Congratulations to William Brennan, MD on the creation of his new neurosurgery web site. You can see it here at lafayetteneuro.com.
Update from Project Watchdog:
Speaking of web sites, how many calls are you getting from your web site? On April 1, we pulled the first group of reports from our new tracking number vendor. Ten clients had numbers active (either fully or partially) in March (many with multiple numbers in multiple mediums). That group of 12 clients fielded 534 calls that were tracked and attributed to media sources and marketing campaigns. Since then nearly all of our active clients have signed up for tracking numbers and each month I will post the gross amount of traffic we are able to identify for sure for our clients.
So how many calls are you getting from your web site? How about from your other major media expenses? Frankly, if you cannot answer this question, you are not being very thorough. Here is the logic for tracking numbers at this point in economic time: If things are slow, you have to make sure you know where results are coming from and cut waste; if things are not so bad, you have the chance to use that knowledge to secure better position overall. The time to make a move on the future is while others are struggling. Either way, there is no reason not to be using this tool, especially at the low price.
It is this kind of accountability that tells us if a given strategy is working. For instance, when a web site tracking number is 10X more productive than a print ad tracking number in the same market, we know where to redirect your efforts and expenses.
Tracking numbers are simply the most affordable marketing measurement tool you can use. The numbers we provide are flat rate, meaning there are no toll or fees for the use of minutes. The annual cost is $480/number/year (coming out to $40/month). If you are spending thousands of dollars on ads you need to perform for you, it is most logical to spend $40/month to know EXACTLY the response to those ads.
Call tracking is part of the Pay Per Click program we endorse at Reach Local. After looking at our clients’ Reach Local data and our own data, we have determined that prospects are responding at a rate of about 8-to-1, calls to email/forms. In other words 8X as many prospects will reply by phone rather than emailing in. This underscores the importance of seeing call results, especially from tracking numbers on their web sites. Matter of fact, I had more than one coaching client tell me they were surprised by the call volume from the web site because they had not seen so many email contacts.
Monitoring/Playback on Calls
This brings up another point about tracking numbers. Clients using our numbers will be able to log online to hear these calls recorded very shortly with the release of a new monitoring interface that is in development. This allows clients to monitor calls for performance, teaching and refining of how calls are handled. This adds another level of value to the tracking number as it allows you to fine-tune your operations. Over the years, I have seen many clients make important adjustments based on the information gleaned from tracking numbers.
At the very least, you should begin by adding a tracking number to your web site. It is almost certain that this will be your largest source of calls and will provide critical marketing data and recorded calls. Once you see the value, it will be easier to add tracking numbers in all the mediums you use. And, once you see the big picture on responses, you will be on the road to a leaner, meaner marketing program, based entirely on results you can see.
If you want to order a tracking telephone number for your web site or for your other media, please email me at donald@dogstarmedia.com.
