What Is a Call Tracking System?

Businesses often struggle to attribute and track calls from various marketing tracking phone numbers listed on a web page, a digital campaign, or an offline ad. Many organizations commonly use sales calls to reach out to prospective customers and educate them about the company’s offerings.

While there has been a significant change in how businesses manage and keep tabs on their outbound and inbound calls, it’s still an open question for many companies whether they need to implement call tracking software into their tech stack. 

Thanks to the emergence of advanced call tracking tools, tracking sales calls has become imperative, not only because it’s necessary to achieve accurate attribution but because it’s indispensable in modern performance marketing telecommunications.

However, many businesses still don’t give much credibility to phone call tracking. Such beliefs and claims stem from the underestimated value of phone calls, which typically results in companies missing out on new revenue opportunities and high-intent leads.

But the question remains, can the call tracking solution track calls and help brands analyze call attribution data to maximize the impact of their marketing budgets? If so, what insights should companies expect to gain?

This article will explain what sales calls tracking is, why inbound call tracking is important, and how brands can benefit from implementing inbound call tracking software.

How Does Call Tracking Software Work?

Call tracking is a system that tracks and sorts information about incoming phone calls. It helps marketers know who is calling their business and which marketing campaigns are driving those calls. 

The phone call tracking system gathers the following information:

• The number from which you received a call
• The geographical location of inbound calls
• The source of your calls (identifies campaigns, keywords, or ads that generated the calls)
• The time and duration of inbound calls
• The number of calls your business receives

 

Phone call tracking is the process that attributes phone calls to specific marketing channels such as SEO, PPC, and other online and offline campaigns. Through phone call tracking software, marketers can know which marketing campaigns are generating more ROI and can optimize those campaigns accordingly.

Call tracking providers utilize dynamic number insertion (DNI) to enable business call tracking. DNI gives every source its identifier – a unique phone number.

It can be local or toll-free trackable phone numbers assigned to a business phone line. When customers dial trackable phone numbers, they automatically route their calls to your phone number. 

Suppose a consumer gets to your landing page. DNI allows displaying a unique number depending on the channel of origin. It means that when visitors arrive at your website through any of the marketing channels (organic search, referral, paid search, or direct), DNI will present a different phone number to each of them and, when dialed, will tie any of their prior online activities to the inbound calls.

The assigned numbers are linked to a phone call tracking system that creates call recordings and keeps tabs on the following information:

• Caller ID details (phone, location, name)
• Time and length of the call
• Call origin (print, digital, PPC, SEO, keywords, etc.)

Call tracking phone numbers allow advertisers to cover various sources, marketing campaigns, and keywords. On top of that, call tracking software works hand-in-hand with other features like call analytics software, IVR system, and predictive modeling and often includes IVR scripts, call recordings, call whisper, and more. Therefore, advertisers can leverage tremendous flexibility while dramatically improving marketing campaigns and streamlining their call distribution process. 

The Importance of Inbound Call Tracking

The principal reason businesses need to track phone calls is the importance of getting a complete picture of their ROI and ROAS. Without software for call tracking, they won’t be able to determine which ads, keywords, and webpages are the most effective in driving inbound calls and bringing in most of the quality leads. 

Besides, telephone call tracking helps companies see how many inbound calls resulted in conversions and sales. With complete attribution for your online and offline marketing campaigns, you can make more informed optimization decisions and, as a result, drive more revenue.

When deciding how to track calls, it can be helpful to understand whether you need a basic call tracking service or a call intelligence solution. The latter has much to offer regarding tracking cell phone calls and bridging the gap between offline and online buying journeys. 

Here’s a short introduction to Call Logic, Phonexa’s call intelligence platform, explaining how it works, what it entails, and how to track incoming calls with its call tracking feature.

 

Apart from website call tracking software, Phonexa’s call intelligence platform has other features that businesses of all stripes can find helpful. Here are some of them:

• Call recording: A sales calls tracking software enables businesses to record all inbound and outbound calls automatically. This feature allows brands to keep track of interactions between sales reps and customers, improve training techniques, keep records, and meet each customer’s specific needs.

• Call logging: Phonexa’s call tracking system logs all calls while allowing businesses to reconnect with prospective customers and capture essential customer data.

• • Lead acquisition: Ping Post Calls 2.0, an essential part of Phonexa’s Call Logic, provides a customized solution for call lead acquisition. Publishers can use it to bid on specific call data attributes, while lead buyers and advertisers can boost conversion and sales rates by acquiring only high-quality leads.
  • Predictive modeling: Knowing the probable outcomes of ad campaigns allows businesses to identify potential growth areas, optimize their ad spending, analyze past consumer interactions, and understand customer behavior better.

• Call analytics software: With clear metrics, businesses can bring all call track data together, identify trends, assess and streamline workflows, make smarter optimizations, and implement more successful marketing strategies.

• DNI: Phonexa’s call tracking software enables companies to use a wide range of call tracking phone numbers to assign them to various digital assets and identify the origins of customer calls.

• Call tracking reporting: Online call tracking solution empowers businesses with detailed, real-time reports that keep them up to date on the status of their marketing and lead generation efforts.

Let’s take a closer look at how call tracking software and complementary digital marketing services can secure more leads and sales.

Smarter Optimization Through Call Attribution

Businesses can attribute phone conversations to a campaign, a keyword, or a visitor. When a user dials the number on an ad or landing page, phone calls tracking software enables marketing attribution and collects profile data. Then, this information can be combined with other data attributes to provide a complete picture of what occurs both online and offline, assisting with higher-quality conversions.

That can assist brands in making more strategic decisions for real-time optimization of their campaigns. On top of that, call analytics can help capture the keywords prospects searched for before dialing your business number. With this granularity, businesses can optimize marketing campaigns and resource allocation immediately.

Elevating the Customer Experience

There‘s no denying that companies need to know the origins of phone conversations and understand how these conversations are handled. Tailoring their services to the individual needs of their customers in today’s market is essential. For that reason, brands need to measure and enhance more than just their marketing performance. 

With an inbound call tracker and granular analytics, they can capitalize on valuable insights into the customer journey, personalize the customer experience, and prompt more phone conversations with high-intent audiences.

Businesses equipped with the software to track phone calls can benefit from the following features that help elevate customer experience:

• Call whisper: Before handling a phone conversation with a prospective client, agents and sales reps can tap into the context through a voice recording or a display message. Such solutions as Phonexa‘s Cloud PBX can notify the receiving party of the lead origin and provide the ability to make the most of the received information to tailor a conversation to the caller’s needs.
• IVR system: It allows tailoring a caller’s journey, recording custom messages, collecting valuable information, and directing customers to the right agent or representative.

• Call scoring: This feature relies on call recordings to capture essential information and analyze and score inbound calls against specific parameters or KPIs. That, in turn, allows businesses to quickly identify whether their contact centers have ineffective processes, identify customer pain points, and facilitate the training and development of their agents.

Methods of Sales Call Tracking

Here are the four standard methods to trace cellphone calls, leads, and sales:

• Callback function: A useful web-based feature that provides customers with convenience. The users provide their phone numbers on the website and wait for a callback. The callback is arranged and often automated through web callback or mobile applications.
• Call number tracking: It is not web-based. The incoming phone call is registered using traditional phone servers and specific tracking numbers.
• Static number tracking: It helps marketers assign a separate phone number to online and traditional marketing channels such as newspapers, TV, billboards, etc.
• Dynamic call tracking: It allows websites to swap phone numbers for each user who lands on their site. Channel-based and unique session tracking are the two main methods of dynamic call tracking.

Businesses looking to measure the value of their efforts and ensure accurate attribution should incorporate the following ways of tracking phone calls:

Offline Call Tracking

Tracking calls that originated from your offline marketing efforts is crucial to eliminate the guesswork and determine ROI successfully. Let’s examine in more detail how tracking software works with offline ads and media sources.

Based on this information, you can determine where the ad campaigns are effective and further target them. On top of that, it can help you boost conversion and optimize the design and content used for offline ads.

Organic Call Tracking

Understanding what traffic your SEO campaigns bring to your website is essential for every company. But apart from that, you need to know if those visitors become customers. With the caller tracking software, brands can track organic customers who reach out to their business via phone and find out why they called and whether they converted.

For example, if a consumer finds your company through an organic search, they will see a specific call tracking number throughout their visit to the website. Once they dial that phone number, you’ll know how they found you.

Paid Call Tracking

Phone call tracker software helps businesses not to miss out on the paid search efforts that drive the most phone calls and conversions. Let’s take a closer look at how it works with websites and click-to-call extensions.

Understanding which ad campaigns result in phone conversations with clients can help businesses optimize their SEM campaigns. For instance, by getting visibility into the highest-value search campaigns, marketing experts can make educated decisions about adding call extensions during peak hours and, therefore, save money on lead acquisition.

Advantages of Phone Call Tracking

If you’re a marketer or a business owner on the fence about implementing sales call tracking software; the following advantages should help you make a final choice:

Improve Lead Generation & Conversion

The primary objective of call tracking software is to refine lead generation and boost conversion rates. Since the call tracking software allows businesses to learn more about the lead sources and pinpoint the exact location of the calls, they can get as much detail as they need to see the probable outcomes of future marketing campaigns and recalibrate their strategies successfully.

Optimize Marketing Budget

Once brands know which marketing channels and keywords their target audience responds to, they can use data captured by the inbound phone call tracking system to redistribute their marketing budget and invest more in high-performing efforts. 

Boost Client Trust

Businesses can’t afford to ignore how their prospective and existing clients react to their services, customer support, or ad campaigns. With the right telephone call tracking software, companies can gain insights into every conversation and conversion and refine customer experience to increase client trust.

Illuminate Critical Blind Spots

Companies equipped with advanced call tracking for businesses can get access to a wide array of analytics tools and reports, which can shed light on areas where they can direct their focus and investment to earn more revenue.

Why Use Call Tracking for Future Campaigns

Here are several reasons why you should consider utilizing a phone call tracking system for future marketing campaigns:

• Get accurate attribution for all conversions generated by your call-based campaigns.
• Monitor and improve marketing ROI.
• Optimize media spend to improve your lead generation outcomes.
• Enhance customer profiles with conversation data.
• Optimize campaigns with detailed channel and keyword data.
• Retarget customers based on data derived from phone conversations.
• Track and optimize the performance of sales reps and agents.
• Utilize IVR and call recordings to improve your marketing messages.

Problems a Sales Call Tracking System Can Solve

Caller tracking software can help you overcome several marketing challenges. Here are some marketing problems that a phone call tracking system can solve:

• Which marketing channels drive calls – By associating a unique tracking call number with your marketing channels, you can identify which campaign generated each live conversation with prospects.
• Which keywords drive phone conversations – Keyword-level call tracking helps you know which keywords bring in more high-intent audiences and result in phone conversations and conversions. It can help you track PPC visitors and the keywords they use to find your business online.
• Whether calls are coming from qualified leads – Call recording helps you analyze whether calls come from qualified leads. That enables you to make changes in your campaign and follow up with qualified leads on a priority basis.
• Identifying areas for improvement – Call recording provides a lot of information and insights into how sales reps handle phone conversations with clients. That can help you identify opportunities and areas of improvement.
• Increasing marketing ROI – Call intelligence platform can help you track the performance of your marketing campaigns and can recalibrate your marketing strategy to increase marketing ROI.

Tracking phone calls is essential for businesses that want to increase their call volume and revenue. It is an effective tool enabling small businesses and enterprises to determine which online and offline efforts successfully generate web and call leads. Knowing which strategies work best for your company will allow you to allocate your budget effectively and achieve better conversions and higher ROI.

Schedule a consultation to learn how Phonexa’s call tracking software can help your business acquire detailed call attribution and optimize campaigns for better performance. 

Frequently Asked Questions