If you’re tired of guessing whether your outreach is actually landing, you’re not alone. Most sales teams juggle email, calls, LinkedIn messages, and maybe a few DMs—then scramble to piece together what happened and what actually moved a prospect forward. This guide is for anyone who wants a real handle on their prospect engagement, not just a pile of disconnected activity logs.
We’ll walk through how to track multichannel engagement using Keycontacts, what’s worth tracking (and what’s just noise), and how to avoid drowning in data. If you want more signal and less spreadsheet, you’re in the right place.
Why Multichannel Tracking Matters (and Where It Goes Wrong)
Let’s get real: prospects ignore most outreach. Even if you use every channel, it’s easy to think you’re “everywhere” when you’re actually just sending emails into the void. Tracking multichannel engagement isn’t about logging activity for activity’s sake. It’s about seeing patterns—what gets replies, what gets ghosted, and where your actual conversations happen.
But here’s the problem: Most CRMs either track too little (just emails) or way too much (every “like” on LinkedIn). You end up with either blind spots or a wall of noise.
The goal with Keycontacts is to keep things simple: track the stuff that actually helps you move deals forward.
Step 1: Set Up Channels That Actually Matter
Keycontacts can track just about any channel—email, phone, LinkedIn, SMS, custom ones you define. But just because you can track everything doesn’t mean you should.
Start with these: - Email: Still the workhorse for most outreach. - Phone calls: Especially for high-value or later-stage prospects. - LinkedIn (or other social): Useful for warm touches, but don’t count every like or comment as “engagement.” - Meetings: Demos, discovery calls, anything live.
Skip (or heavily filter): - Mass marketing emails (unless you’re tracking opens/clicks, not just sends) - Generic social likes/follows (unless it’s a real signal) - Internal chatter or notes
Pro tip: If you’re not sure whether to track a channel, ask: “Would I change my approach if I knew about this touch?” If not, it’s probably just noise.
Step 2: Connect Your Channels in Keycontacts
Here’s the practical setup. Out of the box, Keycontacts connects to most email and calendar systems, and you can add integrations for calling and social. The more you automate, the better—manual logging is a fast track to unreliable data.
How to connect:
- Email and Calendar Integration
- Head to Keycontacts settings and connect your work email (Google Workspace, Outlook, whatever you use).
- Sync your calendar so meetings get pulled in automatically.
-
Decide if you want to track opens/clicks or just sends. (Tracking opens is useful, but don’t obsess—lots of false positives.)
-
Phone Calls
- If you use a VoIP system (like Aircall, RingCentral), connect it in integrations.
- For regular cell/desk calls, look for the Keycontacts mobile app or browser extension—log calls with two clicks.
-
Don’t bother logging every voicemail or missed call. Focus on meaningful conversations.
-
Social Touches
- LinkedIn: Some CRMs can pull in LinkedIn activity, but privacy rules mean you’ll likely need to log connection requests and InMails manually.
- For high-value prospects, make it a habit to log significant touches (a real message, not just a like).
-
If you use other channels (Twitter, WhatsApp), set up custom fields or quick-entry templates.
-
Custom Channels
- Keycontacts lets you define “other” types: SMS, WhatsApp, whatever your team actually uses.
- Don’t make custom fields unless your team will really use them—empty fields just clutter up reports.
Honest take: Automate what you can, but don’t trust integrations blindly. Double-check those first few weeks to make sure nothing’s falling through the cracks.
Step 3: Logging Engagement—What’s Worth the Effort
Once your channels are hooked up, the temptation is to track everything. But tracking every touch just creates busywork. Here’s how to keep it focused:
Log: - Emails sent and replied (replies are gold) - Calls made/received, with short notes if meaningful - Meetings held (not just scheduled) - Social messages sent (not every comment) - Significant inbound—if a prospect reaches out, that’s worth noting
Skip: - Generic nurture emails, unless someone replies - Automated sequences with zero engagement - Every social like, unless you see a pattern
How to log in Keycontacts: - Use the Chrome extension or mobile app for quick logging after calls or social touches. - Bulk import historic data if you’re switching CRMs, but don’t stress about perfect history—focus on what matters going forward. - Add short notes only if they’ll help later. “Left a voicemail, will try again next week” is useful. “Called, no answer” isn’t.
Pro tip: Don’t let your CRM become a diary. Log to drive action, not just to have a record.
Step 4: Make Engagement Visible (for You and Your Team)
Tracking is pointless if you never look at the data. Keycontacts does a decent job of surfacing recent engagement, but you’ll want to tweak views and reports to fit your workflow.
Key things to set up: - Engagement timeline for each prospect: See at a glance the last touch, channel used, and next planned action. - Pipeline views with last engagement: Filter for prospects you haven’t touched in X days. Way better than just staring at a deal stage. - Simple reports: Who’s getting stuck? Are some reps heavy on email but light on calls or meetings? Look for gaps, not just volume.
What not to do: - Don’t drown in dashboards. One report showing “prospects with no activity in 14 days” beats a dozen pretty charts. - Don’t turn engagement tracking into a surveillance tool. The point is to get better at real conversations, not to micromanage.
Honest take: If you’re not acting on the data, it’s just digital clutter. Set a calendar reminder to check engagement gaps once a week, then move on.
Step 5: Use Engagement Data to Actually Change Your Outreach
This is where most teams drop the ball—they track, but don’t adjust. Here’s how to actually use engagement data:
- Spot patterns: If you notice prospects ghost after a certain type of email, change it up.
- Prioritize follow-ups: Focus on prospects who’ve engaged on more than one channel—they’re warmer.
- Adjust your mix: If calls get more responses than emails for a segment, double down.
- Test and iterate: Don’t be afraid to drop a channel if it’s not getting results.
What to ignore: Vanity metrics (like “number of touches” for its own sake) don’t close deals. Focus on quality conversations, not raw volume.
Pro Tips and Common Pitfalls
Do: - Automate logging where possible, but sanity check integrations. - Keep your tracking simple and actionable. - Use engagement data to spot trends, not to micromanage.
Don’t: - Log every possible interaction—focus on what actually moves deals. - Let your CRM become a graveyard of “activity” with no follow-up. - Obsess over “touchpoints” at the expense of real conversations.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
You don’t need to track every wink and nudge—just the stuff that tells you if you’re making progress or spinning your wheels. Start with email, calls, meetings, and a social channel or two in Keycontacts. Automate what you can, ignore the noise, and actually use the data to refine your approach. It’s better to track a few things well than everything badly.
Keep it simple, adjust as you go, and don’t let tracking become the work itself. The whole point is to help you have better conversations and close more deals—not to build a shrine to “activity.”