls are an important channel for consumers.

This is important, considering more Australians are turning to their smartphones to conduct online shopping or pre-purchase research.

Importance of a phone numbers

Not having a phone number/facility can present a negative impact in the way your customers interact with your brand.

Below is a list of responses when a customer is unable to call a business directly from the search results on their smartphone:

• 47% More likely to explore other brands

• 47% Frustrated or annoyed

• 35% Disappointed in the brand or company

• 33% Less likely to use the brand/company in future

• 33% Less likely to recommend the brand.

As you can see, the presence of a phone number/facility is extremely important in the customer purchasing cycle.

Phone number in emails

Emails are popular way to promote new products or services to your customers. In fact, email is one of the most popular applications used on a smartphone device.

Based on what we've learnt about customer behaviour and phone numbers, it only makes sense to have a "click to call" facility present within your emails.

A phone number should be a permanent fixture within your emails, and should be available to facilitate purchases or answer queries during a customer's research phase.

Unfortunately, displaying a phone number within an email can be a tricky affair, especially from a aesthetics point of view. Many email clients "auto-format" a phone numbers and can clash with style guides and branding.

We'll discuss, in another article, how to format a telephone number correctly.