Understanding the basics of call tracking

Call tracking software attributes inbound phone calls to their sources. By generating various local and 1-800 numbers for keywords, pay-per-click campaigns, and locations on a website, organizations are able to track which sources are generating the most calls. What’s more, the right products such as ActiveDEMAND provide advanced call routing and interactive voice response systems to qualify leads and provide more granular reporting.

It’s also important to note, that call tracking products integrate with digital advertising tools and digital analytics to include offline conversions, while also integrating with CRM products to successfully log and track leads. But what should you know as a digital marketer and what are some buying considerations for call tracking software?

The Digital Advertising Factor

Call tracking is useful for tracking all variants of disparate conversion sources from outdoor advertising to events, flyers, and even television commercials. Still, the most common use as it relates to our context is determining which online sources are driving offline conversions. Integration with digital advertising software makes it easy to assign numbers to campaigns while reporting across all sources and types of conversion. What does this mean? Well, it could mean tracking against various campaigns as well as against specific search keywords…but the capability to perform each differs from call tracking software product to software product.

Additional Features

Call tracking solution providers often specialize in various telecommunications requirements and develop other capabilities and features that marketing agencies deem necessary. These encompass call recording, auto-dialers, interactive voice response (IVR), call answering pools, and call routing – but regardless of these additional features, the primary benefits of call tracking software still remains:

  • The ability to track the sources of incoming phone leads
  • The ability to report on the effectiveness of offline advertising campaigns (and online campaigns that lead to offline conversions)
  • The ability to develop a fuller picture of how customers are discovering a client’s brand, and how they communicate with the company
  • The ability to optimize for these conversions and construct a more formidable, effective marketing strategy

Look into how a more robust and automated phone interaction with customers may benefit your clients, and determine which vendors offer the needed features…it is well worth the investment.