Call Tracking Metrics: What it Is, Why We Use it, and How it Benefits Your Montessori School

With more and more conversions happening over the phone, calls have become a key measure for tracking digital marketing success.

Nowadays, smart businesses are utilizing innovative call tracking tools to find out which of their advertising efforts are getting results and using that information to optimize their digital marketing strategy for an even better return on investment. 

Guess what? Your Montessori school is no exception.

As you know, our goal at Nido Marketing is to help Montessorians grow their online presence, and we do that by using proven tools and solutions that have been tested in actual Montessori schools, so we know they really work.

CallTrackingMetrics (CTM) is one of those tools.

Why do we use the CTM platform?

CTM plays a vital role in how we determine which marketing channels are the most successful at producing leads and conversions for your Montessori school. (This process is called marketing attribution.)

By allowing us to track and analyze incoming phone calls from your online marketing campaigns, CTM lets us see exactly what’s generating interest and driving calls. 

From there, we can get a better idea of how to fine-tune your existing campaigns to make sure you’re getting the highest return.

How does CTM work? 

The Google Ads we create for Montessori schools typically include call extensions. A call extension is a small part of the ad that displays a phone number so users can dial right from the ad using their mobile devices. This allows visitors to engage directly with the ad so the customer journey continues uninterrupted. 

CTM works by allocating specific tracking numbers for each ad or customer engagement point; these are either local or toll-free numbers that route to the business phone number for your Montessori school. 

It then matches a paid click to every caller, so that when the phone rings, CTM is able to identify (and illustrate in real time) the name of the caller, their phone number and address, which specific ad led to the call, the keywords they used, and even which pages they viewed on your site. 

Source: https://www.calltrackingmetrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/772016.png

In a nutshell, CTM provides an in-depth look at how your click-to-call ads and call-only campaigns are performing, and you can use that information to increase conversions.

Why use a separate call tracking tool when Google Ads has call forwarding?

Primarily because CTM lets us do a lot more than simply track phone calls.

While Google call forwarding provides some details about incoming calls to your school, such as the area code of the caller, the duration of the call, and whether the caller used the mobile click-to-call option or dialed manually, CTM provides additional metrics to better understand the value of every phone call. 

These include:

• Call recordings
• Caller insights (including name, number, and location)
• The caller’s IP address
• The tracking number the viewer saw on your website
• The landing page they came in on
• The last recorded URL they were on before they placed the call
• All historical interactions with that caller (previous calls, website visits, agent notes, conversions, and ratings)

Using CTM, Montessori schools can record, transcribe, and analyze every call to get a better picture of how their ads are performing. This allows you to see which calls are converting the best and to identify areas of improvement within your marketing campaigns. 

The ability to record calls also guarantees that only the calls that are relevant in terms of conversion are counted. 

What do we mean by that? 

Say one of your parents happens to come across an online number used in one of your ads and uses it to call the school to say their child is sick and will be out that day. 

CTM lets us weed out these calls so they’re not counted as conversions, ultimately giving you a more accurate account of your overall conversion rate. 

How do we make sure to only count valuable calls as conversions?

We do have a dedicated team member who listens to the phone calls and rates them accordingly. If a prospective new parent calls in, he rates it with 5 stars. And uploads only these calls as conversions into Google Ads. 

Is the information from the caller safe inside CTM?

Yes, this information is absolutely safe. CTM is committed to taking the responsibility of data collection seriously. CTM complies with the strict European GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Additionally, we make sure that everyone who calls through any of the CTM numbers, gets informed befoe the call starts that this call will be recorded.

We will make use of that information for only for conversion tracking purposes and assuring the quality of these.

CTM also integrates seamlessly with Google Ads and Google Analytics.

Which means you can easily view and compare the call data from your Montessori school with your other marketing metrics for a big-picture view of which techniques are ultimately helping to schedule more tours and enroll more students. 

In a nutshell, more data means a stronger marketing strategy, which means more conversions and a better ROI for your school.  

What about all those spam calls? 

There are few things in this world more annoying than spam calls, especially when you pick up the phone hoping to speak with a potential new parent but instead the caller tries to lure you into the latest scam. 

How does this even happen? 

Spam calls are a pesky phenomenon that originated following the introduction of voice-over internet protocol (VoIP) technology. 

Because VoIP calls are made over the web and don’t require a traditional phone line, it’s easy for spammers to imitate virtually any phone number—a practice known as “spoofing.” More often than not, these calls will have the same area code as your school and look like legitimate calls. 

Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent spam calls, though there are some apps that claim to lessen the problem. 

More questions about call tracking metrics? We’re here to help!

Nido Marketing is the love child of lifelong Montessorians and expert digital marketers, which means we love talking about the latest tools and innovations to help your school thrive. 

If you’re not yet a member, you can sign up here. First Plane membership is 100% free and includes access to our secure online forum. You can also join our private Facebook group, where you can ask questions, share resources, and learn from your fellow Montessorians.