Most service businesses run a single phone number across the website, Google Ads landing pages, the Google Business Profile, the side of the van, and the Yellow Pages. When the phone rings, the business has no reliable way to know which channel produced the call. The marketing budget is then allocated on guesswork.
How call tracking works
Each marketing channel gets its own dedicated phone number. Calls to that number are recorded against the channel and forwarded to the real number. The customer experience is identical. The data on the business side becomes attributable.
For a New Zealand service business the simplest setup is:
- One number for Google Ads search campaigns
- One number for the website (organic search and direct visits)
- One number for the Google Business Profile (local pack and Maps)
- One number for printed material and the van
Pick a New Zealand based provider
New Zealand customers are more likely to hang up on unfamiliar number prefixes. Australian or US area codes routed through tracking platforms come up regularly with international tools. The providers below offer New Zealand numbers by default:
- Callgear. NZ owned, NZ numbers default.
- WhatConverts. International, but provides NZ numbers and integrates cleanly with Google Ads and GA4.
- CallTrackingMetrics. Similar feature set, NZ numbers available.
Pricing for a basic four number setup typically lands somewhere between $30 and $80 per month at the time of writing.
What to do with the data
Three rules cover most decisions:
- If a channel produces zero calls in 30 days, pause it.
- If a channel produces calls but they are all bad fit, change the offer or the targeting.
- If a channel produces good fit calls cheaply, increase the budget.
The point is not the software; it is having data that contradicts or confirms the gut feel about which channels actually work. Most accounts running without call tracking will discover at least one of those three answers within the first month of having it on.
If you want help setting up call tracking properly as part of an engagement, the strategy call covers the setup.
Edited by a human.