Setting Up International Phone Numbers for Marketing Attribution

Setting up international phone numbers for tracking your global marketing efforts is a critical step in any global brand's marketing program. Following the 3 tips below can help you avoid some common unpleasant surprises along the way.

Select a provider with the largest inventory of available countries

Take a look at their coverage. If they appear to have extensive global coverage, send their sales team a list of all of your country locations (include the “transfer to” numbers for each country) and ask them to provide “GEO Codes” (area codes) for each of those countries. Confirm that each of these area codes are “normal” for callers within the country.

Understand the privacy and disclosure laws in each country

Your partner may be able to help here as well. You just want to understand the basic laws with respect to recording and notification on phone calls within each country. Every country has their own specific approach and diligence should be exercised in this area.

Know the cost for each country

Using the list you provided to your prospective provider, ask them to provide a “per number” and “per minute” price on each area. The per number price will include setup and monthly cost to “own” the number. The per minute cost will be what you pay per minute for all calls originating from that country.

IMPORTANT: Some countries may have surcharges, for example, to transfer the call OUT of the originating country and to your central call center. This is not common, but it does happen, and you should be aware of ALL costs that could be incurred.

Setting up global phone tracking is not as difficult as it may seem, and can be extremely productive towards understanding which of your marketing efforts are producing results. Following the above tips will help you avoid a few of the common surprises along the way!