While Websiter’s Dictionary does not provide a definition for Call Tracking, Wikipedia does a decent job when providing the following description:
” Call tracking software records information about incoming telephone calls, but not the conversation. Call tracking is a technology which enables the pay per call business model, allowing the tracking of phone calls to be associated with performance based advertising, and supplying additional analytic information about the phone calls.[1] Call tracking is a method of performance review for advertising. “
Put as simply as possible, call tracking lets business owners or advertisers know where the calls to their business are coming from. This is done through the use of a single unique phone number or a pool of numbers assigned to an individual website.
What does Call Tracking Give Me?
Most call tracking products provide basic information:
- Number of calls to a certain number
- Time and date of those calls
More advanced call tracking products will also provide information about the caller:
- Duration of the call
- Caller id
- Name and address information
- The recording of the call
The most advanced call tracking providers , such as Century Interactive, will provide a tremendous amount of data from a single call, including all of the above along with:
- Any previous calls to our from that caller
- Extensions selected by the caller
- Operator handling the call
- Notes on the call
- Whether or not the call represented an opportunity for new business
Beyond that, as the premier call tracking provider, Century Interactive even further that by allowing businesses to tie an offline phone conversion to an online website session. Each call generated from a businesses website would include all of the above information along with:
- The referring source
- The keyword entered
- The click path of session (which pages were viewed before and after the call)
- The paid search term
- The paid search campaign
- User IP address.
Why is this important?
Call tracking is used for a wide variety of reasons, but here are 3 of the most common.
Measuring Advertising ROI
Advertising is expensive, so it is important that advertisers understand how their advertising is performing. Call Tracking allows the advertiser to measure the conversions from a give advertising campaign, both online and offline. Ex. ABC Plumbing buys into a direct mail piece. By placing a unique phone number on that mail piece, he is able to track each and every call that it generates and determine if the piece brought in more revenue then he spent to participate.
Staff Training and Performance Monitoring
By recording each call and gathering all of the information above, business owners are able to listen to their staff and provide valuable feedback and training to improve phone skills. In many cases, lost leads can be saved when a call is reviewed and the prospect contacted to provide additional information or correct an error made by the staff person handling the original call.
Customer Relations Management
By integrating call tracking within your customer relations management system, it allows businesses to track leads through the sales funnel and ensure that contact is being made at the appropriate time. Furthermore, call tracking allows managers to hold their sales staff accountable for lead follow-up and prospecting.
This is just a brief snapshot of the power of call tracking. At Century Interactive, we have been at the leading edge of every significant call tracking innovation of the last ten years. If you can dream it, we can do it. Need to track Google vs. Bing and include online conversions, chat, and phone conversions in your comparison? Call us, we’ll get you set up. Need to track one AdWords Campaign against another, and again include chat and phone conversions? Call us, we’ll get you set up. Need to track a national direct mail piece, but allow callers to select their location and route the call accordingly? Call us, we can do that too. We’re waiting to hear from you about the next challenge! We can’t wait to hear it.
Tags: ad effectiveness, advertising, call measurement, call metrics, call tracking, crm integration, customer relations, Customer Service, lead optimization, measurement, website tracking