How to find out which ad brought the phone call
Sado AI team · · 5 min read
In short
The simplest way to find out which ad brought a call is to ask every caller and record the answer as one option from a fixed list: Instagram, Telegram, OLX, a friend, outdoor ads. For more accuracy, give each large channel its own phone number and add UTM tags to your website forms. At the end of the month count calls and sales per channel and divide the ad spend by them. Then you see what one call and one sale cost in each channel.
Why you need to know where calls come from
Many businesses pay for ads in several places: Instagram, Telegram channels, Yandex, OLX, a street banner. If you don’t know where a call came from, you’re guessing which ad works. For example, you spend 6 million so‘m a month and don’t know which 2 million were wasted. Once the source is recorded, you switch off the weak channel and move the money to one that works.
Four ways to find the source
| Method | How it works | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ask the caller | The call includes “Where did you hear about us?” | Free, works for any kind of ad | The caller may be wrong or not remember |
| A number per channel | One number on Instagram, another on the banner | You see exactly which number was dialled | Several numbers to run and watch |
| A call tracking service | The website shows each visitor their own number | Accurate down to the ad keyword | A separate service and a separate bill |
| UTM tags in forms | A tag is added to the ad link and the form saves it with the request | Accurate for website requests | Works for forms only, not for calls |
For a small business the first two methods are usually enough. Call tracking pays off when a lot of paid traffic goes to the website.
Asking the caller the right way
- Ask after you’ve answered the caller’s main question, not at the start. People want their own answer first.
- Ask with options: “Where did you find us: Instagram, Telegram or through friends?” An open question often gets “on the internet”.
- Record the answer as one option from a list: Instagram, Telegram, Yandex, OLX, banner, friend, existing customer, other. Free text can’t be counted at the end of the month.
- If they say “Instagram”, check: “Did you see our ad, or find our page yourself?” A paid ad and the page are two different channels.
- If the caller can’t remember, don’t push: record “other” and carry on.
Sample call: the question takes a second
Sado: Assalomu alaykum, Granit Plitka, this is Shohruh. Go ahead, please.
Caller: Do you have matte tiles for a bathroom? How much are they?
Sado: Yes, from 95 thousand a square metre. How many square metres do you need?
Caller: About thirty.
Sado: All right, our manager will work out a quote and send it today. By the way, where did you find us: Instagram, Telegram or through friends?
Caller: I saw your ad on Telegram.
Sado: Thank you! We’ll send the quote to this number on Telegram.
This call now sits in the “Telegram” row of the monthly report.
The end-of-month calculation
For each channel write down three numbers: ad spend, calls (phone numbers) and sales. For example:
- Instagram: 4 million so‘m, 80 calls, 12 sales: a call costs 50 thousand, a sale about 333 thousand so‘m.
- Telegram: 2 million so‘m, 20 calls, 5 sales: a call costs 100 thousand, a sale 400 thousand so‘m.
- Banner: 1.5 million so‘m, 6 calls, 1 sale: that sale cost 1.5 million so‘m.
- “Other” and “can’t remember”: if their share is large, fix the way you ask.
These numbers are only an example. Some channels bring cheap calls but few sales, so count sales as well. More: call-to-sale conversion.
An AI operator asks for the source on every call
A human operator in a hurry forgets the source question. Sado’s AI operator asks it in every conversation, along with your other questions, and records the answer as a separate field. It answers incoming calls at once, in Uzbek and Russian. Each call’s recording, transcript and answers are in the portal, and the results download to Excel.
If you use Bitrix24, the source answer goes into the CRM with the call card. Our team sets up the connection to amoCRM. Which fields are useful: calls and the CRM. Try it live or call 78 778 01 23.
Questions
Can I track call sources without a call tracking service?
Yes. Ask every caller with options and record the answer from a list, and give large channels their own numbers if needed. For small and mid-sized businesses this is often enough.
Do callers name the source correctly?
Most do, especially when asked with options. Some get it wrong, so look at the overall monthly picture rather than single calls.
How do I calculate the cost of one call?
Divide what you spent on the channel in a month by the number of calls (phone numbers) it brought. For example, 4 million so‘m ÷ 80 calls = 50 thousand so‘m.