Challenge
For Peter Robinson, chief marketing officer at LifeSpire for more than 16 years, understanding the return on marketing investments has always been critical to success. However, as digital marketing channels gradually took over from traditional avenues like newspapers, billboards, and TV, the organization lacked a clear picture of which efforts were driving leads.
“We needed a way to clearly see the return on our marketing investments and understand where to focus our efforts,” Robinson explained.
Solution
Robinson turned to call tracking to fill this gap, starting with solutions offered by advertising agencies and eventually bringing this capability in-house. A few months ago, LifeSpire implemented Marchex’s Conversation Intelligence platform to gain greater control over its data and optimize marketing performance.
The platform helped LifeSpire:
- Assign unique numbers to marketing materials and digital ads to track call sources effectively.
- Enhance follow-up processes using call recordings to improve how inquiries were handled.
- Link insights to their CRM records, enabling a deeper understanding of prospective residents’ journeys.
“The Marchex platform made it easy to manage our numbers and gave us detailed data to act on,” Robinson said.
Insights and Surprises
In just a few months, LifeSpire began uncovering insights it hadn’t anticipated:
- Consistent Zip Code Trends: Calls came predominantly from the same zip codes, which validated their marketing strategies but also pointed to potential saturation areas.
- Underutilized Call Opportunities: The data revealed more calls than were logged in their CRM, highlighting gaps in follow-up and conversion efforts.
- Independent Living as a Priority: The most prolific callers were prospective residents themselves, primarily interested in independent living options.
Results
Using Marchex’s platform, LifeSpire gained a deeper understanding of its marketing performance and improved its outreach efforts:
- Improved Occupancy Rates: By ensuring every inquiry was followed up promptly, LifeSpire maintained its industry-leading 97.5% occupancy rate.
- Better Trained Staff: Recorded calls provided valuable feedback to improve staff training and ensure a smooth experience for prospective residents.
- Increased Visibility: Tracking call sources helped refine digital ad spend, with channels like Bing Ads proving to deliver the best cost-per-lead.
“Without call tracking, there would be a blind spot in our marketing,” Robinson shared. “It helps us understand where our leads are coming from and ensures we don’t miss opportunities to connect with prospective residents.”
Future Opportunities
While Marchex has already delivered significant benefits, Robinson sees potential for deeper integration with LifeSpire’s CRM leveraging insights from Marchex analytics to build detailed user and resident profiles. He believes this will enable more personalized and effective outreach, further enhancing marketing ROI and resident satisfaction.
Key Takeaways
LifeSpire of Virginia’s approach to call tracking through Marchex helps maintain high occupancy rates by ensuring every lead is tracked, inquiries are followed up, and marketing strategies are data-driven. These insights are instrumental to LifeSpire’s ability to deliver the best possible experience to prospective residents and their families.