A common refrain from small business owners: “How can I quantify the success of my social media marketing strategy?”
What may soon become a common response: “Google Voice.”
The end result of Google’s improvement on GrandCentral, an online phone/voicemail service it acquired in 2007, Google Voice gives users the ability to either use an existing phone number, or create an entirely new one, and enjoy (among other features), voicemail transcriptions (read your voicemails like an email), custom greetings (tailor-fit greetings for specific callers), and low-cost international calling. NOTE: see videos of all the features here.
For those users who create an entirely new phone number, Google also allows them to program that number to ring at multiple locations (home, mobile, office), store text messages online, and record phone conversations. NOTE: more videos here.
Simply put, Google Voice could be a phenomenal tool for small business owners as the delve into online marketing and social media engagement.
First, it can simplify everything. Why confuse your customers with multiple phone numbers on your website or blog? Simply provide one number, share it across all your social networks and online pages, and then designate it to ring at every location you like. Plus, Google Voice allows you to create custom phone numbers – (ABC) Toy-Room is far more memorable than (919) 265-7239.
You may wonder, “forget my customers – why confuse myself?” However, Google Voice’s web platform is a mirror image of the GMail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar interfaces that many small business owners have become familiar with. It’s as intuitive and easy-to-use as any other Google program – if you can send an email, you can use Google Voice.
Second, it improves engagement. How many times have you forgotten the context or direction of a voicemail? How many times have you cringed listening to your static voicemail? How many times have you wished you’d recorded a conversation with a vendor or large-order customer? Google Voice’s functionality allows you to remedy those should-woulda-couldas. With the voicemail transcription service, you can save all of your voicemails like you would an email. With the custom greetings, you can create a greeting to correspond with the phone number on your Web site, and then record a custom message to welcome your caller from the website (“How did they know that?” your customer may say…) And with the call-record option, you can make sure dense customer or vendor calls are well-documented so you don’t miss a beat
Third, Google Voice increases your tracking capability. The web platform – again, very similar to GMail – allows you to see how many people reach you through your Google Voice number. If you want to know how many inbound leads you get from your blog and when you get them, simply put a unique Google Voice number on your blog and track the number of calls that come in. You want data, Google can give it to you.
Currently, Google Voice is by invitation only – remind you of GMail? – but you can request an invitation here.
If you have any questions on how to get started, or how best to put your Google Voice number to work, drop us a line or give me a call: 919.880.9032.
