Tips for Tracking Calls from Radio Ads

Radio drives people to pick up the phone and dial – a fact to which any unfortunate owner of the number “Eight, six, seven, five, three-oh-nieeeeine” can attest. So how do you tap into the trend and adapt your campaign strategies to your listening audience? Here’s a thought – why not find out where they’re coming from?

Google Audio Ads has released an important enhancement to its call reporting feature: geographic location. In addition to gaining insight into call volume and duration, advertisers can now evaluate their metrics in the context of a caller’s city, state, designated market area (DMA) and country.

Use this data to calculate your cost per call and analyze your ads' effectiveness in different regions. All you need is available in your AdWords account. Here’s how:

1. Request a local or toll-free number via the "Call Reporting" link on your Campaign Summary page. We’ll assign you a phone number and re-direct it to the business number of your choice.

Tip: Planning to test different versions of your ad? Consider requesting a unique phone number for each version to learn which version best drives direct response. You can currently request up to 20 phone numbers.

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2. Mention the assigned phone number in your Audio Ads spot.

3. Access a simple list of calls made to your phone number from the "Call Reporting" link on your Campaign Summary page. You can also run a customized summary of your calls by tracking phone number, date range, city, state, DMA and country all within the Report Center. Simply select "Phone Call Report" and define the view that best serves your campaign analysis.

Tip: Call details are updated in reports every 30 minutes.

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4. Refine your campaign settings based on learnings from your call reports. For example, you may want to increase your exposure in markets that are especially responsive or proving to deliver strong ROI.

And to make a good thing even better, call reporting is free. So what do you have to lose, except the opportunity to drive more qualified leads? Your audience is listening. Answer the call!

Posted by Davi Robison, Product Marketing Manager for Google Audio Ads