What is Call Tracking?
A call tracking system records certain information about who calls your business and which marketing campaign they were responding to. The specific information a call tracking system collects varies, but generally, a call tracking system can record:
- How many calls you receive
- Which numbers have called your line
- Where your callers are contacting you from
- When your callers contacted you
- Which advertising campaign your caller got your number from
- Whether you have missed calls—and, if so, when those calls came in
- Whether you’ve had repeat callers
The major benefit of call tracking is that it can help you better understand your potential clients and better understand which marketing strategies are working for your business. Although it is relatively easy to track what works on your website or what is working when it comes to your pay-per-click advertising, it can be difficult to track phone calls without a call tracking system.
Call tracking is a simpler process than many people are led to believe. It doesn’t require any special equipment on your end, and it doesn’t affect your existing phone numbers. In fact, as far as marketing analytics tools go, call tracking is a very straightforward and easy-to-implement process.
How It Works
How call tracking works can be broken down into two simple parts:
Call tracking setup. When we set up your call tracking, you’ll get to decide whether you would like a toll-free number or a local number. You’ll also get to decide where you’d like the calls to be sent: directly to your office, to your marketing department, to a third-party answering system, or even to your home or cell phone. Finally, you’ll decide which marketing campaign to tie your number to.
Information collection. Each time someone calls your number, it’s fed through a proprietary phone system that monitors and tracks the incoming call. Your call tracking system will note the time of the call, whether the call was answered, the length of the call, the origin of the call, and identifying information about the caller.
Don’t Miss Those New Patient Calls
Call tracking doesn’t just help you count how many people are calling from which pieces of advertising. Call tracking also shows you when people are picking up the phone and whether or not someone picks up on the other end.
When you look at your call tracking data, make special note of the peak times that people call your numbers, and also any times when significant numbers of people are getting your answering machine or answering service. If a large number of people are calling when you’re out of the office, consider having these callers forwarded to a different number during certain hours or extending your office hours. You may also consider hiring an answering service or finding an alternative solution, such as receiving calls personally.
Without call tracking, it can be difficult or even impossible to fully understand when your clients are calling or when you aren’t around to take their calls. A missed call could be a missed client.