Telkom Mobile partners with Phonefinder.co.za to boost subscriber acquisitions

Paid campaign boosts lead generation by 65% in first 48 hours

When consumers visit the Phonefinder.co.za cellphone contract comparison engine, they are able to view and compare packages from various Mobile Network Operators (MNO), including Telkom Mobile.

As Lance Krom, founder and managing director at Phonefinder, explains, with over 7,000 unique daily visitors and 200,000 impressions a month on average, the comparison engine is able to generate 20,000 inquiries a month, which the Phonefinder team is able to convert into an average of 1,500 sales leads a day for MNOs.

“Phonefinder allows visitors to find their ideal cellphone package in a quick and, importantly, an unbiased manner. However, with the strategic use of paid advertising, as with Google Per-Per-Click Ad Words, our clients can boost the volume of eyes on select deals and increase the amount of leads generated,” states Krom.

And it’s this ability to leverage Phonefinder’s established integrated online sales and targeted marketing functionality to generate leads for MNOs that proved an enticing prospect for Telkom Mobile, especially as the company continues on its aggressive expansion drive, having grown its prepaid and contract subscriber base by 50% for the financial year ending March 2017, to a total of 3,99 million customers.

“We pitched to Telkom Mobile in May this year and within a month we received the go-ahead to implement a paid-for lead generation campaign, as the company is looking to build on the momentum it has created in the mobile market,” says Krom.

The initial campaign, which runs for a period of 30 days, launched on 5 June, with Telkom Mobile initially purchasing 300,000 ad impressions.

“Within the first two days of the paid-for promotional campaign we were generating 350 leads a day for Telkom Mobile, which is a 65% increase on the leads organically generated for the brand from the basic website functionality. We were also generating a banner click-through rate of 2%, which is well above the industry average,” continues Krom.

He attributes the effectiveness of the campaign to Phonefinder’s tried and tested marketing strategy, and the responsiveness of the audience, who are highly receptive to mobile contract sales and marketing initiatives. “When you combine these factors with the highly competitive pricing offered by Telkom Mobile, through packages like Telkom Big Deal and FreeMe, this form of online promotional marketing is extremely effective,” adds Krom.

It was so effective, in fact, that Telkom Mobile decided to double the campaign budget within the first week, continues Krom, in addition to expanding the scope of the campaign to include Telkom Gaming.

“After conducting a Google affinity category analysis, we discovered that a large proportion of visitors to the Phonefinder site also regularly visited gaming websites,” explains Krom. “We therefore saw synergies between the two Telkom divisions and pitched an additional campaign element to promote the Telkom Gaming VR service via online banners, newsletters, gaming-related content, gaming event promos, and social media posts.

About Phonefinder

Founded in 2012 by Lance Krom, www.phonefinder.co.za is a local independent, free-to-use cellular contract price comparison website for consumers. It currently receives 7,000 unique visitors a day, generating 200,000 impressions a month. Visitors can compare over 2,000 cell phone contract deals, searchable according to various criteria, including handset manufacturer, network service provider and price range, to find the best option within budget. Phonefinder lists every current deal offered by all South African cell phone service providers. Phonefinder uses this information to generate an average of 1,500 sales leads a day for mobile network operators (MNO) and network aggregators. The details of registered users who’ve selected a contract are sent directly to the relevant service provider’s sales call centre, where a call centre agent is prompted to follow up and complete the sales process. Direct marketing opportunities are also offered to Phonefinder’s opted-in database of over 200,000 consumers. In addition, the website offers cell phone repairs and insurance, as well as value-added services (VAS) services such as unlimited music, WiFi Hotspotter and MagZone.