We are a call tracking company with thousands of phone numbers. And one of the first questions people ask us is this –> Where should I put my call tracking phone numbers?
The second question is — > Can I use my tracking numbers in my online or digital advertising?
These are good questions! And we’re going to answer them, but first, let’s cover discuss what call tracking is. At its most basic level, call tracking tells a business which marketing methods and advertising campaigns are generating phone calls, and which are not.
It is obvious to see this evidence when you assign different phone tracking numbers to different pieces of advertising and marketing. Convirza tracks every call made from each phone number. Using our Marketing Dashboard, you can see in real-time which phone numbers are generating calls. You understand which advertising methods are working.
Here’s a simple graphic that displays the basic way call tracking works.
Now back to the big questions.
What should you do with your tracking number?
Where should you put it?
Where should you advertise your tracking phone number?
Call tracking may be used anywhere you need call analytics and call measurements. The tracking numbers work in traditional advertising and on any digital site. In fact, dynamic number insertion or DNI is a powerful tool that identifies important metrics. DNI provides multi-touch attribution, including:
A recent article goes into more detail online call tracking, Dynamic Number Insertion Options – More Exciting Than You Think.
1) Your Website
This is the most obvious place to put your phone number. Put it in a prominent place on your website. Phone calls are valuable and people are calling more than ever. So don’t think your website is the only thing customers need.
2) Your Facebook Page
What do all the ‘Like me on Facebook’ plugs actually do for you? Seriously? Is a business Facebook page worth investing in or spending time on? Find out by putting a tracking number on your Facebook page. See if anyone calls you.
3) Your Linkedin Page
Make sure you have a phone number on your company Linkedin Profile.
4) TV
We had a client who had, for years, had advertised on TV and radio. He spent $4000 – $5000 every few months on a fresh batch of TV and radio ads. He assumed they were working. Then he bought some tracking phone numbers from us. Well, it turned out that his 6 radio ads and 2 TV ads didn’t generate one phone call! Not one! You’re welcome. Now, we have other clients that say TV and radio ads generate lots of phone calls. Again, they know this because they have tracking numbers on these ads.
5) Radio
See above.
6) Emails
Many businesses send regular emails. These could be newsletters or some sort of lead nurturing campaign. Why not put a tracking phone number on these emails to see if anyone picks up the phone to call?
7) Newsletters
You know that quarterly newsletter you send to everyone on your mailing list. Does it do any good? Do they read it? Put a phone number in the newsletter to find out.
8) Yellow Pages
Listing your business in the Yellow Pages is a necessity. Why? Because people still use the phone book and an increasing number of people search the yellow pages online. When they see your business, they see a phone number too.
9) Online Listings
We are writing entire articles about online listings and local SEO. There’s a lot to talk about here. But, suffice it to say that when someone types ‘tires San Jose’ into Google, they had better see your shop come up. And there had better be a tracking phone number associated with it.
10) Your Business Cards –
Put phone tracking numbers on your business cards. Companies still use business cards. They hand them out to leads and put them in jars at restaurants. Are they effective? Do they generate phone calls?
11) Your Brochures and Literature
You probably have a brochure you give prospects or a letterhead with a phone number. You should put tracking phone numbers on each of those items. What’s the point of that nice letter you sent them if they don’t call you?
12) Fliers
Maybe you are a business that attends trade shows, or you host community events or you have fliers available in your store. Many local businesses use fliers. Do you know if they work or if they are a waste of money? Did anyone who picked up a flier and call you? If not…why would you create fliers in the future?
13) Direct Mailer
Even in our digital world, direct mail ads are trendy this year and gaining popularity. Direct mail gets your business in front of consumers immediately. But do they work? Always advertise your phone number in your direct mailers.
14) Classified
Many businesses run classified ads in newspapers and magazines. They should all have a tracking phone number. Why? Because you don’t want to waste money running advertising that doesn’t work.
15) Newspaper Inserts
Every local and national paper has ads and coupons that pull out of the paper. Put a tracking number on these.
16) Magazine and Print Advertising
This is your standard, old-school advertising. Most businesses have run a print ad somewhere at some point. Did the print ad work? Did it generate phone calls? Use a tracking number and find out.
17) Billboards
What’s better than a giant billboard with your logo and a tracking phone number? Not much. Want to be memorable? Use a Vanity Tracking Number and increase inbound calls by about 30%.
18) Internet Banner Ads
Most medium and large companies run Internet banner ads. You could put a phone number directly on them or, use dynamic number insertion, a click on a banner ad would generate a specific tracking number on your website. Let me say that a different way. A unique—and fully trackable—phone number is automatically generated on a website depending upon how the website is accessed. What does that mean? It means that you could see how many people clicked on your banner ad and then called you. Wow.
19) Facebook Ads
Using the same principles and dynamic number insertion technology as Internet banner ads you can buy ads on Facebook and measure the calls that each specific ad generates.
20) Linkedin Ads
See above.
21) Pay-per-click or PPC Campaigns
You can place a phone number within the Google Ad itself or, with DNI, generate a unique number on your website. This allows you to track how effective your Google Ads campaign is.
22) Google, Yahoo, Bing Search
Using dynamic number insertion, you generate a different number on your website dependent upon how someone accesses your website via organic search.
23) Craigslist
It’s easy, it’s free, and you can advertise phone number on the listing. Yes, use a tracking number anywhere you need to verify effectiveness.
24) BBB, Chamber of Commerce, etc.
Most businesses pay to be a part of local or national directories. Is it worth it? Find out with tracking phone numbers on those listings.
25) QR Codes
A tracking number proves how effective your QR Codes are.
26) Goodies and Giveaways
Every Christmas, millions of businesses send out a bunch of swag to leads and current customers. They send stuff like calendars, pens, mousepads, etc. Why not put a phone number on those.
Here’s the cool thing with the list above: most of these advertising methods are free or very low cost. So, you should get a few tracking phone numbers and immediately start putting that phone number in a variety of places.
Convirza can change your marketing performance and save you money. But it won’t do anything (literally, there is no data in the system) until you advertise phone numbers and people start calling them.
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4 comments. Leave new
Very Useful. Thanks Stacy
Nice Insights..
[…] Call Tracking 101: Where to Advertise Phone Numbers […]
Hope this helped you and gave you some new ideas and ways to promote your phone number and drive more phone call leads.