Online Marketing Strategies from MarketerInsight

This article was printed in the August 29, 2008 edition of The Charlotte Business Journal.

Have you ever wondered which online marketing campaign is making your phone ring or which online advertising source is resulting in calls that generate sales?  By using call tracking with your online marketing campaigns, you can effectively track and measure your phone sales from their online campaign source.

What is call tracking? For years, traditional marketers have used dedicated phone numbers to track off-line campaigns like direct mail, print, broadcast and outdoor ads.  However, online marketing is a bit more complex because unique phone numbers are required for every keyword combination that results in a visitor generated through an Internet search. Call tracking allows online marketers to track the entire journey from online visitor to offline telephone call to final purchase in an efficient and meaningful way.

How does call tracking work? Call tracking can be integrated into various online marketing tactics including pay-per-click advertising and online media buying. It works by displaying a unique, toll-free telephone number each time a visitor comes to your Web site. The phone number is associated with a specific keyword combination and online marketing source so that when the visitor decides to go offline to gather more information, you can immediately tell from where that lead came. Marketers can then optimize their online campaigns based on trackable sales calls that result in new customers.

Contrary to what you might think, you don’t have to worry about managing a plethora of phone numbers. They are reused after the visitor leaves the site, thereby minimizing the volume of phone numbers required.

Why invest in call tracking? Call tracking enables you to gather important data about the prospects and customers who call in response to online promotions and marketing campaigns, and you can use that information to turn more callers into buyers. Your organization can then categorize and prioritize calls, routing high value calls to select representatives.

From an operational standpoint, call tracking combined with online marketing can smooth out the peak call times when callers have to wait for a representative.  Likewise it can also generate calls during off-peak times to improve utilization of your representatives.

How can I maximize my return on investment? When call tracking is combined with pay-per-click campaigns or online media buying, measuring a return on your online marketing investment becomes more comprehensive and maximizing that return requires continual analysis of the keywords being used to generate phone calls. Keywords that entice highly qualified prospects to visit your site and then call you offer the greatest return whereas keywords that do not result in good leads should be eliminated. Adjusting your search marketing keywords in this way is critical to maximizing your return on advertising. Whether the conversion is a new account, lead, or transaction, clear keyword analysis is essential in getting the best return on an online marketing investment.

Eric Dudley is president and founder of Internet marketing agency WebsiteBiz and frequent contributor to www.MarketerInsight.com. He can be reached at 704-338-1794 or visit www.WebsiteBiz.com for more information.