Tracking with 0800 numbers

It's an old marketing adage but…

"If you can't measure it how can you manage it?"

Businesses can easily obtain vital marketing data on a monthly basis that can show them exactly which advertising works and which doesn't.

The concept is quite simple. Businesses need to place unique, individual numbers in each of their adverts. 0800 numbers are a good choice as the fact that they are free to call makes them attractive to potential customers. There is also the added advantage that practically everyone knows that 0800 is free but may think that other "08" prefix number such as 0870 or 0845 are expensive to call. Small to medium sized enterprises can still use 0845, 0870 or 0844 . I personally prefer Freephone 0800 numbers.

The way it works is like this: if a business has a combined total of seven adverts in the Yellow Pages, BT Phone Book, Thomsons and the local paper then they need to use seven different 0800 numbers - one number for each ad.

All telecoms providers provide some form of bill whether it is printed or downloadable. Usually the billing information is quite detailed and gives the number of calls with duration, time of day and cost of call. Every month you should look at the call data to see the number of calls on each 0800 number. Jot it down on a grid or enter it on an Excel spreadsheet. The major advantage of using an Excel spreadsheet is that you can easily convert a table into a bar graph. You will then be able to see, at a glance, which adverts are working and which aren't and even keep a rolling average which will assist you in making spending decisions for the following year.

If you wish, you can take it a step further and calculate the actual cost per enquiry. This is the best known way that I can directly compare the effectiveness of my different media. If you know the annual cost of an advert it's easy to calculate the monthly cost - just divide by 12. An Excel spread can calculate the average number of calls you receive a month on each number if you enter a simple formula. Divide the two and you have the cost per enquiry. If you are an Excel whiz then you can create a formula to do this for you.

For example: if one advert costs £200 per month and you get an average of 50 calls on the 0800 number in the ad then the cost per enquiry is £4.
With this information you can compare the effectiveness of media such as The BT Phone Book, Thomsons, Yell.com and Yellow Pages and more.

This means you can cut back or cancel unprofitable adverts that aren't pulling their weight. Many businesses find this invaluable as they look to free up money from printed advertising to fund website design and internet marketing. If you place a new advert then need to track it with a new 0800 number.

I have been using this system for over 10 years and have helped businesses save thousands of pounds by using this simple and effective 0800 number tracking system. Many businesses have used the savings to fund web design and internet marketing campaigns.