By Michael Taylor, BIA Kelsey, February 16, 2010 — Link to BIA Kelsey blog here.  

I had the opportunity to speak with Brad Reynolds, CEO of Mongoose Metrics a Cleveland, Ohio based call measurement and conversion analytics company. Brad was quick to point out that they are not simply a call tracking company, but a company dedicated to linking online and offline conversion so clients can better understand what leads to sales conversions. According to Brad, “Our business is based around illuminating the sales funnel related to offline conversions. Our goal is to make it easy to track online and offline conversions side-by-side. We want to drive actions like tweaking marketing spend and efforts with a full basket of information.”

While some companies focus entirely on online conversions, the reality, according to Mongoose Metrics, is that a large majority of transactions occur offline via the phone. In most cases there is a chain of events that lead to an offline conversion. By better understanding how online and offline media influence the conversion path, marketers have a better sense of what media and messages they should be using to maximize their effectiveness. With good offline and online conversion data in hand, brands can personalize their messages across media to create a conversation and a stronger relationship.

Mongoose Metrics has also been busy putting together an effective international local number tracking network and recently put together deals in Canada and the UK to deliver true local exchange numbers across both countries. Rather than relying on VoIP numbers or toll free numbers, Mongoose is now able to offer local telephone numbers better linking businesses to their local area. “Until recently, it had been nearly impossible for Canadian and UK companies to use local phone numbers to follow visitors from web-to-phone to understand how their websites drive phone calls and ultimately sales,” according to Reynolds. Mongoose Metrics move into the UK and Canada is a first step in expanding internationally.

When asked where call measurement is headed in the near term, Reynolds quickly pointed to mobile. “While many feel there will be transactions handled on the handset, the current reality is that most sites are not fully enabled for mobile screens, requiring too many clicks and too much scrolling. People want to get a quick answer to their question and often will revert to contacting the store or company since it is easier — and they have a phone in their hand to expedite the need for information. Click to call features makes sense on the mobile web and will offer yet another layer in understanding where offline conversions are initiated.”

When asked what other developments they are working on, Reynolds replied, “Mongoose is currently working on a few proprietary products to provide deeper analytics of incoming calls and hopes to create a way to trigger specific actions tied to a recognized set of keywords. This is yet another step Mongoose is taking to help drive conversions and personalize the communication between consumers and advertisers.”

 Mongoose Metrics’ AccuTrack Session product allows customers to view what web site the caller visited before he or she called into the client.  AccuTrack Session’s Last URL product feature is the key to this service. Marketers can literally see what lead customers to their site with this service. By tracking the last URL, marketers can gain understandings around their website conversion points or failures.

The Last URL  feature is accomplished through our AccuTrack Session keyword level phone call tracking product.  During AccuTrack Session setup, customers place a javascript code snippet on their campaign web pages. This allows Mongoose Metrics to chronicle each site visitor’s page visit.  We can then correlate the site visit to a phone call.  The correlated data will include the last URL the site visitor viewed just prior to placing the call.

We’re excited about the Last URL feature because we understand how online marketers positively develop with key insights and actionable metrics.

Jeff Tirey is Co-Founder of Mongoose Metrics and can be found @TireyTv

Summary: This post explains how Google Analytics users can leverage the Google Audio Ads integration to not support both online ROI and offline phone call ROI via Mongoose Metrics phone call tracking technology.

Google Analytic announced integration with Google Audio Ads this week. The integration allows Google Analytics users who run Google Audio Ads campaigns to see a special overlay report that shows both the radio ad broadcast schedule and website visitors. The report allows the Google Analytics user to clearly see the correlation between spot broadcasts and site visits and conversions. As rich as the overlay report is, a simple solution exists that allows Google Audio Ads advertisers to track phone calls driven from their radio spot campaigns.

Using Mongoose Metrics With Google Audio Ads

As a brief walk through, a Mongoose Metrics trackable phone number can be used in radio spots as the call to action phone number and also in the web campaign’s landing page.  When the number is dialed, the phone call event will be logged back to Google Analytics within the campaign section.

In this way, Google Audio Ads advertisers can create radio campaigns that can target both web based conversions and offline phone call conversions.