f you work with an agency, it is likely that they asked you to use software that helps them do their best work. If call tracking is not yet one of those tools, it should be.

Why use call tracking?

At a basic level, call tracking software helps determine which marketing channels generate leads from phone calls and evaluate the content and quality of those calls. This helps you and your agency to better manage marketing resources and can also influence sales, customer service, and even product development.

To understand how this works, you can think of call tracking in two parts: pre-dial and post-dial.

PRE-DIALING: MARKETING ALLOCATION

The pre-dialing part of call tracking measures the marketing touchpoints that lead a customer to pick up the phone and dial your company number. 

For example, let’s say a potential customer hears about your business for the first time by clicking on a blog post through an organic search. They spend a few minutes reading the post and examining your site before leaving the page. A few days later,

They click on a Facebook ad and spend a few more minutes on your website before closing the browser window. Two weeks later, they are ready to speak to the sales department and access their website directly to find their company number and place a call.

Its call tracking tool records contact points like these for each person who visits your site on paid, organic, and offline channels. That way, you and your agency know which marketing channels are most effective and can manage your budget accordingly.

With paid media campaigns specifically, call tracking can tell you which paid channels, keywords and campaigns are generating leads and revenue. This allows your agency to make bid adjustments and focus on the paid campaigns that work.

POST-CALL: CALLING INTELLIGENCE

Just because someone calls your company, it doesn’t mean they’re a qualified lead or will bring in revenue. But when you turn on call recording and transcription with your call tracking provider, you can literally hear or read what your customers are asking.

Some call tracking providers also have keyword research features that can show common words or phrases between your phone calls.

Together, these advanced call tracking tools can help you assess which services or products are most popular, find common pain points among callers, or even find gaps in the telephone skills of sales and customer service teams. This allows your partner agency to go beyond simply managing your marketing budget and adding more value to your company.

Who Needs Call Tracking?

If customers call your company regularly, you should use call tracking. This is especially true for companies that generally generate leads from phone calls, such as medical and mechanical offices. You need to know that any advertising investment spent to drive call leads is worth the investment, and call tracking is the only way to do this efficiently and at scale.

Tracking your primary phone company’s primary number is still a good idea, even if you don’t get many calls. An e-commerce clothing company with a fully online customer service system, for example, probably does not give much importance to generating phone calls when deciding on advertising spending.

However, you can have business consultations on your company’s mainline that can turn into partnerships and other ways to make money. It is important to know where these people found you.

Also, call tracking can be just as important for companies that still don’t understand the revenue potential of their phone calls. You may not check your phones often because you assume that customers prefer to submit forms online. By adding call tracking,

You can quickly know whether or not this is the case. Sometimes companies take just a few months with call tracking to realize that they are missing out on valuable phone call opportunities and need to reshape their advertising strategy.

Why Use Call Tracking With Your Agency?

While call tracking software is designed to be self-service for companies of all sizes, there are two main advantages to having your partner agency manage call tracking for you: more efficient ROI and transparency.

GENERATE PHONE CALLS FASTER

If you work with an agency that has knowledge in call tracking, getting them to handle your call tracking account saves your company time and money.

Many agencies handle the implementation and management of call tracking for dozens of customers daily. Why do it yourself, when you can have call tracking professionals to do it for you at a faster pace and with years of experience? It is a valid addition to your agency services contract, as it helps them generate more revenue for your company in less time.

Also, your agency team is likely to have direct connections to the call tracking provider’s support team. While you can only submit your support tickets, having your agency handle any problem-solving means solving them faster than you would on your own.

TRANSPARENCY AND RESPONSIBILITY

Given the amount of money that companies invest in partner agencies, it is necessary to know whether that money is generating revenue and ROI.

With call tracking, you can access your marketing analysis reports, call recordings, and other data to see for yourself how your agency is maximizing your advertising spend.

By requesting your agency to use call tracking, you will not only have a chance to improve your advertising ROI, but you will also be able to establish more trust and accountability with your partner agency.

If your agency still doesn’t use call tracking, it’s never too late to ask and start getting more out of your calls.

Learn more about  Business and Small Business at Digital Business Grow.