5 Reasons You Need to Start Using Call Tracking Software today [October 2023 update]

Would you drive your car with your eyes closed? Of course, you wouldn’t. But when it comes to their business many owners are driving blind and there is a good chance they are going to crash. The cause? A massive black-hole in their marketing data – the absence of a call tracking software.

It is not an overstatement to say that your entire marketing strategy could be based on dangerously incorrect assumptions if you aren’t accurately tracking calls to your business. Calls are not just one stage in the sales funnel.

For a vast number of businesses, they are the most important part of it. In fact, a recent study by BIA Kelsey showed that a phone call was 10 – 15 times more likely to result in a sale compared to other contact points. And correctly allocating your marketing spend is just one reason why you need to implement call tracking today. Below we’ll look at five of the most important reasons to do this. But first… a quick primer on how call tracking works.

A call tracking software dynamically pairs the phone number on your website with a specific marketing channel. For example; if you are running a Google Ads campaign, the phone number that is displayed on your website will differ from the one viewed by someone who comes to your website through organic search. This dynamic generation of unique phone numbers occurs seamlessly in the background so the user experience is exactly the same for every visitor.

Now let’s take a look at the top benefits of using a call tracking software.

40% of people only search using a smartphone. Think about it for a moment. Fully two out of every five website visitors will only ever discover it using a smartphone. And what is the natural response when they need more information or want to purchase? Hitting the click to call button. That’s right!

Customers with a strong intention to buy prefer to call because of:

• Convenience: Customers can find the information they need and make a purchase or booking with only one interaction.
• Ease of use: Completing a form on a smartphone can be a slow and frustrating experience. Calling is faster and easier.
• Personalization: Busy customers don’t have time to search through pages of content to find the answers that are relevant to them. With a phone call, they get personalized answers which give them the confidence to make a purchase.

Mobile being the primary way that people find your website will only grow. The natural next step to finding a relevant business through a smartphone is making a call. Thus, you need to be tracking those calls.

Well, it’s true! According to a study by Google, 61% of mobile phone users will call when they are ready to buy. This is critical information. If you are not measuring your calls then all of your marketing metrics may be skewed. Calls aren’t just part of the picture – in all likelihood, they are the most important part. Google’s data showed that calls were particularly important for high ticket items like finance or travel. 

It’s absolutely rational that customers who intend to pay a significant amount of money for a product or service, usually have questions that they want answered. Fail to provide this “high touch” interaction and you’ll miss the sale. If you aren’t tracking those phone calls, then you possibly have no visibility over what may be the most important aspect of your business.

This leads to one of the most important aspects of measuring calls. Making sure you are not killing off your best performing marketing campaigns. Imagine you are running a Facebook ad campaign. Business appears to be thriving but when you look at your Google Analytics all of the contact form submissions appear to be being generated by your Google Ads.

In contrast, Facebook hardly appears to be generating many leads at all. You decide to cut off the Facebook ad campaign. Shortly thereafter, business starts to crater. What went wrong? Chances are it’s because you weren’t measuring calls. Those Facebook ads could have been generating calls. If you aren’t tracking them, you’ll miss this critical piece of information.

It’s time to allocate a budget for the year ahead. You are looking over the reports from the previous year. But you’re still not sure whether to invest more in call handlers or if you should be spending more on website content. The reason for this uncertainty is that you don’t have call tracking in place so you don’t understand your customer’s journey. You can’t see all of the steps your customer goes through before making a purchase. This can easily lead you to waste budget on ineffective marketing assets.

If you are just measuring contact form submissions or live chat interactions it might seem that providing better phone support is a waste of money. But accurately measure your calls and you may find that most customers want to call before buying. Missed calls equal missed sales. Once you understand this part of your customers’ journey, you will invest your budget more confidently on the channels that generate leads for your business.

The Economist has called data “the new oil”. Companies like Facebook and Google are willing to provide amazing services for free because it provides a way to extract this valuable asset. Data is critical because it gives such a powerful competitive edge to the businesses that possess it. Call tracking isn’t just about identifying what marketing channels are delivering customers. Call tracking lets you learn exactly who those customers are and what motivates them to buy. These marketing insights can then be uploaded to your CRM so that you are better able to serve and monetize that customer.

With a call tracking software, you can go as deep as you want. Analyze the actual transcripts from the phone call and you can gain high valuable qualitative insights to support your quantitative data. If you want to truly understand your customer, then you need to have a call tracking software in place.

The modern business environment is highly competitive. You can’t afford to squander your resources on marketing channels that aren’t producing the best possible return on investment. The question is not why you should start using a call tracking software. The question you need to ask yourself is what is the long-term consequence if you don’t start tracking calls today?

To sum up, call tracking software is a game-changer for businesses looking to optimize their marketing efforts. It provides valuable insights into marketing campaign performance, improves customer service, offers in-depth call analytics, and simplifies ROI tracking. By leveraging the power of call tracking software, you can stay ahead of the competition and drive business growth.

Don’t wait; start reaping the benefits today!