Why You Need Call Tracking
Call tracking is a great method for building client relationships. The tool is especially useful for those who expect people to use their phones when accessing their websites. A call-tracking program will track every phone call that someone makes to a company, charting their progress through the call and finding out if the conversation leads to a sale. It can collect additional information if the user makes the phone call from a “click to call” button.
For those who do most of their business by phone, it is imperative that people keep track of how calls are handled on a per-call basis as well as keeping track of broad analytical data. When a potential customer is on the phone, a salesperson must be completely versed in what will work for that particular client. By tracking how deeply into the conversation a possible client will go before deciding to make a purchase or not, agents can correlate the information with their sales technique, allowing them to see whether certain points during a conversation – such as the explanation of certain services being offered – are particularly useful for making a sale. A proper call-tracking system tells salespeople exactly how their sales pitch is working, along with who it is affecting, and the key points that lead to a sale, a callback, or a hang-up.
There are generally two different kinds of call tracking systems, according to Jamie Smith at Search Engine Watch. One system is session-based. Under this method, each caller receives a unique phone number which allows him or her to be tracked for the rest of his or her time on the phone with a salesperson or calling back using the same number. Even if someone isn’t using his or her smartphone, they can still receive a generated number if the right advertising software is integrated into the website.
Under the rules-based method, each campaign is tied to a phone call so individuals cannot be tracked as easily. However, when the issue at hand is which campaign is generating the best results, it can help to have each advertisement that a user clicks on the link to a unique number. This tells the brand how much revenue each banner brings in.
Both forms allow advertisers to find out the right keywords that are generating phone calls.
More people than ever are using their smartphones to access websites. The total penetration rate for smartphones stands at 37 percent, according to Statista. When companies don’t use call tracking, they are creating a void between the phone call and the website user. Even as businesses track keyword usage and information from people accessing the site and examining offers, this information gathering immediately stops as soon as someone picks up the phone and dials a number that isn’t tied to that user. When phone numbers are custom generated, the information picked up from which user clicked on which story that contained how many keywords is collected and stored with that particular phone call. This makes it more clear which bits of information are driving sales and phone calls.
This is especially important for niche companies. Leonard Tan from MarketingProfs offers the example of a company that repairs forklifts. While such a particular business won’t receive nearly as many hits as a company that sells many different items or services, the leads that it gets will be of a much higher quality and derive from clients who are much more interested in a particular service or product.
As such, companies in niche industries can narrow their keywords and focus on each user very specifically, so that every single time a person finds their website, they are tracked and followed, including a potential phone call leading to a sell or a callback. B2B companies that have a small range of clients need to ensure they are visible exactly where clients are looking for them, so the more data they collect on each call, the more they can specify exact keywords that attract the right clients. The efficiency and effectiveness of the marketing software are therefore crucial.
How it works
When a user is surfing the Web and finds an ad banner for a website using call tracking, and then clicks on that ad banner, he or she will be directed to a website that plugs in a unique phone number for him or her. Additionally, every time that person clicks on the website – even without using the ad banner – he or she will be directed to a site that displays that number. Furthermore, the person is continuously tracked from the moment he or she clicks on the banner so all of the phone calls being made and the content accessed on the website is associated with that individual.
