As a pay-per-click (PPC) expert, there’s no denying that your marketing tools are supremely important to your job. You live in powerhouse platforms like Google Ads (formerly AdWords) and are always on the hunt for the best software to juggle a near-infinite number of tasks. After all, using top-tier tools and methods is what helps you better understand your audience and create optimized PPC campaigns. (Not to mention make your agency stand out against your competitors!)
But what if there’s key data that your PPC platforms aren’t capturing? This is a dilemma that can be difficult to tackle: How do you examine touchpoints that aren’t just clicks or form submissions? And why examine those actions when clicks seem to be the primary objective?
These are the types of questions next-level PPC marketers are asking themselves to stay one step ahead — and they’re using PPC call tracking in CallRail to get answers.
Answering the call: PPC call tracking basics
The mobile era has changed the way marketers observe user interactions — more than ever, inbound calls are a key marketing channel for determining the overall health and success of a business. Or, as Google put it: “Living in a mobile-first world has made it easier than ever to pick up the phone and talk to a business directly.”
For agencies, mobile data can be a key factor in assessing your audience’s behavior and for creating marketing strategies to capitalize on that behavior. For PPC marketers, inbound calls are a type of conversion that can provide critical data in how you construct your paid campaigns. In other words, call tracking can be a strategic asset that will help your agency enhance your campaigns and make better use of your marketing budget.
After a prospective customer completes an online search and is ready to make a purchase, they’re looking for the quickest and easiest way to get in touch. And so, a solution like click-to-call in a mobile campaign provides the easy and hassle-free experience your customers want. A simple phone call made from a mobile ad is all it takes for an interested customer to be instantly connected and converted.
More so than just about any other touchpoint, phone calls are evidence of a huge win for your marketing campaigns. But if you’re not tracking and analyzing these wins, you’re missing out on crucial data, like knowing exactly which keywords from your campaigns are helping to drive calls.
How much should you be paying for your PPC marketing? Use our handy PPC calculator to estimate your budget.
Key tools for PPC call tracking pros
CallRail makes it possible for you to elevate your agency’s PPC ads with visitor Call Tracking. PPC pros are using this solution on a daily basis to see which keywords prospective customers are searching for as they interact with online campaigns.
This ultimately provides the ability to track calls coming from paid ads on various search engines and social media platforms. If you’re looking for an even deeper level of granularity you can access tons of features that were created to customize how you use visitor call tracking.
Here’s our three features that PPC experts are leveraging to set their work apart:
This extracts more value out of your call transcriptions –– instantly spotting key terms from a call based on the customized key terms you set. Most call tracking software applications have this feature built in. Check out G2 Crowd’s comprehensive list of call tracking software providers.
Similar to automation rules, Call Highlights recommends intelligent keyword suggestions that you may not have originally considered to help improve your PPC bidding strategies.
3) CallScore
We built something pretty cool to help marketers better understand the value of the inbound calls they were receiving: an AI-powered automatic lead scorer that uses machine learning technology to tell you which calls are qualified leads and which aren’t. It’s pretty cool. Read more about it here.
These features were built with the aim of helping agencies take their campaigns to the next level. By taking advantage of these powerful tools, you’ll be equipped with the data you need to go beyond standard PPC campaigns and deliver real, measurable results to your clients. _Read more about the key metrics you need in every PPC report. _
#Winning: Call tracking and PPC work better, together
SalesX, an award-winning CallRail customer, is definitely winning when it comes to bolstering PPC thrust with call tracking. These digital advertising experts have been using call tracking for years to deliver superior results to their clients, while also going beyond the status quo of only measuring form submissions or clicks. SalesX chose to integrate call tracking to make sure all channels of contact were accurately being accounted for. By making call tracking work for them they’ve been able to see amazing results, including reducing a client’s cost per lead by 90 percent.
In an era defined by its obsession with everything smartphones are capable of — except for actually making phone calls — the best of the best PPC marketers understand that calls are still crucial to the health and success of a business. Even with all the advances we’ve seen in digital communication, regular phone calls are still a key channel for customers and leads to get in touch with your business.
Some marketing agencies may feel that advancements in online tracking and analytics have made calls obsolete. Of course, that ignores the fact that more people than ever before are still using calls to contact businesses every day, thanks in no small part to mobile click-to-call technology and smartphone ubiquity. So if you’re disregarding the value of inbound calls, you’re also passing on opportunities to greatly improve your PPC campaigns, to provide intelligent attribution data, and to further prove your worth to your clients.
If you’re ready to take advantage of all the benefits call tracking can bring to your business, you can start right now: Begin your 14-day free trial of CallRail, or request a personalized demo.
