If you think call tracking platforms are only used by call centers to record calls and monitor their performance, you may be in for a nice surprise.
The marketing and sales functions of different organizations use call tracking platforms to identify marketing campaigns that drive calls to the business. For instance, you are running an ad campaign and a social media campaign in tandem. You’re receiving calls from prospects but don’t know which campaign is driving them. So, how can you determine the effectiveness of your campaigns? This is why companies use a call tracking platform.
In this two-part series on call tracking platforms, we’ll discuss everything from what call tracking platforms are and how they work to why B2B businesses should use them to their benefit.
What Are Call Tracking Platforms?
A call tracking platform can help identify the source of incoming phone calls to a business. It helps you determine who is calling and which campaigns are driving the calls. Then your marketing and sales teams can attribute incoming calls to different marketing channels. Without an efficient call tracking platform, it’s nearly impossible to showcase the ROI of your marketing efforts.
A call tracking platform can typically record the following information:
- The phone number of the incoming caller
- The location of the call
- The source of the call (which marketing campaign drove the call)
- The duration and time of each incoming call
- The total number of incoming calls received by your business
Notable Features of a Call Tracking Platform
There are a bunch of call tracking platforms in the marketplace; ensure they comprise these basic and advanced call tracking features before investing in one.
Basic Features of a Call Tracking Platform
- Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI): It is one of the most critical features of a call tracking platform. This feature looks for numbers from a pool of numbers belonging to a business and swaps them on different marketing platforms to determine the source of inbound calls.
- Call recording: To ensure call quality, call recording is a must. This feature can come in handy while evaluating the performance of your staff.
- Multi-channel distribution: This feature allows businesses to track a customer’s entire journey leading up to an incoming call.
- Integrations: You don’t need to replace your existing analytics platform with a call tracking platform. Instead, look at integrations. Many call tracking platforms these days allow integrations with Google Analytics, Google Ads, KISSmetrics, HubSpot, and more.
Advanced Features of a Call Tracking Platform
- Call transcription: For those who don’t have enough time to listen to call recordings, this feature can be of great use. You can make the most of call transcriptions to gain insights from what prospects are saying and use them to improve your marketing material.
- Call highlights: This is one of the most interesting features of call tracking platforms. It automatically tags keywords in calls and allows you to find insights you may have never expected. You can use these keywords to improve the performance of your ad campaigns.
- Visitor tracking: This feature also revolves around keyword usage. It allows you to pick keywords you want to be highlighted in your calls. For instance, if you’ve recently launched a product, you may flag its name to get a list of common questions prospects are asking.
How Does a Call Tracking Platform Function?
Call tracking platforms typically use these methods to track calls:
- Call-back function: It is a helpful, web-based feature to provide customers with the convenience of receiving a callback from a business. All the customers need to do is submit their phone number on the business’ website. The call tracking platform automatically schedules a callback.
- Call number tracking: The incoming call is registered using specific tracking numbers and traditional phone servers.
- Dynamic call tracking: In this case, businesses display different phone numbers for different campaigns to audiences across different regions. This process is known as dynamic number insertion (DNI).
- Static call tracking: A single number is hard-corded to a business’ page. It does not change according to different campaigns. The disadvantage of using static number tracking is that you have limited metrics to gauge the performance of different marketing campaigns.
Who Should Use a Call Tracking Platform?
Any company that is driving inbound calls should use a call tracking platform to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of its marketing campaigns. Call Tracking is especially valuable for these industries:
- Automotive
- Financial
- Healthcare
- Home services
- Insurance
- Real estate
- Telecom
- Travel
Why Should B2B Companies Use a Call Tracking Platform?
Let’s look at how businesses can benefit from call tracking platforms. Here’s a list of problems call tracking platforms can help businesses solve:
- Identify marketing campaigns that are driving inbound calls
- Track keywords that are generating inbound calls
- Assess whether qualified leads are making the inbound calls
- Locate areas of improvement
- Boost marketing ROI
- Personalize caller experience
If your company needs to be better equipped to make decisions about ad/marketing spend, investing in call tracking software is a smart place to start.