A Deeper and Better Understanding Of Your Marketing Efforts
Many businesses and marketers measure the success of their online efforts through different data analytic variables–be it page views, new visitors, organic visitors and contact form completions. Yes, this information is golden in keeping track of and refining your marketing efforts for better conversions. However, if you’re not tracking inbound calls, you’re selling your efforts short.
Many service-based businesses don’t use a call tracking software simply because they either don’t know about it or don’t fully understand how it can benefit them. When we’re approached by new clients, we like to sign them up for a call tracking system.
Not only does it help us better understand their business, but they can learn along with us and better understand our marketing efforts. It’s a win-win for both parties.
At Clicc Media Inc, we use CallTrackingMetrics to help track our own calls, so we’re on your same boat. This blog will focus on how to set up this call tracking software, how to use it and its benefits.
What is Call Tracking?
Call tracking allows you to track inbound calling information from prospects that are trying to reach you for a service. Depending on how your account is setup, you can determine which marketing channel the call is coming from, the keyword that may be associated to that call and even the landing page they were on when they made the call.
How Call Tracking Numbers Work
CallTrackingMetrics offers three different monthly packages for you to choose from: Essentials, Advanced and Elite. Once you’ve chosen your monthly package, you can then purchase a tracking number to assign to your campaigns. You have the choice of a local number or a 1-800 number. These numbers range from $2 – $4.20 a month per number, plus the monthly plan you sign up for.
After purchasing your number, the next step is to assign it to either an online or offline “Tracking Source”.
- An online tracking source can be Google Adwords, Google (organic), Yelp, Bing, Youtube or any other online campaign you might want to track.
- Tip: You can even drill down your Google Adwords to track each of your Ad Groups’ performance. This means assigning a number per ad group– not just the overall campaign– to see which ad group is generating more calls and revenue.
- An offline tracking source can be flyers, banners, or tv commercials.
*Note: Remember, you can only assign one tracking number per tracking source.
If a visitor reaches your website through an assigned tracking source (like “Google Organic”, for example), then the number on your website will change from your original business number to the tracking number. This change of number is called “Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI)”. It’s done through adding a small line of Javascript to the backend of your website that automatically changes your number without you having to do anything manually.
If your website is created on a WordPress platform, you can install the CallTrackingMetric plugin to easily input your personal DNI script.
Important tip: make sure your phone number is written in text format. The DNI won’t work if your number is displayed as an image.
Why Use Call Tracking For Your Business
CallTrackingMetrics offers different features such as integrations with Google Adwords and Analytics. Configuring both accounts allows you to filter your calls under specific categories to be able to see at-a-glance how many calls you receive per tracking source. This way you are able to evaluate your goals and call events more clearly, break down how many calls you got for the month per source, what landing pages are converting better and even see what keywords triggered the call.
This method helps your staff better understand your product and its benefits in order to minimize your churn rate. Another perk of call monitoring is that you can make notes within the call log, as well as tag each call using keywords that reflect the services or products they called about. Minor details of course, but together they build a huge platform that helps you restructure your marketing plan’s budget.
*Note: When someone calls the tracking number, they’ll receive an automated message which states that the call will be recorded (this safeguards you from any legal issues).
Focus On Marketing That Increases Your ROI
Call tracking – in combination with contact form tracking – give business owners and marketers a better insight on which marketing channels are more effective, therefore allowing us to successfully reevaluate budgets and allocate money to channels that generate the most revenue.
When businesses first begin their marketing campaigns, they spread their budget across different channels such as Adwords, organic SEO efforts, video marketing, social media marketing, tv commercials, flyers, etc. The best move would be to assign a tracking number to each of these marketing channels from the very beginning. Then, after a month or so (depending of your traffic volume), you can reevaluate the data, reallocate funds and even eliminate unsuccessful marketing channels altogether.
This eliminates the guessing game in collecting marketing data. You can determine important marketing factors such as:
- How many website visitors called our website?
- Which campaign has received more calls in the past 3 months?
- How many calls are we getting compared to contact form inquiries?
- Which campaigns can we eliminate based on calls and contact form inquiries?
- Should we move more money on Google Adwords and tv commercials and eliminate the flyers and video marketing?
Begin Tracking Your Business Calls Today
It may sound like an overwhelming process (even foreign, if this is the first time you hear of it), but trust us–this is a huge help. The point of implementing a marketing plan is to invest your money into strategies that contribute to the growth of your business. Want to learn more about how call tracking works and how you can transition into this process smoothly? Contact us today for additional tips and insight.