Shocking Call Tracking Failures

What We’ve Seen Over the Years and How It Seriously Risks Your Marketing ROI

Written by: Aaron Michael Buch

Why Perfect Data Matters: How Accurate Call Tracking Can Make or Break Your Marketing ROI

At Hexapoint, we are unapologetic data nerds. We believe that every click, every form submission, and every call is an opportunity to understand your customers better, refine your marketing strategy, and drive real business results. But here’s the truth: most agencies don’t track data properly, and even those that try often mess it up.

Call tracking, in particular, is a nightmare for many agencies. It’s complicated, prone to error, and often overlooked in favor of shiny ad creatives or vague vanity metrics. But call tracking—done right—offers some of the most valuable insights into your marketing ROI.

The Top 5 Ways Agencies Mess Up Call Tracking

1. Not Connecting the Dots Between Ads and Calls

Many agencies fail to tie phone calls back to the exact ad, campaign, or keyword that drove them. Instead, they track calls in isolation, leaving clients with zero insight into which marketing efforts are actually working.

Why It Happens: They don’t implement unique tracking numbers for different campaigns or fail to set up proper integrations between call tracking tools (like CallRail) and Google Ads or Google Analytics.

The Impact: Clients waste money on campaigns that don’t generate leads while under-investing in those that do.

2. Using Only Static Call Tracking Numbers

Static call tracking numbers—where the same phone number is displayed to all visitors—might sound simple, but they’re a major blind spot for campaign-level or keyword-level tracking.

Why It Happens: Static numbers are easier to set up, and many agencies don’t want to bother with dynamic call tracking (DNI) or visitor-level tracking.

The Impact: You lose the ability to identify which specific ad or keyword generated the call, making optimization impossible.

3. Messy URL Structures and Parameter Loss

Some agencies attempt to track calls by appending messy UTM parameters or tracking IDs to URLs, but they fail to ensure those parameters persist as users navigate the site. Parameters often get stripped, especially during form submissions or redirects.

Why It Happens: Agencies don’t fully understand how browsers handle URL parameters or fail to use tools like cookies or session storage to preserve tracking data.

The Impact: Vital attribution data (e.g., gclid or UTM parameters) is lost, leaving gaps in the customer journey.

4. Ignoring Ad Blockers

Ad blockers are more popular than ever, and they often disrupt traditional tracking methods like JavaScript-based call tracking. Many agencies ignore this entirely, leaving significant blind spots in their data.

Why It Happens: A lack of understanding of how ad blockers work and how to circumvent them with server-side tracking.

The Impact: Incomplete data leads to poor decision-making and inaccurate ROI calculations.

5. Failing to Integrate Call Tracking with CRMs

Call tracking data is only useful if it connects to the bigger picture—your CRM. Many agencies set up basic tracking without integrating with a CRM, missing opportunities to connect phone leads with customer lifetime value (CLV) or sales data.

Why It Happens: Lack of technical expertise or reluctance to invest the time needed for proper integrations.

The Impact: Clients don’t see the full picture of how calls turn into revenue, making it harder to justify ad spend.

The Stages of Tracking: From Risky to Rock-Solid

1. The Bare Minimum (High Risk)

• What It Looks Like: Basic static call tracking or no call tracking at all.
• Key Issues: No campaign-level or keyword-level attribution, data gaps, and missed optimization opportunities.

2. Basic Call Tracking

• What It Looks Like: Dynamic number insertion (DNI) with unique phone numbers for campaigns or traffic sources.
• Key Issues: Messy URL parameters, reliance on cookies, and vulnerability to ad blockers.

3. Advanced Tracking with Clean URL Structures

• What It Looks Like: Proper handling of URL parameters (e.g., persisting gclid through session storage or hidden fields) and accurate UTM tagging.
• Key Issues: Still prone to ad blockers and browser-based limitations.

4. Server-Side Tracking (The Gold Standard)

• What It Looks Like: Tracking data (e.g., gclid, UTM parameters, form submissions) is processed on the server rather than the browser.
• Key Benefits:
• Ad Blocker Resistance: Works independently of JavaScript-based tracking.
• Cross-Browser Consistency: Eliminates inconsistencies caused by browser behavior.
• Enhanced Security: Sensitive data is processed securely.

5. Predictive Marketing and Analytics (Future-Proof)

• What It Looks Like: Combining server-side tracking with machine learning to predict future customer behavior and optimize campaigns proactively.
• Key Benefits:
• Predicts which keywords, campaigns, and ads will drive the highest ROI.
• Provides actionable insights into customer lifetime value (CLV) and retention.

How It Should Be Done

At Hexapoint, we don’t settle for “good enough” when it comes to tracking. Do what we do, and implement robust, future-proof systems that:

1. Tie Every Call, Form, and Click Back to Its Source: Whether it’s a Google ad, a Facebook campaign, or organic traffic, we track it all.
2. Avoid Data Loss: Using clean URL structures, session storage, and server-side tracking, we ensure no data is lost during the customer’s journey.
3. Circumvent Ad Blockers: By processing tracking data on the server, we eliminate blind spots caused by browser-based limitations.
4. Integrate Seamlessly with CRMs: Our systems connect tracking data to your CRM, giving you a full view of how marketing drives revenue.
5. Leverage Predictive Analytics: By combining advanced tracking with machine learning, we help clients not just track performance, but predict future results and scale effectively.

Why Perfect Data Matters More Than Ever

In today’s competitive marketing landscape, the agencies that thrive are the ones that obsess over data. Perfect data isn’t just about bragging rights—it’s about giving you the insights you need to outsmart your competitors, optimize your budget, and scale your business with confidence.

Want to see what perfect tracking looks like? Let’s talk.