What Call Tracking Data Should I Use to Track Conversion Metrics?

Guest Post by Ryan Robinson from RyRob.com

Inbound calls and call experiences may reveal costly blind spots that could undermine their marketing strategies. 

Call tracking is a powerful way to uncover those key insights. But what metrics should you track to get the most out of your call tracking efforts?

Let’s discuss.

Call Tracking and Its Role in Conversion Optimization

If you’re struggling with data gaps and you don’t know where your leads are coming from, that uncertainty can prevent you from making confident marketing decisions. Call tracking bridges those gaps by allowing you to track and attribute leads across multiple platforms.

This gives you a complete view of how each marketing effort influences conversions.

With tools like CallTrackingMetrics, you gain control over your marketing data. That way, you can optimize campaigns that drive revenue.

Key Call Tracking Metrics That Directly Impact Conversions

Certain call tracking metrics help marketers optimize conversions. 

Monitoring these metrics gives you a clear understanding of where to improve and how to adjust your marketing strategy for better results.

Call Source Attribution

Understanding where your calls come from can help you fine-tune your campaigns. Call source attribution allows you to track which platforms, ads, or campaigns drive calls. 

Sophisticated tracking tools can identify the channel and even the specific campaign, geographic location, and device type of each caller.

Whether it’s a Google Ad, Facebook post, or organic search, knowing the source gives you the power to allocate your budget more effectively.

This metric helps you pinpoint which efforts are truly contributing to conversions.

For example, let’s say that you own a plumbing business in downtown Atlanta. You use call tracking software to determine where your leads are coming from. You notice that many of them discover your business and find your phone number through organic search.

As a result, you start focusing more of your marketing efforts on optimizing your company website for search so that you can be visible to even more customers.

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Key Business Outcomes:

• Fine-tuned marketing strategy: With granular data on which campaigns or channels drive high-quality leads, you can prioritize those channels and craft more personalized outreach. This helps you increase ROI on marketing spend.
• Higher conversion rates from focused campaigns: Identifying specific sources that lead to conversions helps you design more focused campaigns around these successful channels. This reduces costs associated with underperforming channels and increases the likelihood of repeatable conversions.

Call Volume Trends

Call volume trends show you the ebb and flow of your incoming leads. 

Tracking these trends over time helps you identify patterns, understand seasonal spikes, and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.

High call volumes often indicate that your campaigns are resonating with your audience. However, it’s equally important to ensure these calls are converting.

Monitoring this metric helps you stay proactive and adjust campaigns to balance call volume and quality.

Call volume trends can vary by season or industry. For example, a travel agency might see spikes in call volume during holiday planning seasons. On the other hand, a retail business could observe peaks in call volume during the back-to-school season. 

Parents often call to check product availability, ask about discounts, or clarify return policies, especially for big-ticket items like laptops or school uniforms.

Call volume gives you insights that go beyond tracking the number of calls. You can also analyze specific times of day, week, or year when call volume fluctuates. You can correlate these with business events, such as product launches or seasonal demand.

External factors like market trends or industry shifts may influence call volumes and give you insights into how customer needs change over time.

Key Business Outcomes:

• Increased sales by staffing to match demand: Analyzing call volumes can help you predict peak times and make sure you have enough staff to handle high volume. This means shorter wait times and higher customer satisfaction. 
• More efficient resource use and forecasting: Trend data allows you to better plan resources and anticipate demand for future campaigns or promotions.

Call Duration

Longer calls typically indicate more engaged leads. If people spend more time on the phone with your team, it could mean they’re genuinely interested in your offering.

Analyzing call duration allows you to gauge the quality of your leads and refine your messaging to keep them engaged.

But make sure you’re keeping a good balance. If calls are too long without conversion, it could mean you’re not effective at turning leads into customers.

You can also segment duration data to help you determine which call lengths lead to higher conversions.

Key Business Outcomes:

• Better conversion optimization: Nail down the ideal call length for conversions, maximizing both sales and efficiency.
• Improved customer satisfaction and training: Long calls with no end in sight? That’s a sign for training. Give your team the tools to keep calls concise yet impactful, and watch customer satisfaction soar. 

Conversion Rate Per Call

This metric measures how many of your calls lead to a conversion. It’s one of the most direct indicators of success for any call tracking effort.

How does it work? You look at the number of calls resulting in a sale or desired action. Then, you identify what’s working and what’s not. This allows you to optimize every interaction and increase your conversion rate per call.

Advanced call tracking tools allow you to look at different factors that lead to conversions, such as specific phrases, customer objections, or offer timing. As a result, you can fine-tune call scripts and use your reps’ techniques that have successfully improved the chances of conversion. 

Key Business Outcomes:

• Revenue that speaks for itself: High conversion rates mean your call strategy is solid, so keep it up and let those calls pay off.
• Data-driven coaching: Got reps with lower conversion rates? Use this data to give them targeted coaching that improves their close rate and helps your team succeed.

Lead-to-Customer Rate

Tracking the number of phone leads that become paying customers is a great way to prove return-on-investment (ROI). A high lead-to-customer rate indicates that your marketing efforts are attracting qualified prospects.

If this rate is low, assess your messaging, lead qualification process, or product offerings. 

Key Business Outcomes: 

• Streamlined lead generation process: When your lead generation process attracts high-quality leads, your entire operation benefits. The opposite is also true. Understanding this metric is one of the most essential steps to business success.
• Understand/Reduce your customer acquisition cost (CAC): The more your customers cost to acquire, the less profitable your business will be. It’s that simple. 

Call Abandonment Rate

A high call abandonment rate—when leads hang up before speaking to a representative—can harm your conversion optimization efforts.

This metric helps identify whether customers are frustrated. Improving customer experience increases the chances that each call will lead to a conversion.

Call abandonment rate also tracks other factors like technical issues or customer frustration with the call flow.

If your call abandonment rate is high, improve your IVR system, call routing process, or staff response times.

Understanding why callers hang up before reaching an agent can uncover key pain points and help you reduce barriers to successful engagement.

Key Business Outcomes:

• Happy callers, loyal customers: The faster you pick up, the happier your customers are. Reduce hang-ups, and you’ll reduce churn.
• Sales on the line: Every abandoned call is a missed chance. Improving response times means more completed calls and a higher likelihood of conversion.

First-Time Vs. Returning Callers

It’s important to know whether a lead is calling for the first time or returning for follow-up conversations. First-time callers may need more information and guidance. For example, they might need more target support, such as pricing information or finalizing details for a purchase.

On the other hand, returning callers are often closer to making a decision Or, they’re existing customers who need further assistance.

A higher number of first-time callers might mean you’ve been effective with marketing and building brand awareness. On the other hand, a strong base of returning callers suggests high customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Tracking this metric helps you personalize your approach and ensure each caller gets the appropriate level of service and support.

For example, frequent calls from returning customers about the issue might mean they have unresolved concerns. Fewer repeat calls can show that you’ve done a great job resolving their problems.

Key Business Outcomes:

• Build loyalty through personalization: Recognize who’s calling and deliver a memorable experience that keeps them coming back. 
• Increase lifetime value: Happy customers return, and every repeat interaction means lifetime value for your business.

Time to Answer

How quickly you respond to calls plays a huge role in the customer experience. You can calculate time to answer (TTA) by adding up all the wait times from when calls enter the queue until they’re answered. Then, you divide that number by the total number of calls.

Long wait times?  This could frustrate potential leads and drive them toward competitors. 

Tracking the time it takes for your team to answer calls helps you identify bottlenecks and implement strategies to reduce wait times. A fast response creates a positive first impression.

Key Business Outcomes:

• Instant gratification for callers: Quick pick-up times show customers you value their time. This keeps them satisfied and ready to talk business. 
• More conversions and efficiency: The faster you get to the call, the less likely they will hang up, so you don’t miss out on opportunities. 

Post-Call Follow-Up Rate

Conversions don’t always happen on the first call. Follow-up actions—such as emails or additional calls—are often necessary to close the deal. 

Tracking your post-call follow-up rate ensures that no lead slips through the cracks.

This is an especially valuable metric in industries where customer support interactions are more complex or need multiple touchpoints for resolution.  

A high follow-up rate could signal a commitment to quality service. It reflects a dedication to ensuring customer satisfaction beyond the initial interaction. Follow-ups can also give you opportunities to cross-sell or gather feedback.

Key Business Outcomes:

• Seal the deal with follow-ups: Following up shows customers you’re committed, turning “maybe” into “yes” and increasing your overall conversions.
• Better customer relationships: People want to feel valued. Following up builds rapport and can lead to stronger, long-term customer relationships.

Best Practices for Setting and Adjusting Call Tracking Metrics

To ensure your call tracking metrics are effective and driving conversions, apply these best practices and adjust them based on data insights, industry trends, and your team’s performance.

1. Leverage APIs for Better Data Flow

APIs play a crucial role in call tracking by allowing seamless integration between call tracking platforms and various business systems, such as CRM, marketing automation, and analytics tools. These integrations help streamline data flow, allowing you to effectively capture and analyze call data. 

API management platforms like Apigee, Tyk, Kong, and Mulesoft further enhance this process by offering features that ensure smooth communication, security, and scalability of API connections. 

When deciding between Apigee vs Kong, you can evaluate which platform better suits your needs based on factors like ease of use, customization options, and integration capabilities. 

The right API management platform ensures you can easily access and use call tracking data to optimize conversion metrics.

2. Boost Insights With a CRM

Integrating a CRM like HubSpot into your marketing efforts will improve your call tracking metrics. 

CRMs help track customer interactions across various touchpoints, giving you deeper insights into conversion patterns. Analyzing call data alongside customer behavior allows you to refine your strategies to boost engagement. 

You also get a clearer view of which calls lead to conversions and how to improve the customer journey.

3. Track Social Media Engagement Metrics

Metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and follows on social media platforms show that you successfully connect with your target market on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok. However, the key is to track how social media interactions lead to actual conversions, such as phone inquiries. 

For instance, SoFi’s Facebook videos about financial freedom may drive engagement and prompt viewers to call for more information about their online savings accounts. 

By tracking the number of calls these campaigns generate, you can better measure the impact of your social media efforts and their contribution to your overall call conversion metrics.

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4. Create a Unified View of Your Data

When tracking conversion metrics for call data, it’s important to capture all customer interactions in one place for better analysis. A tool like Salesforce Data Cloud can help by integrating call tracking data with other customer touchpoints. This gives you a complete picture of how phone interactions contribute to conversions. 

By combining call tracking with broader data insights, you can more accurately measure which calls lead to sales or other key actions, helping refine your marketing and sales strategies.

5. Consider Your Business Type

When choosing a call tracking system, ensure sure the platform meets your business’s specific needs. This is especially important for LLCs that operate across various states. 

For example, suppose you’re managing an Illinois LLC. In that case, you might need features like call tracking across multiple phone lines for different departments or call recording to comply with local legal requirements. 

By addressing these unique needs upfront, you can avoid potential headaches and ensure that your phone system supports both your team and regulatory obligations.

6. Evaluate Against Industry Standards

Understand how your call tracking performance compares to others in your industry. Doing so will help you identify gaps in your performance and set realistic yet ambitious targets.

For example, if your industry’s average call abandonment rate is 5%, but your rate is higher, that’s a clear sign you need to adjust your approach to reduce friction for your clients.

Use industry reports, research, and competitor analysis to establish a solid foundation for your metrics.

Put Your Call Tracking Data to Work

Knowing what metrics to track is necessary when tracking calls and conversions. 

Once you’ve mastered that, you can gain full visibility into your marketing efforts, maximize ad spend, and empower your sales team to turn leads into closed deals.

But how can you gather this data? Consider using a conversation analytics solution.

CallTrackingMetrics is your go-to platform for gaining actionable insights from every call, text, chat, or Zoom recording. Book a demo today to get started.

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