Call tracking numbers are extremely beneficial to your business. Between determining what campaigns are producing quality leads and how your calls are being answered by your staff, the use of call tracking can improve your sales significantly.
How Call Tracking Works
To understand how call tracking software works, you must first note that there are two types of call tracking and they work in slightly different ways, but both allow you to track where calls are coming from.
Manual v. Dynamic
There are two typical types of call tracking – manual and dynamic. Manual is when a tracking phone number is generated ahead of a campaign launch and you use the call tracking number instead of your business phone number. This is often used for tv commercials, print pieces, and billboards (more traditional media). Based on where you’ve placed the call tracking number, you’ll be able to note the source.
Dynamic call tracking occurs when a code is added to your website and when someone visits from a particular campaign, the number switches automatically. The phone number is ONLY changed when the campaign or source matches your specifications.
When To Use Call Tracking Numbers
In my years of experience in advertising, one of the most valuable questions I ask a client is, “How many calls did you receive from our campaign?” There are typically 2 answers I hear:
“Yes, we asked how our customers found out about us and tied them back to the campaign.”
or
“No, we don’t do any tracking.”
My favorite story I heard from a client was about a customer who called and said they saw their ad on YouTube. The client didn’t have a YouTube account and wasn’t even buying video advertising!
If you’re unsure of where calls might be coming from and think you might have misattributed leads to varying platforms, you need to consider call tracking.
Success Story
%
Appointments Matched To Google Ads
One of the more popular ways we use call tracking is with our Google Ad (aka SEM, PPC) campaigns. A few of our clients on a monthly or quarterly basis provide us with an export of their customers from that time period. From there, we take the time to carefully “match back” these appointments to the leads we see come through the campaigns, mainly by phone numbers.
For one of our clients, we see very consistent results and have done so for many months, matching on average 40% of their appointments to Google Ad campaigns. This wouldn’t be possible if we weren’t using call tracking.
Benefits Of Call Tracking
Without thorough measurement, it’s hard to know how well your marketing campaign is performing. This is where Call Tracking Numbers come into play. By adding call tracking numbers to your campaign, you’re able to track the length of calls, who they are from, jot down notes about the calls, and much more! At the end of the week, month, year, you’re able to see what performed the best and give each call a value!
Attribute Calls and Sales To Digital Campaigns
Sure, Google Analytics can tell you how many people clicked on your phone number on your website, but it can’t tell you how long the call was or if it even reached your receptionist. With call tracking, you can determine the call quality of all your digital campaigns. By attributing calls appropriately, you can better determine the value your campaigns bring to your marketing plan.
Some call tracking services can allow you to determine the quality of your calls at a keyword level (keyword-level call tracking). These tools are vital in helping improve your campaign performance and your return on investment.
Differentiate Calls Between Varying Offline Campaigns
Instead of having your main number on all your offline campaigns (billboards, print pieces, tv ads), you can have different numbers tied to the campaigns. Similar to determining the quality of your digital campaigns, the different numbers for your offline campaigns will allow you to better determine their value.
Get Insights Fast, Not At The End Of The Month
Most call tracking services have a dashboard that shows real-time calls. Instead of waiting to determine your campaign’s success at the end of the month, get insights and feedback on campaigns quickly!
What Is Call Listening & Why Is It Important
While many call tracking software systems include call listening, it’s not always standard. Call Listening is the process of listening to a customers’ call, sometimes in real-time, but for many call tracking systems, it’s after the fact.
You’ve heard it all before… “This call may be recorded for quality assurance.” Well, this is the reason why.
Monitor Campaign Performance
Call listening is not only beneficial to you, but to your agency as well. We find it valuable to listen to call quality to optimize your campaign.
If we hear customers calling for a product that is similar to your current product offerings, but not exactly something you provide, we can add that product as a negative keyword in our SEM campaign so you don’t get more of those calls. When calls come in that mention a product that you value higher than others, we can adjust the campaign to receive more of those calls! It’s a great way to keep the business and your agency in check.
Employee Training
Improve your business’ customer service with call listening. Listening to calls can help you find key points to train employees on. Maybe there are certain things said to customers that are hindering sales, or customers are misinformed about the products or services you offer. Call listening allows you to tailor your employee training to improve call conversions and ultimately sales.
Improved Customer Experience
Your potential customers, after you’ve improved employee training, can have improved call experiences. Tailored call scripts can answer questions faster, instill more confidence in your services and products, and close more business.
Call Tracking Resources/Companies
These phone numbers are not expensive at all! There are many services that provide call tracking for a small monthly cost. Our agency, however, provides call tracking for any marketing solutions we run.
Popular Call Tracking Providers For Businesses
There are many more out there with different features and price ranges to fit any and all businesses. Because every business operates differently, we can’t tell you what the BEST call tracking software is, so do your research and take advantage of free trials when available to ensure the software provides everything you need.