Call tracking, and the call data that comes along with it, is truly a missed opportunity that not many are capitalizing on. It’s a secret weapon for marketers that’s massively valuable but widely underestimated. Call tracking software is something we’ve implemented for our clients at DSM a few years back, and it’s continued to produce incredible insights.
As we watch trainings, read blogs and attend webinars, call tracking is not something that a lot of digital marketers are talking about, and that’s why, in this article, we’re going to do just that. Let’s talk about call tracking, shall we?
Chaz Garrity is part of the business development team at Dial800 and a call-tracking guru with the perfect brain to pick regarding this topic. He’s someone we’ve been working with for a while now, someone who can offer a firsthand perspective on what marketers are missing out on by not implementing call tracking and what a tool like Dial800 can bring to the table.
Improving Marketing Results with Call Tracking
We talk about how we’re all about results, so we’re going to hit you with a few big picture stats in terms of what improvements marketers can see when they take advantage of call tracking and its corresponding data. According to Chaz, in 2019, the CPL (cost per lead) for one of their clients decreased by 51% when they added call tracking to their repertoire. Another client saw a 21% increase in revenue per lead with phone calls, as calls can be a major upsell opportunity when you’re actually speaking to someone.
Every phone call is just that – a major opportunity. Every single point of consumer touch plays a different role and has a different place along the buyer’s journey, and there are certain instances along the way when a phone call becomes a necessity. Understanding the who, what, where, when and why of those phone calls will help you make leaps and bounds in driving results for your business. That’s your primary goal, isn’t it?
What Kind of Call Data Can You Track?
As Chaz says, for every business, there’s a truckload of data behind every inbound phone call. What Dial800 does is package that data in an easy to digest format for thousands of brands, along with agency partners, to help them make better marketing decisions.
When we talk about data, it can encompass a lot of things. In the digital world, we talk about everything from click through rates to conversion rates.. A lot of marketers focus their attention on getting forms filled out. In turn, call data is too often overlooked. You might have your phone numbers included on your website or marketing materials, but ask yourself these questions:
- Do you know which billboard or newspaper ad is generating the most calls?
- Do you know which of your Google Ad campaigns is generating the most revenue?
- Do you have data that helps you determine the sentiment of your callers, and what topics they most often call about?
The answers to these questions can be found with call tracking software, for BOTH digital and traditional media.
Call Tracking Software for Digital Media
Call tracking certainly did cut its teeth in traditional media with radio and TV. However, in today’s world, call data not only can be, but needs to be, incorporated into your digital efforts. Here’s the real kicker – with call tracking software, you can access hundreds of KPIs available behind each and every phone call, such as the minute counts, the location the call came from and the device the call came from. You can track calls by what page your caller was on, whether they came from a paid or organic traffic source, which of your paid campaigns they came from, and more. That’s right. It’s your marketing-dream-come-true all in the form of call data.
This matters because every single dollar spent on marketing has an ROI. It just does. Whether we’re talking about digital or traditional media, you have to understand how those campaigns are actually performing and track every action taken as a result of your advertising efforts, including phone calls.
Call Tracking Software for Traditional Media
Speaking of traditional, when we’ve talked to clients or prospects in the past who are running traditional campaigns, like print ads or billboards, usually, they’ll have a big phone number on there as a call to action. In theory, this is great. But if you’re using the same number on your billboard that you’re using on your newspaper ad, how will you know which one was more effective? This is a great call to action and it’s great to have it included. Yet, the problem lies in the fact that they’re not tracking the number displayed. At DSM, we’re all about the results. If you invest money in a billboard on Route 17, but you’re not tracking it, how do you know for sure if your investment was worthwhile?
A lot of people will shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, I think we’re getting some phone calls,” but that kind of uncertainty doesn’t help to develop strategy and move the needle. The beauty of call tracking software is the ability to know where you should invest more of your marketing budget and where you should pull the plug. This is the kind of critical data that makes marketing spend more efficient and effective in the long run, and yet a lot of marketers still aren’t looking at it.
The DSM team and the Dial800 team work with both big, national brands and smaller, local clients. Either way, all businesses, no matter the size or the scale, should be tracking their campaign performance and tracking their calls. A software like Dial800, along with marketing experts like DSM, can truly help you understand what’s happening with your marketing efforts, and your money that goes along with it, and help you drive the real results you need to keep your business moving forward.
