How Does Call Tracking Software Work?

Call tracking is a great tool that can be used to help monitor outreach campaigns and gather useful information about call attribution. With call tracking software, marketers can collect data from phone calls that will provide factual information on the circumstances of what inspired the call. The data will not only tell you where the call originated from, but what the results of the call were. 

Put simply, call tracking software allows companies to track incoming leads and inquiries by providing data regarding which ads, websites, keywords, or other marketing efforts drove the call. 

Why businesses need call tracking software

Modern call tracking solutions aren’t just about making sure that marketing is successful. They can even use conversational analytics to determine exactly what the outcome was (a quote, a purchase, an appointment, etc.) and then turn that information into future marketing efforts to ensure that high-value audiences are the ones getting the attention. 

More importantly, businesses that don’t utilize call tracking software may find it difficult, if not impossible, to prove your marketing ROI related to sales calls. If you don’t know where calls come from or which ads are generating the most calls, you cannot maximize your marketing efforts. 

While some companies still ask the age-old question, “How did you hear about us?” to find out where business originated, a lot of callers may not remember their real first interaction, leaving you to find a better way to track the source. That’s where modern call tracking software comes in handy. 

Call tracking will offer the chance to:

• Attribute calls to marketing campaigns properly
• Improve customer service and support
• Help understand what keywords are most successful
• Measure both offline and online performance with marketing campaigns

This all leads to smarter marketing and better campaigns for all types of businesses. 

Features of call tracking software

Several different features can be found in modern call tracking software platforms. Call attribution through call tracking platforms will allow marketers to see which sources are driving the most business, as well as providing the most qualified leads. Let’s look at some of the best features that you’ll find with these platforms. 

Dynamic number insertion

This is the process of giving each online source or marketing campaign its own unique phone number. Then, when visitors make a call to the business from that source, the unique number will be used as an indicator to mark which campaign they came from. 

Visitor-level tracking

This dynamic tracking feature allows you to see the full journey that a visitor takes from the time they come to your website until they navigate away. You can monitor each step in the journey, make corrections as needed, and make note of which campaigns are most effective. 

Source-level tracking

This provides a phone number for each different marketing source so that you can tell which source it came from. This is best for offline marketing, such as print ads or TV campaigns, but it will help ensure that you know exactly where traffic is coming from so that you can continue to make improvements. 

Call attribution reporting

This report provides valuable insight into the interactions and marketing sources that are creating the calls and driving traffic. This is a more overarching report that will provide you with information on where calls generate from, which campaigns are generating the most calls, and so forth. 

Other tracking metrics 

In addition to these primary metrics and tracking features, you’ll also find call tracking software metrics like:

• Google Ads call tracking
• Multi-touch CPL (Cost-per-Lead) reports
• Conversation and call recording

This is essentially going to make it easier for businesses to market smarter and work harder than ever before. There are plenty of different ways that you can engage these tracking metrics, but that starts with choosing the right platform. 

How to choose a platform

So now that you know how you can benefit from call tracking software, it’s important to take the time to find the right solutions. There are plenty of providers that offer call tracking to help businesses monitor their outreach and marketing campaigns. They aren’t all created equally, however. Take it upon yourself to explore each software platform and find the one that suits your needs. 

Typically, the best call tracking software will be the one that provides the features and reports that you need. It will also integrate seamlessly with all the tools that you are using and make it easy for you to improve your marketing efforts. The best call tracking platforms will also have features like:

• Dynamic number generation
• Third-party integrations
• Customization and scalability
• Reliability and uptime
• Transcriptions, recordings, and other call tracking features

Choose a platform that integrates with Google Analytics and other metrics or reporting tools that you use, too, so that you can keep everything streamlined and in a single place. If you are looking for a tool that will help you attribute calls to certain marketing efforts or data, make sure that you can get that kind of data on the platform that you choose. 

Insight leads to improved marketing

With call tracking software, you can glean valuable insights and information from the calls that your business is getting. From knowing where the number is generated to seeing which campaigns aren’t producing results, you’ll be able to keep your marketing efforts moving forward and that will increase your leads. 

Speaking of leads, are you ready to field them all?

When you’ve got a new strategy in place, you’re going to see an uptick in the number of leads coming your way. Fortunately, you’re not alone in taking the calls. You should start by investing in a 24/7 answering service that will ensure that you never miss a single lead. When you partner with the virtual receptionists at Smith.ai, you’ll get that along with the opportunity to hand off appointment scheduling, lead intake, and even live website chat, so that you can focus on your customers. 

To learn more, schedule a consultation or reach out to hello@smith.ai to find out what our virtual receptionists can do for your business. 

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