When to Use CallRail's Call Tracking
Calls usually originate from either the ad or the website, and there are two primary ways of tracking them: by counting clicks on phone numbers or by forwarding the call through a call tracking service. We recommend CallRail for the latter.
The first option is the easiest and most ubiquitous; any ad publisher can be setup to record these clicks as conversions. As a result, this is the most commonly used method. It does have some limitations, though. First, it tends to be slightly inaccurate because devices typically provide a pop-up confirmation dialogue where users can decline to place the call even though they did click on the phone number (e.g. if the click was inadvertent) and thus trigger a conversion. Second, the most you can hope to learn is when and where they clicked on the number, along with other details about their online session.
The second option, forwarding the call through a call tracking service, is more involved and not all ad publishers support this method. Google Ads provides native call tracking services for calls from ad extensions and from the website. Microsoft Ads provides native functionality only for calls from ad extensions. Facebook Ads and LinkedIn Ads do not provide native functionality for either location. Furthermore, Google Ads and Microsoft Ads can both log the time of a call, but only Google Ads can track the duration of the call.
For most advertisers on Google Ads, the native functionality is sufficient, though there are cases where a more advanced solution is desirable. Similarly, Microsoft Ads is hampered by the inability to track actual calls from the website, and neither Facebook Ads nor LinkedIn Ads are able to provide even basic call tracking functionality. These are the reasons why we recommend CallRail.
I can confidently say that accurate data and conversion metrics are almost always near the top of any marketer’s priority list. It’s what allows us to see what’s profitable, and what’s failing. --Chris Onyett, Top Three Reasons CallRail is a Must for Marketing Agencies
CallRail provides a fantastic array of features, all packaged in a very intuitive interface. Our partners often turn to CallRail when they want to track information like the user's phone number, a recording of the phone call, or attribution for the call source (e.g. knowing whether the call came from your website and whether the user came from PPC or something else).
We recommend CallRail if you are generating leads on Facebook Ads or Microsoft Ads, and we also recommend it if you want extra features on Google Ads. CallRail does not yet have an integration for LinkedIn Ads, though, so we stick to click tracking for those calls.
The Call Tracking plan for $45 / month is usually the right choice for our clients, and CallRail also provides a 14-day free trial. Once you've setup an account, please add advertiser.assets@gmail.com as an administrative user so we can handle the technical configuration for you (see steps below). Feel free to submit a ticket if you have any questions.
- Click the Account icon in the top left to open the Account panel, then select Users.
- Click the Create User button.
- Choose either the Manager or Administrator user type.
- Fill in our first name (Advertiser), last name (Assets), email (advertiser.assets@gmail.com). Then, click Companies.
- Select the companies we will have access to (you should have one company per advertiser). Then, click Message.
- Once you've created your new user, you can choose one of the suggested next steps, or click Return to Users to close the pop-up.
Learn more about adding users to CallRail in their help doc.
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