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When a customer picks up the phone, how do you know what drove them to call? With call attribution software, answering that question is a piece of cake. It’s the process of identifying which marketing activities led to that phone conversation – whether it was a Google ad, a landing page, or even an offline campaign.
For marketers who rely on phone calls to generate leads and sales, call attribution isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a game-changer. It enables you to attribute phone calls to the right channels, optimise campaigns, and confidently prove ROI. In this blog, we’ll explore how it works, the different types of call attribution, and why it’s essential for connecting conversations to conversions.
How does call attribution work?
Call attribution works by dynamically assigning unique phone numbers to different marketing sources such as campaigns, keywords, or webpages. As a result, when a prospect calls one of these numbers, you can get your hands on data like:
- The source of the call (PPC ad, organic search, social media)
- The keyword or campaign that drove the visit
- The page the caller landed on
- The device or location of the caller
This data is matched to the call in real time using a call attribution platform. Then, you can push these key insights into analytics tools, CRMs, or ad platforms to inform reporting and bid optimisation.
💡 Tip: Pairing call attribution software with tools like Infinity’s Smart Match helps you automatically connect calls to outcomes in your CRM, closing the loop between marketing activity and revenue.
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What are the 3 types of call attribution?
Understanding the three main types of call attribution helps you pick the right level of insight for your goals.
1. Session-level call attribution
This tracks the specific session that led to the phone call. It’s ideal for short, conversion-focused user journeys, often used in eCommerce or simple lead-gen funnels.
2. Visitor-level call attribution
This method links calls to users across multiple sessions using cookies. It helps you track longer, more complex buying journeys, which is perfect for B2B or high-consideration purchases.
3. Campaign-level call attribution
Calls are attributed to a specific campaign or source (like Google Ads or email marketing). This is especially useful for channel performance analysis and budget optimisation.
All three types provide valuable insight and together, they form the foundation of an effective call attribution strategy.
Which metrics can marketers track with call attribution?
Call attribution doesn’t just tell you where the call came from—it helps you understand the full picture. Here are some of the key metrics you’ll be able to track:
- Marketing source (channel, keyword, campaign)
- Call duration
- Caller history (first-time vs repeat)
- Conversion outcome
- Revenue attributed to the call
- Lead quality score (via AI or manual tagging)
With these insights, you’ll be better placed to allocate budgets effectively, enhance targeting, and focus on the activities that are driving the results that matter most.
What are the benefits of call attribution for marketers?
Call attribution empowers marketers to make more informed, confident decisions across every channel. Here’s what it unlocks:
- Better customer experiences:
By routing calls based on the user journey and giving more context to agents, you create more personalised and efficient conversations.
- Better marketing and sales insights:
You gain a clearer understanding of which messages, keywords, and campaigns are driving real action and revenue.
- Increased ROI:
When you know what’s working, you can reinvest in the right areas and reduce wasted spend, giving your ROAS a massive shot in the arm.
- Improved lead qualification:
Call data helps you evaluate lead quality faster, refine messaging, and ensure sales teams focus on the most prospects most likely to convert.
You might also like: Infinity’s Conversation Analytics – helping you transform call data into sales intelligence.
Conversation Analytics for marketers
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Call attribution best practices
Many marketers struggle to tie offline calls back to revenue if they don’t have a robust tracking system in place. That’s where closing the attribution loop becomes essential to prove the value of your marketing activities.
So, if you want to get the most from your call attribution platform, follow these tips:
- Use Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI) to track every touchpoint
- Assign tracking numbers by source, campaign, and keyword
- Use tools like Smart Match to match calls to sales outcomes
- Integrate with your CRM to capture closed-loop revenue data
- Monitor both online and offline activity across the journey
- Test first-touch vs multi-touch attribution models
- Ensure your team can access and act on the insights
- Sync call data with ad platforms like Google Ads and Meta for better Smart Bidding
These practices will help you go beyond vanity metrics and unlock true performance insights. Want to find out more about getting smart with your bidding tactics? Take a look at our AI-powered tool – Smart Outcomes.
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Connecting conversations to conversions: Motorpoint’s story
Motorpoint, one of the UK’s leading independent car retailers, wanted to improve lead gen performance and nail attribution across digital and offline journeys. Using Infinity’s call tracking and attribution tools, they achieved just that.
The result?
They now know exactly which campaigns and keywords are driving phone leads and can optimise spend accordingly. This has helped them fuel their lead-gen engine and increase efficiency across marketing and sales.
Read the full case study ⏬
Why call attribution matters now
As marketers face tighter budgets and higher performance expectations, understanding which actions drive real outcomes has never been more critical. Call attribution bridges the gap between digital journeys and offline conversions, giving you the data you need to make every decision count.
Whether you’re using paid search, social, or offline campaigns, now’s the time to go beyond clicks and start attributing phone calls with precision.
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