Call Tracking

What is call tracking?

Call tracking in digital marketing is the process of linking phone calls (and any conversions generated by phone calls) to a channel. The simplest form of call tracking is to put different phone numbers on different channels (or ads) so advertisers know exactly what caused the call.

Call Tracking Example

A lawnmower business uses display ads and email to advertise. Because most customers need more information before making a purchase, most sales are made over the phone. As a result, your phone number will be featured prominently in business ads to help you close deals more efficiently.

To know where to focus the marketing budget, a company needs to know where most of the sales (and leads) are coming from. That is why they indicate the telephone number 5550111 in advertisements in the media and always 5550112 in letters.

Both phone numbers are for the sales department. However, it is tracked, so conversions going through each phone number are recorded separately.

Technical information

One version of call tracking that works really well is Google Ads. Google Ads offers an extension for paid search ads, called a phone number extension, that allows ads to include phone numbers. Since Google ads often appear on smartphones, users can directly click on a phone number and make a call. Calls made directly from those ads will then count as a conversion type.

In other cases, conversation tracking may not work. This is because someone can see an ad (or email, message, etc.) and then find that individual company to call you. In this case, it is difficult for the company to understand why the person contacted them.

Despite this systemic problem, conversation tracking is still very important. Insufficient attribution occurs in digital marketing mainly because online advertisements provoke offline (untraceable) actions. Therefore, any system that can attribute more conversions (and thus support the direct marketing budget more effectively) is very useful.

Literal Meanings of Call Tracking

Call:

Meanings of Call:

Decision or verdict.
The status of the batsman whose role it is to call (depends on where the ball flies).
A service that can be called (see on-call service).
(sometimes with for) Ask, ask.
Announce the early repayment of the debt through prepayment, usually with a surcharge.

Tracking:

Meanings of Tracking:

Continuation over time.
Follow the steps.
Make a music recording (a track).
It makes sense to be consistent with known information.
An action or process by which something follows.
Later adjustment of the spacing between individual alphabetic characters.
Division of students into individually trained groups according to the expected level of performance.