Why Small Businesses Need Call Tracking Here's how the right tools can turn all of your phone calls into conversions.
By Entrepreneur Store Edited by Jason Fell
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Tracking phone calls for proper advertising and marketing analytics has long been significant to the success of small businesses. The ability to track call data is paramount to keeping your business sustainable, especially during the pandemic.
Small businesses in almost every sector have had their share of challenges and setbacks the past six months. Now, as the economy recovers, it can be harder for small businesses to bounce back.
Larger companies have deeper pockets, so it can be difficult for small businesses to compete on price and promotions. And smaller businesses have to be more creative with their modest marketing budgets to keep (or revive) old customers and find new ones. Putting the budget they do have toward the right strategies—and iterating on those strategies in real time—can be the deciding factor on how soon a small business gets in the black again.
This is where CallRail comes in. The call tracking and marketing analytics platform recently analyzed 100 million phone calls to small- and medium-size businesses. They found that customers are calling in greater numbers as they aim to reduce in-person interactions. These potential customers place calls inquiring about products and services, as well as changes in hours, buying procedures, safety precautions, and more, the CallRail says.
In this situation, tapping into a call tracking provider can be a saving grace. The surge in calls provides data that you can use to optimize your marketing. Without proper tracking, you won't know what triggered customers to call. For example, was it a social media ad or a Google My Business listing.
When you can't attribute phone calls to a specific marketing channel or ad, the metrics that small businesses rely on to make advertising and marketing decisions become less reliable—the greater the number of unattributed leads, the greater the margin for error.
How CallRail can help with call tracking.
CallRail, one of the leaders in call tracking for small businesses, helps marketers boost success and sustain growth by giving them visibility into their marketing efforts. However, visibility goes beyond the channel that drove the call. Through integrations with Google Ads and other PPC platforms, you'll know which keyword and which ad drove the phone call.
Advanced features like pulling up insights on a screen when a call begins can help you give callers a more personalized customer service experience. For instance, if a caller came from one landing page versus another, they might have a completely different mindset that has to be navigated to close a sale.
There's also a transcription feature that records calls and highlights the most prevalent keywords. In turn, you can use these keywords to develop hyper-targeted ad campaigns while also gaining insights into the language your customers use to talk about you. And you can then use that language in blogs, ads, and other marketing materials to speak to your audience in terms they understand.
Simply put, when you have clear visibility into your calls, it's easier to determine what's working, what's not, and what the next step is to improve and optimize.
How to set up call tracking.
CallRail has an intuitive and simple interface that makes setting up your account a breeze.You install a tracking code on your website, and once this is in place, your site will display different phone numbers for different visitors.
The higher your site traffic volume, the more numbers you'll want to get. You can also designate unique numbers to use off-line, such as for print ads, direct mail pieces, or billboards. You can choose from more than 300 local area codes, which means you can seem more local than you actually are for some customers.
A key feature of CallRail is its integrations. The platform plays nicely with social media, SEO, and the ad platforms, analytics tools, and sales platforms you already use. Some of the more recognizable ones including Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, HubSpot, Salesforce, and WordPress.
Because the co-founder of CallRail was a small business owner himself and created it for his needs, the intuitive platform will feel like it's made for you. The call tracking suite starts at $45 a month and goes up to $145 and higher depending on the volume of phone numbers you need, the number of minutes your calls take, and other factors.
Whether you've always relied on inbound calls or there's been an uptick now that foot traffic is down, a single inbound call represents a lot more than just a potential customer. Turning data from that call into actionable insights can put a small business on the path to a successful rebound and more.
Download CallRail's full report to learn how call trends look in your industry and how you can make the most of your next phone call.
