Introducing call tracking

Similar to online conversion tracking or goals, call tracking is all about gathering marketing intelligence to improve your ROI. In a nutshell it’s about finding out what makes your phone ring, but it doesn’t stop there. More often than not it’s the combination of several elements which must work well together before someone decides to make that call. To get more out of your marketing spend you should try to find this magic combination.

To substantiate this further let’s assume that there are 3 keywords that led to phone calls as illustrated in the graphic below. For these keywords you should find out the landing page, the last page the user visited before making the call and also whether the call resulted in a sale/lead and the quality of that lead.

In what ways can this data help me?

One of the most important metrics for any business is ROI. You might be investing in PPC, SEO, email marketing or other forms of offline marketing; as a business you need to know what returns you are getting on your investment. By integrating call tracking into your preferred marketing intelligence tool you can make informed decisions about how you should be allocating your marketing budget.

Many businesses use web analytics tools to track performance of their websites. It is essential that you are able to import your call tracking data into your preferred web analytics software, allowing you to have all of your data in one place. This ensures you can make informed decisions after assessing the multiple variables that may be influencing your customers to make that decision to contact you.

Once you have this data available, you can use it to optimise your advertising campaigns. For example, imagine there is a keyword that is converting at a high cost/conversion. If you are not tracking calls then the cost/conversion may be artificially high because you are not counting phone calls in your conversions. However, if you are tracking calls then you can make decisions with full confidence knowing that whatever you do is not likely to have a detrimental effect on your campaign.

Call tracking can also help you go a step further with your analysis, using call outcome recording features that many call tracking companies offer. Your sales team can rate the call and you are then able to see this qualitative data in your reports, aiding your decision making further.

Want to buy a call tracking solution?

There are several call tracking packages available on the market and we have reviewed a few of them. Here is the list of features (in no particular order) that you should seek in a call tracking solution:

• Automation – This will make your life a lot easier in the long run. You want the whole tracking process automated with as little human intervention as possible.
• Comprehensive Reports – Data is good, information is better still, but actionable information is invaluable, so consider the reporting system very carefully. If it can convert data into actionable information without you having to crunch the numbers yourself then that would save you a lot of time and effort, allowing you to make swift decisions.
• Seamless Tracking – This is all about the ability to track the whole process from start to finish. This process includes the following stages that should be tracked: keyword (or other call sources), landing page, activity on site, page that led to the call, duration of the call, location of the caller, outcome of the call and user’s post call site activity.
• Call Outcome Recording –The basic principle is that the call operatives rate the calls using the phone keypad after the call has finished. This can provide a wealth of qualitative data that can be very helpful in decision making.
• Call Recording – This is often underused but can prove very effective in understanding your customers’ varying needs and helping to train call handling staff.
• Data Integration – If you are using web analytics or CRM systems then you want to be able to see the call tracking data in your analytics tool of choice, so this shouldn’t be overlooked.
• Offline Tracking – A good tracking solution would allow you to track online as well as offline calls. The idea is that you add a unique number to your offline marketing collateral such as brochures or billboards. Any calls to that number are tracked allowing you to assess the performance of your offline advertising channels.

We currently work in partnership with one of the leading call tracking companies in the UK, if you want advice on how call tracking may help you achieve better results from your campaigns, want a quick demo or would like to discuss it in more detail then please call us on the main office number which can be found on our contact page. And yes, your call will be tracked!