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What is Call Tracking Metrics?

Call Tracking Metrics is a lead-tracking tool used to count and qualify the number of new patient calls coming to your office each month.

This invaluable tool helps you track how your marketing efforts are performing. Of course, there are all sorts of other lead tracking that you should be doing that has nothing to do with phone calls. But phone calls are a vital part of your business and an important aspect to track.

How Call Tracking Works

Prospective patients find your dental website through various channels; organic searches, referrals from other sites such as Facebook or Instagram, Facebook and Instagram advertising, Google Advertising, and in rare cases, typing in your URL.

You need to know where your calls are coming from so you can make calculated changes to better your dental marketing performance on these channels. You also need to know what type of call it is; existing patient, new patient, voicemail, or hang up.

For call tracking to work, each channel (organic searches, referrals, advertising, direct search using the address bar) needs its own specific phone number called a “tracking number.”

But don’t worry! Each tracking number routes directly to your official phone number and straight to your front desk.

The tracking numbers tell you which marketing channel your inbound call came from and what type of call it was. It even lets you and your staff re-listen to calls for training purposes.

These different tracking numbers are why you might see a “wrong” number on your website if you use Call Tracking Metrics.

  • If you access your website through organic search, you’ll see the organic search tracking number.
  • If you access your website from another website, you’ll see the referral tracking number.
  • If you access your website from an ad, you’ll see the ad’s tracking number.
  • You’ll see your official phone number if you access your website by entering your URL.

“But isn’t this confusing for our patients?” 

In short, no. We know you have your phone number memorized, but the reality is that your patients don’t. Even if they saved a tracking number in their phone, it would still go straight to your office every time they called it. Most existing patients aren’t going to save your phone number anyway. Usually, they’ll type your name into Google and click the call button on your Google Business Profile.

What Call Tracking Tells You

As we’ve said, call tracking tells dentists about the quality and quantity of phone calls.

From call tracking information, you can discern the following:

  • Which dental marketing channels work best, and which need changing to better their performance.
  • How many of the leads you generate have the potential to turn into patients (lead quality).
  • A rough estimate of dental marketing ROI.

Call tracking also,

  • Optimizes your dental Pay-Per-Click advertising campaigns to drive higher-quality patient leads.
  • Increases your return on investment in advertising.
  • Allows you to research problems and make call recommendations.
  • Improves call conversion rates through training for your front desk team.

Why You Need Call Tracking

In summary, you need call tracking because it helps to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your dental marketing. To go without call tracking is like driving with a blindfold. You’ll swerve in all directions, crashing into things, and you won’t get where you want to go.

“What gets measured gets improved,” Peter Drucker famously said. We think he’s right, which is one of the many reasons why we created this 2023 Dental Digital Marketing Guide. Read it here if you’re interested in learning how you can start your dental marketing off on the right foot in 2023.

Let Pro Impressions Handle Your Marketing

Is your head swimming from all the “extra” things you need to do? In reality, lead tracking isn’t an “extra.” It’s essential to a well-oiled marketing machine. If you aren’t tracking your leads, how do you know if the money you spend on advertising is worthwhile? It’s possible you’re dumping money into something that isn’t bringing you quality leads.

If you’re someone who wants to lighten your load so you can have more time performing dentistry, schedule a consultation with Pro Impressions Marketing today. We can shoulder the marketing burden, so all you need to worry about is the influx of new patients coming your way with marketing by Pro Impressions.