Call Tracking for agencies: The secret marketing weapon

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Call Tracking for Agencies: The No1 tool you need to know

Companies that implement data-driven marketing are six times more likely to be profitable year over year(1). Businesses understand the importance of basing their marketing decisions on verifiable data. They want their digital agencies to provide them with a complete picture of which marketing channels are delivering results – and which aren’t. One part of the picture that historically has been missing is call tracking.

Businesses usually have in place some form of conversion tracking. However, when they look at the total number of leads the data doesn’t marry up. Invariably it is calls that create a discrepancy between the two. Companies know they need to track these calls but the actual technical implementation is beyond them. With solutions like Nimbata, setting up call tracking for agencies is an easy thing. But the perception is that tracking calls are challenging to implement. This creates an opportunity for digital marketing agencies.

Clients know that there is a “black hole” in their tracking. For agencies, this is a chance to bridge the gap and solve what is a real pain point. 62% of people already access the internet via phone.(2) As the number of searches initiated on mobile continues to increase, call tracking only grows in importance. And as you will see below there are other key reasons why call tracking should be a core offering for digital marketing agencies.

1) Provide an accurate picture of your clients’ success

When running marketing campaigns on behalf of your clients you need to always provide an accurate depiction of the success of those campaigns. Clients want to be confident that their investment is delivering results. There is a perception that digital marketing spend is often “lost” or unaccounted for.

In a study of the European market, it was found that 48% of digital ads didn’t reach the right target audience. Call tracking is a key part of providing precise metrics on the results of advertising campaigns and demonstrates that your agency takes data-driven decision making seriously. It provides verifiable evidence to support your marketing advice. And as detailed below, it allows you to make smarter decisions on behalf of your clients.

2) Accurately measure the performance of your clients’ advertising campaigns

When running paid advertising for clients, you need to accurately measure the success of those campaigns. If you aren’t tracking your calls then you are missing a major piece of the attribution puzzle. Call tracking enables marketing agencies to accurately attribute leads to the advertising campaigns that are generating them. 

Let’s say you are running two campaigns: Campaign A is converting at 15%. 10% of those leads occur from web form submits and 5% from phone calls. Campaign B is converting at 20%. But in this case, 15% of the leads are phone calls, and 5% are web form submits.

If you are only measuring leads that come as web form submits then it may appear that campaign A is outperforming campaign B, which is inaccurate. It is only with call tracking that you would realize the campaign B is actually the winner. Without call tracking in place, you may decide to end campaign A and allocate more budget to campaign B. The best way to ensure client retention is to make sure you are delivering the best results possible. Call tracking lets you identify the right campaigns to allocate your clients’ budget.

3) Calls convert at higher rates

Calls typically convert at higher rates than web form submits. In one study it was found that calls convert 10 – 15 times higher than website leads. (3) This is particularly true for products and services that require high touch during the selling process. When purchasing high-value or complex products, people want to talk to someone during the buying process. Tracking these calls is essential from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. Because call leads are higher value, it is critical that the sales process is optimized. Call tracking allows you to evaluate the transcript of the call, measure the relative performance of individual sales reps, and survey customer satisfaction.

For a digital agency, this offers valuable insights that you can share with your clients. You can look at calls that do convert, to understand what motivates your client’s customers to buy. You also can show your clients which calls haven’t converted into sales and provide actionable advice for how the call handling process can be improved. From a quantitative perspective, understanding that calls is likely to be the primary channel for generating revenue for your clients’ business. You want to have a complete picture of both the number of incoming calls and the marketing which increases the flow of these leads.

4) Improve the results of your paid advertising campaigns

One study showed that over a two-year period Google Ads price had increased by 40%.(4) Competition on Google Ads is fiercer than ever. This pushes up prices, giving less room for error to deliver profitable campaigns for your clients. As a consequence, it is not enough to understand the broad strokes of which campaigns are profitable. As a digital agency you need to know exactly which ad groups and keywords are making your clients money – and which aren’t.

Call tracking lets you do exactly that. It enables you to dynamically generate a different phone number for each ad you run. This makes it easy to track which campaigns, ad groups, and keywords are delivering leads. As detailed earlier, calls are far more likely to result in a sale and so these are leads you definitely want to be tracking.

5) Identify when to market to your customer

The time of day when customers get in contact varies. Call tracking allows you to identify the peak times when customers are reaching out and make informed decisions about what time of day ads should be scheduled. This allows you to increase your advertising budget for those times when customers are most likely looking for your particular product or service. You can also allocate internal resources to ensure that there is a sufficient number of customer reps to answer calls, during these peak periods. When there are fewer calls coming in, these sales team members can be allocated to alternative responsibilities.

6) Phone tracking is essential for geo-specific clients

Mobile has become the dominant way for people who conduct web searches. When someone is looking for a product or service in their local area and finds a relevant business, the natural next step is to pull out their phone and make a booking or purchase. There are a number of reasons for this including; the convenience to have your questions answered immediately, the ease to pick up the phone and call instead of navigating to online forms and the personalized interaction with a customer rep saves time.

If you have clients where geographical location is important such as restaurants, dentists, bars, etc. then tracking mobile is critical. As calls are a logical next step in any mobile search for a business, they need to be accurately tracked.

7) Provide a more detailed picture of your clients’ customers

Data privacy issues mean that it is becoming harder to provide clients with detailed demographic information about their customers. Call tracking allows you to fill in the gaps with additional demographic information as it captures valuable demographic data, including the location of the call, time of day, and if they are repeat callers. This can be put together with information captured during the call itself to provide a detailed picture of your client’s customers and when they are most likely to make a purchase.

8) Call tracking builds trust & improves decision making

Trust is a major issue between clients and marketing agencies. Call tracking demonstrates that you take tracking seriously, in every aspect of your clients’ marketing. You don’t have to say that your marketing delivers results, you can prove it.

Call tracking improves decision making for both you and your client. With call tracking established, you will have valuable insights to share with them. This knowledge will empower them to improve their sales processes and tightly define who their buyers are. As an agency, call tracking gives you the data you need to make data-driven choices.

Businesses know they need to track calls. Therefore, call tracking is an offering that digital marketing agencies should certainly include in their mix. If you don’t offer call tracking, clients will find an agency that does. While the perception may be that call tracking is complex, it really isn’t. With Nimbata, setting up call tracking on behalf of your clients is fast, simple, and accurate.

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