Call Tracking

Call Tracking / Features, Tips, & Announcements — No Comments
19
Nov 12

Call Tracking for Agency Accounts

In an effort to build business and loyalty among customers, agencies have found that diversification among product offerings has become essential. Offering clients a “one-stop shop” of products and services that meet varying needs has become a comprehensive strategy for increasing profitability among all business entities. When agencies execute a comprehensive strategy, a tighter bond is formed with the client.  Typical advertising agencies do not have the resources to provide all of the solutions that their clients require and therefore use third party “white labeled” systems as a way of integrating multiple platforms under the same branding. Many software companies allow agencies to white label their service so that it appears as their own. By doing this, agencies are able to provide an interface where all analytics that are provided are being done so by the third party, but are branded as if they are coming from the agency.

What do clients need from an agency? Agencies sell their services based on what a potential client needs at a particular point in time, such as their design services, development, creative, etc. But as a web presence has becomes essential from all brands, clients realize that they need to be driving online traffic to their website organically or with the help of a pay-per-click campaign. Over time agencies have learned that the use of third party analytics tools, and the associated data, are a necessity as they allow them to quickly and effectively validate the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns to their clients. As an agency, it is important to focus on a clients’ long term expected needs as well as their lifetime value to your business, in order to create a mutually profitable relationship.

How do we help agencies? When clients decide to take advantage of an agency’s advanced services, there becomes a need for agencies to justify the increased spending that occurs as a result. With our service agencies are able to track and measure the effectiveness of their online advertising and the offline phone call conversion that happens as a result.  For clients that have a web presence, but convert primarily over the phone, this is an essential correlation to make. White-labeling allows agencies to provide the metrics necessary in order to make an effective decision when it comes to how much is spent on marketing. For an agency, the ability to choose the right third party platforms for their clients is critical and is the difference between being seen as an indispensible partner for success or just another line item on a budget.

 

Clients rely on agencies to become thought leaders and trusted partners that are necessary for bringing new ideas, fresh perspectives and useful technologies to the table that are essential for growing a business. By becoming a strategic partner to agencies, we are able to help them directly measure the success of their initiatives as well as create long term and valuable client partnerships.

Interested in finding out more about how our technologies work and how we are best utilized as a partner? Contact us today!

 

Call Tracking / Features, Tips, & Announcements / Social Media — No Comments
17
Oct 12

Use Source Level Call Tracking to gain insight into your Facebook Advertising Conversions

Recently, the largest social media platform, Facebook, launched a new advertising initiative called Facebook Exchange as way to combat investor skepticism of its ability to become profitable. Since Facebook launched its IPO in May, many investors have been concerned regarding Facebook’s ability to monetize the value of its billion users.

Facebook Exchange taps into the power of retargeting, a technique that so many of the search engine powerhouses have already discovered. Retargeting allows companies to track a user’s visit and behavior using cookies, and as a result they are able to dish up targeted ads when the user is browsing the web, and now also when they are surfing Facebook.

The goal of the retargeted ad is simply to get users to click back onto the retail site that they visited earlier before, in effect, creating a new opportunity for the retailer to convert the visitor into a customer. The benefit of retargeting for Facebook is the increase in advertising revenue, which by some accounts has surged nearly 58% in the last year.

Most marketers are aware of how to track online conversions, but what about the offline conversions?

In many cases an offline conversion, via a phone call, is the result of an online advertisement click. The question comes into play as to how advertisers are able to associate the offline conversion to the online advertising source. And, why, in the instance of Facebook Exchange advertising is it valuable to track these conversions?

Because of the rising cost of online advertising, especially with Facebook, associating an offline conversion to the online source is essential. By implementing a source level call tracking phone number, all Facebook users who click on the retargeted ad will in effect see the same phone number on the website.

Source level call tracking allows marketers to attribute the offline conversion customer to the online advertising source.   Essentially, marketers can provision a call tracking phone number for any one of their online ad sources including Bing, Yahoo, Facebook, etc.  With this information, advertisers are able to see the aggregate number of calls from each online source and as a result can optimize their online advertising budgets towards the best performing campaigns.

For more information regarding out Source level call tracking or questions on how call tracking may work best for you contact our team!

Analytics / Call Tracking / Features, Tips, & Announcements — No Comments
9
Oct 12

Google’s Impact on Call Tracking

Last week Mongoose Metrics attended the Search Marketing Expo in New York City, in which Jeff Culliton, one of our Business Development Managers, presented on the subject of Google’s recent privacy policy updates and the impact on phone call tracking and the changes in the resulting analytics. This presentation was so well received that we thought we’d share the highlights with you.

First, how did Google’s privacy policy change? Google combined the privacy properties for all of their entities including Google +, YouTube and  Picasa so that when a user logs into one account and accepts a discloser form, it then allows Google to track user behavior across all business entities.

By having users accept the unified policy, Google is able to paint an even more detailed profile for each individual user who utilizes Google as a search engine. With this super granular profile information Google can provide potential advertisers with the  most detailed demographic info and consequently serve up the most pertinent ad to you. Google made this update as a way to make searches more private but also to know the user better and therefore give an overall better user experience.

Second, there is a downside (for marketers that is). When a user is logged into a secure Google account, Google will no longer provide analytic platforms with the organic search terms that the user searched for but will provide the search terms for all pay-per-click campaigns. For marketers and analytical trackers, this provides less information about user behavior and lessens the ability to optimize campaigns for organic keyword performance.

Third, what is the direct impact on analytic companies? We are now stuck with the dreaded “unknown” keyword in which we are unable to correlate phone calls to. At the moment no one knows for sure what the total impact of these changes are, but, current estimates place the number of secure Google searches between 7%-14%.   This number will no doubt climb as consumer privacy concerns continue to mount and undoubtedly certain verticals will be impacted at higher rates than others.

The only thing that is for certain is that search engine optimization professionals are going to have to find new and creative ways to optimize campaigns and await the next change from the web master (a.k.a. Google)

Follow Jeff on Twitter @jeffculltion for more happenin’ tidbits.

 

 

 

Analytics / Call Tracking / Social Media — No Comments
19
Sep 12

Soft Metrics may be the most popular but deeper insight is available with Mongoose Call Tracking

In this recent article posted by emarketer, it is stated that “57% of companies around the world said the deepest level at which they could track the effectiveness of social media marketing was in terms of engagement, such as the number of followers, comments and time spent on social pages. Even more agencies said this was the deepest metric their clients could track.”

Marketers attempt to connect their social media efforts to the company bottom line in a way that will not only justify that their efforts generate brand buzz but also result in sales.  Measuring success beyond soft metrics can seem difficult and few companies are aware that they are able to track bottom-line effects on revenues.

Traditional call tracking services have been around for years, but many businesses may be unaware of the ways to leverage traditional services in new marketing channels. When a unique phone call tracking phone number is utilized correctly, it can provide powerful insight into which marketing campaigns are driving phone calls and in the end, converting to sales.

Here’s how it works: A unique phone number is assigned to each social media channel, such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.  When those phone numbers are called, they can be correlated with those individual social media channels.

By assigning a unique phone number to each channel, companies can easily measure the value and significance of each marketing effort as well as attribute the correct dollar amount to the sales cycle.

 

Call Tracking / Features, Tips, & Announcements — No Comments
1
Aug 12

The Importance of Implementing Call Tracking by White Shark Media

For marketing campaigns with phone call touch-points, call tracking has become a widely used tool in our industry.  One such example of use is from Grethel Luna with White Shark Media.  She provided a clear case for using call tracking and how the technology lifts campaign ROI in her post, “The Importance of Implementing Call Tracking.”

The post provides a great check-list of campaign dimensions that favor the use of call tracking as well as a list of call tracking best practices that marketers need to keep in mind when embarking on call tracking campaigns.  Finally, there is case study campaign data shared which demonstrates how call tracking improves the understanding of campaign value to the client.

 

Call Tracking / Features, Tips, & Announcements — No Comments
3
May 12

Unbounce Integration: Unified Web Form and Phone Call Testing for Conversion Tracking (Part 2)

As a continuation from the Unbounce Integration Part 1 post we will be covering an advanced integration where the landing page conversion is later in the click funnel.  This advanced integration is perfect for measuring white paper conversions and any other campaign where the visitor may browse around before converting on the landing page.

Advanced Integration: Form and phone conversion tracking when a landing page is not the first click.

Landing Page Conversion Cycle

In a perfect world, web visitors will convert when and where you want them to. If only it were that easy!  For many campaigns, particularly where there is a B2B service or complex product, it is unreasonable to expect the site visitor to convert on the landing page without first browsing other areas of the website. Maybe the site visitor wants to explore your products, your pricing, check out you company background, look at your documentation. Your visitors may want to learn and fully examine your services before converting.

To allow for this degree of interaction while still tracking the user’s actions, the integration will need to be completed in a different manner. The key integration difference is that the Mongoose Metrics code is installed directly onto the website, rather than through Unbounce’s landing page, while still providing you with all the measuring and testing functionality you love in Unbouce. Mongoose Metrics’s custom global variables are key and must be installed in order to track from which page a tracking phone number call was made.

Here’s the high level overview of how the advanced integration will work.

 

Integration Steps – High Level Overview

  1. Install Mongoose Metrics’ JavaScript code on every page of your campaign website.
  2. On a wrapper page of your campaign website, include the Unbounce landing page using an iframe.
  3. On the wrapper page, that already has your Mongoose Metrics AccuTrack code installed, and has the iframe included to your Unbounce landing page, also install a JavaScript snippet that declares to a JavaScript variable the name of your Unbounce campaign.
  4. In Unbounce, complete the hidden form setup as described in the basic integration in Part 1.
  5. In Mongoose Metrics, complete the post-back URL setup as was also described in the basic integration in Part 1.

When this advanced integration is complete, a user can now freely browse your website and upon landing on the Unbounce landing page, which is pulled into your site via an iframe, a tracking phone number will be published. The correlation will be made between the visitor data and phone number and will be captured in Google Analytics.

Google Analytics

By integrating call tracking technology into your landing page or website you will be able to more effectively and efficiently measure online to offline conversions, providing you with reliable, clear and actionable data that can be used to optimize marketing campaigns and maximize return on investment.

Call Tracking / Mobile Marketing / Search Marketing / SEO / Social Media — No Comments
22
Mar 12

Mobile Readiness Study Results Show Interesting Insights On State of Mobile Readiness

Mobile statistics infographicWith 2011 being described as the year of mobile, our first research topic for the 2012 Data Series was easily decided. Smartphone adoption is close to reaching the halfway mark. Consumers have become increasingly reliant on using their mobile devices for a number of functions including mobile shopping. This growing adoption of mobile technology is largely what motivated Mongoose Metrics to research the mobile Web landscape for mobile readiness.

The Mobile Readiness Study included in this post outlines the research method utilized and the results of the mobile study, which analyzed mobile-readiness for the QuantCast Top Million Websites.

A brief summary of those results, which show that mobile readiness is lagging is shown below:

- Only approximately nine percent of the QuantCast Top Million Websites can be classified as mobile-ready.

- The rate of mobile readiness for the top 100,000 Websites increased to 14.8%.

- Despite a much larger marketshare for Android phones (47.3%) versus iPhone (29.6%), there is a slight preference to serve mobile device specific content to iPhones. Speculation as to why this is the case could be iPhone’s longer time in the smartphone market.

- Server-side redirects and JavaScript redirects are the preferred method of delivering mobile content among high-traffic websites.

- 73% of Websites ranked in the QuantCast Top 100,000 used a URL redirect as the method of delivering mobile content

To capture the state of mobile, we also developed the infographic included in this post,  which conveys some of the data from the study as well as other sources.

If you’d like to see the Mobile Readiness Study’s raw data, let us know. Feel free to comment, and share the report and infographic with anyone interested in mobile technology and mobile marketing.

 

Analytics / Call Tracking / Mobile Marketing / Offline Advertising / Search Marketing / Social Media — No Comments
12
Mar 12

2012 Data Series Launches

Mongoose Metrics understands the importance of leveraging data and technology to make good business decisions. Mongoose Metrics’ 2012 Data Series was released in late February. The Data Series is a way for us to share relevant, interesting data with the industry and start a conversation with community influencers about where we are with technology development and consumption.

The Data Series will consist of a number of topics including mobile, ecommerce and social media. Each month the Data Series will publish an original data-set and then invite industry experts to analyze and comment on the data.

The data-set for mobile has been published. Search Engine Land columnist Michael Martin’s article titled “Less Than 10% of  The Web In 2012 Is Mobile Ready” presents some of the mobile data results. The Mobile Readiness Study will be released on the blog soon. Be sure to sign-up for real-time updates for the Data Series.

Interested in reviewing or writing about our research? Have an idea for a topic? Send a note to marketing@mongoosemetrics.com.

Analytics / Call Tracking / CRM / Integration / Mobile Marketing / Offline Advertising / PPC / Search Marketing / SEO / Social Media — No Comments
24
Oct 11

Smart Marketing Insights From eMetrics NYC

Last week Mongoose Metrics visited New York City to attend the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit. The show’s focus was to help marketers and web analytics professionals turn data into insight. The keynote speakers included people from Expedia, IBM, eBay, Nissan, eMarketer and more. Surely these folks know the importance of obtaining data to develop critical insights that help today’s businesses succeed. As a marketing director, those insights are what I’m after too.

So what did I learn at the eMetrics show? Below are just a handful of insights that I feel are worth sharing.emetrics logo

  • Research shows that transparency equals trust. We all know that today’s consumers trust each other more than marketers.
  • Of course we all want good, reliable customer and analytical data to make good business decisions. But decisions must be made nonetheless. Go to war with the data you have, not the data you wish you had.
  • When trying to see a holistic view of your online social data, combine mentions from all networks at least to record the data – even if you’re not entirely accurate on the sentiment.
  • Be aware of the audience you’re in. Marketing speak isn’t going to cut it. As marketers we have to listen. Over time that listening leads to learning. Monitor social & understand what your customers say. Use their language in your ads, keywords, etc.
  • Mobile isn’t the future. It’s now. Don’t wait to embrace mobile. Companies like eBay that rely largely on online commerce recognize this and are quickly developing solutions to serve today’s tech-savvy mobile consumer.

Feel free to share any additional insights from the show or else comment on the ideas I’ve mentioned.

 

 

 

Call Tracking / Features, Tips, & Announcements / Mobile Marketing / Social Media — No Comments
17
Oct 11

Increase Conversions with QR Call Tracking Technology

Data shows that QR codes (Quick Response codes) are gaining interest from marketers. 57% of Facebook and Twitter users said they have scanned a mobile bar code at least once in the past year. Consumers want instant access to relevant information and QR codes help provide that access. With mobile growth exploding, allowing integration of QR Codes into marketing campaigns is an excellent way to boost conversions via mobile devices.

QR codes are a convenient way to encourage consumers to interact with a product or service. These codes are gaining traction as marketers identify new ways of integrating these trackable bar codes into their campaigns. Nearly two thirds of people have seen a QR code, with approximately one- third of those having used one. The technology behind QR codes is easy to use and implement – yet can be a very powerful marketing tool. Integrating QR technology with call tracking will allow marketers to better understand the behavior of their prospects.

Mongoose Metrics’ QR Call Tracking provides a number of benefits for customers that are serious about making conversion optimization part of their marketing strategy:

  • Capture & Measure Conversions: Drive conversions through QR Code implementation and call tracking efforts to measure mobile and other QR Code-driven marketing efforts.
  • Seamless Integration: Integrate QR Code Call Tracking with web analytics, bid management and CRM software for easy, consistent reporting.
  • Immediate Access: Instantly see traffic increases to your site – with QR codes’ ability to be accessed from anywhere via mobile.

With a growing number of searches being conducted via mobile devices and the availability of QR scanning apps for virtually every smartphone device, the power to increase conversions and optimize  marketing efforts is yours. Contact us today to learn more about QR Call Tracking.