Call tracking is one of the most overlooked tools in local marketing—and one of the most powerful. While digital clicks are easy to track, many local businesses still close their best deals over the phone. If you don’t know where those calls are coming from, you’re flying blind. Whether it’s answering product questions, scheduling a service, or securing a sale, phone calls are a critical source of business.
Call tracking marketing enables businesses to identify the source of their calls, determine which marketing efforts are driving them, and assess the effectiveness of those calls in converting to sales. For local businesses, this can be the key to tailoring their marketing strategies and improving customer responses.
In this guide, we’ll break down the basics so you can start seeing real results with optimized marketing call tracking.
Call tracking is a tool that enables businesses to identify and analyze phone calls generated by their advertising efforts. It tells you where a call is coming from and can be used to tie them to specific marketing efforts, such as websites, social media campaigns, and flyers.
Rather than guessing which ad campaigns are driving customer calls, call tracking gives you a clear, data-driven answer. With this information, you can focus on doing what works and stop wasting time on what doesn’t.
When it comes to marketing, call tracking provides various strategic benefits that help you tailor campaigns more effectively. Each phone call is a valuable lead or business opportunity, and call tracking can help you get the information you need to get more.
Phone call tracking for marketing helps you close the gap between your digital advertising efforts and the offline customer actions that keep your business running. For those looking to make the most of their marketing budgets, it’s an essential part of any MarTech toolkit.
Call tracking may sound like an overly technical process, but it’s pretty straightforward. There are two main types of call tracking:
Static call tracking is the simplest approach and generally works best for offline campaigns. DNI is better suited to digital campaigns and can help you track calls generated by social media posts, websites, and other elements of your virtual ad campaigns.
Here’s an example of what call tracking looks like in action:
Call tracking turns everyday customer phone calls into actionable marketing data that businesses can use to drive sales, uncover leads, and deliver high-quality customer service.
If it’s not clear by now, for businesses looking to better understand the impact of their marketing efforts, call tracking matters quite a lot. For local businesses, success can be as simple as keeping the phone ringing.
For small businesses, especially, many of the best leads come from phone calls, not just clicks or online form submissions. For local businesses, call tracking benefits include:
Call tracking is more than a marketing tool—it’s a valuable asset for local businesses looking to grow. It’s a way to get the data you need to move your company forward.
The best call tracking software for your business should integrate seamlessly, be simple to use, and deliver real, action-ready results. Choose a scalable software that’s ready to grow with you and won’t hold you back with limited functions and support. User-friendly solutions are intuitive and simple to set up, offering small businesses a leg up in getting the information they need to execute smart, data-backed marketing strategies.
Here are some qualities that set great call tracking platforms apart:
Many call tracking software platforms offer additional features that can help you make the most of your campaign monitoring efforts. The best solution is always the one that suits your business model, backend processes, and company culture. There’s no one-size-fits-all, so it’s important to choose a versatile provider who can meet your needs.
Getting into a new call tracking software is simple when you have the right tools. Here’s a quick look at what it takes to get started.
Pick a provider that understands your business’s challenges, needs, and goals. Select a platform that suits your budget and includes essential features such as DNI, reporting tools, and integrations with your current marketing tools.
Your call tracking applications might be different from the business down the road. Determine which marketing channels, campaigns, and sources you want to monitor via call tracking. Assign unique tracking numbers to each source so you can accurately tie calls back to specific efforts.
Use your call tracking software to create static numbers for offline campaigns and DNI numbers for websites. For DNI, you’ll need to insert the tracking script on your site (through a small code snippet) so it can dynamically display the proper number when customers click through.
Configure how calls are routed to your main business line. If permitted, enable call recording and set up transcriptions so you can gain deeper insights into essential customer conversations. You may also want to set up notifications, call tagging, and filters to help organize incoming call data.
Once you start receiving data, use your call tracking platform to analyze the results of your efforts. Once you have the information at your fingertips, it’s up to you to decide how you use it!
With call tracking, marketing teams have access to all the essential data points they need to deliver real-world results. And while it’s up to you to make the marketing choices that bring in the leads, you need the right tools to get accurate, actionable data. PowerChord is the flexible, scalable solution for businesses looking to grow their marketing arsenal.
Take advantage of our LOCAL+ Marketing Bundle to get all the call tracking benefits you need—and more—to help your business thrive! Chat with a PowerChord team member to get started today.
Q: What’s the difference between static and dynamic call tracking?
A: Static call tracking uses dedicated numbers for each channel (like flyers or billboards). Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI) automatically changes the phone number based on how someone arrived at your site—great for digital campaigns.
Q: Will call tracking hurt my SEO?
A: No. As long as you use DNI correctly, your core business number stays consistent in local listings and schema markup. Call tracking doesn’t impact your rankings when set up properly.
Q: Can call tracking show which ad led to a sale?
A: Yes. With call attribution, you can see which campaign, keyword, or source drove each call—and use that to measure conversions.
Q: Do I need a lot of tech experience to use call tracking software?
A: Not at all. Most modern platforms are plug-and-play, with visual dashboards and integrations with tools you already use.
Q: How many phone numbers do I need to track my marketing?
A: That depends on how many sources you want to track. Each unique channel (Google Ads, Facebook, print, etc.) typically gets its own number for accurate attribution.