Five Ways to Use Inbound Call Marketing to Track Your Prospects

Do you know the five ways to use inbound call marketing to track your prospects? We’ve all been there. We’re searching the web with our mobile phone and we find a product or service that interests us. We want and need more information, but if getting that information means filling out a form on our mobile phone, we go searching elsewhere. According to the Mobile Marketing Association, 90 percent of people have their mobile phones within arms reach at all times. 

Sound familiar? This is happening every minute of every day and now more than ever, marketers need a way to capture those leads in a manner that is easy for the prospect. Enter inbound call marketing. According to Harris Interactive, a full 77 percent of online shoppers want live assistance available when making a purchase, especially a higher-end or non-tangible purchase such as financial services, insurance or education.

While many companies are working hard to create compeling landing pages on their websites, sending intriguing email campaigns and publishing informative white papers, they are missing the boat if they aren't using inbound call marketing. Google estimates that 15 - 30 percent of all searches taking place on a mobile device. It is becoming more and more relevant to companies that want to track what inbound marketing lead source is providing the most and best – prospects. Just as Google Analytics allows marketers to understand which keywords drive a higher click-through rate, there now is a similar solution that allows marketers to track call-based revenue back to search ads and keywords.

Inbound call marketing gives marketers a complete picture of how their search initiatives are performing by connecting calls with their search initiatives. Here is how it works:

• Campaign-specific phone numbers and pooled promotional numbers are tied to specific keywords

• A keyword search is performed

• A promotional phone number specific to that keyword is assigned for a period of time 

• The calls placed to that phone number are tracked, allowing marketers to see which keywords are driving calls 

This is important as more and more people use their mobile phones to search the Internet.

But even if these people simply want some information, filling out a form from a mobile phone is cumbersome and time-consuming. So giving prospects an option to place a call makes sense, especially since, according to Google, simply adding a phone number to search placements improves click-through rates anywhere from 5 - 30 percent.

Inbound call marketing providers get that many small and medium-sized businesses have an online presence but don't actually sell their products and services online. So phone calls and tracking where and how those calls were initiated is valuable data to help budget their ad dollars. We like Ring Revenue because their solution integrates with HubSpot, a leading provider of inbound marketing software. So now HubSpot users can include inbound call marketing in their arsenal, and track inbound calls like they would track clicks.

With this solution, marketers can use inbound call marketing in a number of ways:

1. Display a dynamic phone number on a website this will help marketers indicate how many inbound calls are initiated by people visiting a specific web page.

2. Include a campaign-specific phone number on email campaigns this will arm marketers with the ability to track calls-to-action against email open rates.

3. Split test keywords in either organic search or PPC campaigns to determine which keywords generate the most conversions this will help to determine which kind of ad is generating more traffic, and calls, and potentially adjust the PPC spend.

4. Send traffic to a web-enabled landing page, with a campaign-specific phone number displayed. This will help determine how much traffic and calls are initiated from that specific landing page.

5. Record calls to ensure quality assurance this will ensure a higher level of customer service, which customers expect and companies need. The recorded calls will also work well for training purposes.

Keeping your eye on all channels of your media spend is critical to understand where and how your customers come to you, as well as which activities produce the highest conversion rates.

How do you see using inbound call marketing in your business? Are you already using it, and if so, what are some of the results you have seen? Please share your thoughts and experiences.