After more than a year of belt-tightening and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, small and medium-sized business owners are ready for good news (or even predictability). In many ways, it feels like things are getting back to normal — or a new kind of normal, at least — but a few questions linger. What does this “new normal” look like? How has the pandemic changed consumer behavior, and are any of these changes permanent? How should companies still recovering from last year's upheaval adjust their marketing efforts to not only survive, but also thrive in the current environment? To help business owners and marketers answer these questions, we analyzed data from millions of CallRail customer calls per week through 2019, 2020 and the first quarter (Q1) of 2021 and published the results in our first-ever benchmark of call tracking metrics. report.
The report delves into important growth metrics to Employee Email Database provide insight into your business growth relative to your industry peers and offers suggestions for maximizing your marketing investments. Biggest takeaway? Although the pandemic is not yet "over", consumer interest is on the rise, and most of these people are turning to the internet to find places to do business. To attract new customers, businesses should invest in the digital marketing channels that the majority of prospects are looking to. Read on for the report's key findings and how you can leverage this data to grow your business. Google Ads and Google My Business are the main call engines Google Ads was the biggest source of calls before the pandemic, and still is today, but Google My Business (GMB) is closing in on the top spot. Main source of calls 2019-Q1 2021 Top source of Google Ads calls Google Ads remains the main source of calls, but the rapid growth of Google My Business in 2020 highlights the importance of an up-to-date and accurate listing.
In 2020, calls from organic search soared 138% and GMB calls grew a remarkable 672%, likely because customers were looking for information about reduced opening hours (or to find out if businesses were even open). While these numbers moderated in the first quarter of 2021 (organic grew by 15% and GMB by 24%), the graph above shows that GMB is steadily growing as a trusted source for consumers. This data underscores the importance for businesses to have a strong presence on Google – and GMB in particular. The take away key? Be sure to keep your GMB listing up to date! And with CallRail's GMB integration, you can automatically place a call tracking number in your list to identify customers who have found you there. Tracking the source of all calls is key to determining which marketing channels (GMB, organic search, Google Ads, direct mail, etc.) are generating the most leads so you know where to invest your future marketing efforts.