One of the key considerations raised at the recent SMX event in Seattle was the need to track all conversions, especially those taken from telephone calls.  This is a process we have long been pondering, not least because clients are never forthcoming with the information if you ask them.

Given that up to 63% of all sales are occurring offline (Jupiter Research), as an SEM agency, it's important we know not only that the sale originated as a result of the web, but which keywords/campaign generated the sale. With this information available to us, not only can we attribute possibly twice as many sales to web-based activities, but we are able to refine our marketing to a much greater level and therefore have greater control over budget and ROI.

There are a great number of tools available which can automate this process. ClickPath is one such tool which provides a full stand alone service, and mongoosemetrics.com is a great tool which integrates with existing analytics packages.

However, my research into call tracking has identified a gap in the market for analytics within the UK and the rest of Europe. It would seem that there are no providers offering similar services within these markets. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has managed to source solutions which work in the UK, or a solution which doesn't require integration with a phone company (although quite how that would work, I'm not sure!!!)

Separate to this, I'd be interest to hear how many people go the extra mile and attribute telephone sales back to the keyword or online campaign which generated them and if the benefit of doing this is actually proving economic to  calculate.