HOW CAN A PPC SPECIALIST UNDERSTAND WHAT ADS CUSTOMERS ARE CALLING FROM?
HOW CAN A PPC SPECIALIST UNDERSTAND WHAT ADS CUSTOMERS ARE CALLING FROM?
It is very important for a marketer and advertising specialist to understand what kind of advertising brings a customer. Otherwise, he can't make an informed decision on where to invest the marketing budget. But if Google Analytics easily shows the sources of online conversions, with call sources everything is not so simple. Read how to determine which ads attract customers.
WHY TRACK CALLS FROM ADS AT ALL
Someone thinks that it is enough to know only about the sources of online conversions - e.g. ordering, adding goods to the cart. And one can do without connection data. But this is not the case for several reasons.
- In many types of businesses, sales often start with a phone call. For example, in real estate and medicine, car sales, education, hiring domestic staff. This also applies to buying expensive goods or ordering services, where much is based on trust. For example, in the legal, financial and insurance fields.
- If you don't track calls, you can't see all conversions. This means you can't correctly assess which advertising is really working. Suppose you have three online conversions from campaign No. 1, but none from campaign No. 2. It would seem that the first campaign is more effective. However, it may turn out that there were actually 10 calls from the second campaign. If this is not taken into account, you may accidentally turn off running ads.
- Usually the warmest customers call. To pick up the phone and call, you need to be interested enough to buy. Therefore, it is better to know which ad attracts the most motivated buyers. And create the most effective ads and creatives based on its example.
HOW TO UNDERSTAND WHICH ADS GENERATE CALLS
- Call information may not be recorded in any way in Google Analytics and other analytics systems. Because this phone call is offline. The user opens the page, sees the phone number, calls the company and places an order, and then closes the page. There appear to be no conversions and simply nothing to report in Google Analytics.
Fortunately, there are special services that record the conversion to a call and its advertising source. And even then they can send this information to Google Analytics. A similar tool is called call tracking or call tracking. You can connect it, for example, on the Ringostat platform.
Here is a brief description of how call tracking works in online ads.
Here is a brief description of how call tracking works in online ads.
- A user goes to a company's website from an ad.
- The call tracking code installed on the site replaces the company's phone number indicated there.
- The visitor sees the replacement number and calls it.
- Сall tracking connects data about the number that was called with the ad that brought the customer.
- Information about the phone call and its advertising source is recorded in call tracking reports.
- If several people visit the site at the same time, each will see a separate alternate number. So call tracking will clearly identify which ads brought each customer.
Incidentally, call tracking is also suitable for those companies that place phones offline: on business cards, billboards, in the newspaper, etc. In each of these places you must provide a separate alternate phone number. The same way call data is collected in the report.
Here's an example of what a report with call sources might look like:
Here's an example of what a report with call sources might look like:
5 TIPS FOR MARKETERS AND PPC PROFESSIONALS ON HOW TO USE CALL REPORTING
If you are running a new campaign, wait a week and a half to two weeks to collect data. Then you can draw important conclusions about the performance of the ad. If you work for a large company with a lot of phone calls, you can price the return on the ad even earlier.
Immediately after running a new ad, wait a few hours and check the report to see if phone calls have started. This will help you quickly spot shortcomings if something has gone wrong. If there are no calls at all, it is possible that the phone number is indicated in the ad with an error. Or the ad is completely unattractive, the price is incorrectly indicated, etc.
Don't limit yourself to just the call log - a basic report that collects all phone calls. See a separate report on calls from contextual advertising, which is available from Ringostat, for example. Or create your own sample of calls from a specific channel or campaign.
Don't just view the reports, but also listen to the audio recordings of the calls on them. These are always automatically included with each call. This way you will understand how customers perceive the ad. If people ask the same questions over and over again, the ad may not contain enough information. It will also become clear if the ad contains phrases that mislead users. Because of what they call non-target audiences, and the budget is wasted.
Pay attention to the number of missed calls. If there are more than 5-10%, there is an opportunity to talk about the problem with the head of the sales department. After all, every missed call from contextual advertising is a gift to the competition and a wasted budget to attract leads.
Immediately after running a new ad, wait a few hours and check the report to see if phone calls have started. This will help you quickly spot shortcomings if something has gone wrong. If there are no calls at all, it is possible that the phone number is indicated in the ad with an error. Or the ad is completely unattractive, the price is incorrectly indicated, etc.
Don't limit yourself to just the call log - a basic report that collects all phone calls. See a separate report on calls from contextual advertising, which is available from Ringostat, for example. Or create your own sample of calls from a specific channel or campaign.
Don't just view the reports, but also listen to the audio recordings of the calls on them. These are always automatically included with each call. This way you will understand how customers perceive the ad. If people ask the same questions over and over again, the ad may not contain enough information. It will also become clear if the ad contains phrases that mislead users. Because of what they call non-target audiences, and the budget is wasted.
Pay attention to the number of missed calls. If there are more than 5-10%, there is an opportunity to talk about the problem with the head of the sales department. After all, every missed call from contextual advertising is a gift to the competition and a wasted budget to attract leads.
WHAT TO DO WITH CALL DATA TO MAKE ADS WORK EVEN BETTER
- Integrate call tracking and Google Analytics. This will automatically feed call data into your web analytics system. There you can analyze them along with online conversions. This way you will see the full impact of your advertising without losing important information. Here's an example of what call data can look like in Google Analytics reports:
- Get rid of channels, campaigns and keywords that don't deliver results. And invest the money you save in advertising that has shown the best result in terms of calls and orders. This will increase your performance with the same budget.
- Find and fix problem areas. Let's say, listening to calls, you've discovered that certain wording is misleading customers. For example, an ad says "Fast delivery from Portugal," and people think it's a few days. That phrase can be removed from the ad. Or some small product brings very few orders. You can lower the rates for its advertising - and save money again.
- Use effective low-frequency keywords that your competitors have missed. These are phrases that characterize the product or service with great accuracy. Such keywords are usually "unpopular", there is almost no competition for them, which means it is cheaper to promote yourself. Let's assume that customers often use the keyword "slim dress with a sweetheart neckline." That's a reason to use it in relevant campaigns.
- Gradually lower the rates for keywords that generate calls and potential sales, but are too expensive. Over time, it will be possible to reduce the rate to a normal level. In extreme cases, the ad will simply stop displaying. If overpaying is not an option - this option is also suitable.
- Develop a semantic core and a list of exclusionary keywords. By listening to the calls, you can identify keywords you may have missed. For example, jargon, professional slang. You will also understand which keywords attract non-target audiences. Sometimes these can be words that seem absolutely right. Add them to your list of exclusionary keywords, and only potential customers will call you.
CONCLUSIONS
Without call analytics, a marketer or PPC specialist will not be able to see the full picture of advertising returns. Indeed, in many companies, a large portion of orders are fulfilled by phone. Not knowing which ads display them means losing some conversions.
This problem is completely solved by call tracking - call tracking. This is a tool that allows you to link a phone call to its advertising source and fix it in a special report.
By looking at call tracking reports, a specialist can understand whether an ad is effective or just wasting the advertising budget. Call tracking reports will also show which keywords bring the most hits. Such keywords can then be used in new ads to make the advertising as effective as possible.
This problem is completely solved by call tracking - call tracking. This is a tool that allows you to link a phone call to its advertising source and fix it in a special report.
By looking at call tracking reports, a specialist can understand whether an ad is effective or just wasting the advertising budget. Call tracking reports will also show which keywords bring the most hits. Such keywords can then be used in new ads to make the advertising as effective as possible.
