How To Set Up & Track Phone Call Events in Google Analytics 4: A Step-by-Step Guide

Below is a step-by-step guide on how to set up and track custom click-to-call event tracking for measurement as conversions in Google Analytics 4.

Now that you have successfully learned how to set up your GA4 using Google Tag Manager, we want to walk you through how to set up events and in this case a click-to-call or phone call event.

As we are in the age of the consumer, providing your audience with a seamless and convenient way to contact you is critical for driving engagement. One way to achieve this is by offering a click-to-call option, allowing visitors on mobile devices to quickly and easily connect with your business. Tracking phone calls is a critical component to understanding user behavior, improving user experience & helping drive business revenue. In our experience, using Google Tag Manager (GTM) is the ideal method for GA4 event & conversion tracking and can prove very easy to set up.

By the end of this post, you will have a better understanding of the variables, triggers, tags, event parameters, and custom definitions needed to create a click-to-call event and toggle to conversion in Google Analytics 4.

#1 - How to Set Up Your Tag Manager's Built-In Variables

Before you start setting up a variable, it's important to understand what a variable is defined as within Google Tag Manager. A GTM variable is defined as a named placeholder for values that are populated when code is executed across your website. This means we will use variables to set up triggers, which execute our defined tags. To properly setup variables for click-to-call tracking:

1. Navigate to the Variables tab within your GTM workspace. You will be presented with built-in & custom variables.

2. Under built-in variables - Select the 'Configure' button.

3. Make sure that all checkboxes under the 'Clicks' built-in variables are selected. Once done it will look like this:

Once complete, you can move on to creating the trigger for your phone call event.

#2 - How to Set Up A Click-To-Call Trigger Using Google Tag Manager

With your variables available to you, you can now set up your phone call trigger. Note, there are several ways of doing this, I am going to show you using a custom phone call event trigger type.

1. Find the event name in the data layer:

   1. In your GTM workspace, Open Preview

   2. When your debug window opens, find your phone number or phone icon and click it.

   3. In debug mode, you will see the event name {event: "gtm.linkClick", . . .} once the event action takes place, this is your event trigger name.

2. Setup the 'Trigger' within your GTM Workspace

1. Next, click 'Triggers'+ 'New' from within your GTM workspace

2. Name your trigger 'Click to Call' or 'Phone Call'

3. Your event name is gtm.linkClick

4. And you want this to fire on some events where the Click URL contains tel:

   1. This is the most common CTC attribute.

5. Once complete, your trigger configuration will look as follows:

#3 - Creating Your Click-To-Call Event in Google Tag Manager

With your click-to-call trigger ready to fire, we need to ensure that when it fires, the phone call data is correctly passed to GA4 using our phone call event tag. To set up your click-to-call event tag:

1. In your GTM workspace, click 'Tags' + 'New'

2. Name your tag. I like to use GA4 - CTC.

3. Select - 'Tag Configuration', and a drop-down with tags will appear.

4. Select - 'Google Analytics: GA4 Event'

   1. Configuration Tag is GA4 or the GA4 configuration tag setup we did previously

   2. You can also manually add the GA4 ID here

5. Event Name - click_to_call or phone_call

6. Select 'Triggering'- and your trigger is the Click to Call trigger we just setup

7. BONUS: If you have multiple numbers you can utilize the event parameter name.

   1. Select the 'Event Parameters' arrow

   2. Parameter name = link_url

   3. Parameter value = click lego block and chose {{Click URL}}

   4. This will allow you to see the phone numbers generating engagement in GA4 without having to create an event for each number.

8. Save

Once your trigger & tag is set up, we need to test it in Google Tag Manager preview mode.

Tip #4 - Testing Your Custom Click-To-Call Event

When testing, go back into your GTM Workspace and enter preview mode. Once the preview mode loads, all you need to do is test your event by clicking on your phone number or phone icon.

Doing so will fire your tag in preview mode, confirming your setup is accurate! Woot Woot.

#5 - Confirm Your Phone Call Event Fires In GA4

You're almost done. You need to confirm in GA4 debug mode that your event tag was passing the correct data to GA4. To do this:

1. Navigate to GA4 -> Admin -> DebugView

2. Navigate to GTM and go to 'Preview' mode.

3. When in the preview window, click your phone number or phone icon that you just tested.

   1. This will fire the tag which should render in GA4 as seen below.

   2. BONUS: notice the link_url parameter you passed from GTM to GA4 is visible with the number that was called.

Once you have confirmed your custom event is firing in GA4 you will need to come back in 24 - 36 hours where you will be able to find your click_to_call event and toggle it to change to a conversion.

BONUS: Because we passed the link_URL parameter through to GA4, we need to set up a custom definition so we can use it within GA4 reporting. To do this:

1. Navigate to Custom Definitions

2. Create Custom Dimensions

   1. Dimension name = link_url

   2. Event Parameter = link_url

Nice work, now you can use this event dimension in GA4 reports outside of just debug mode.

You're Now Using Click-to-Call tracking to Collect Your GA4 Phone Call Event

Setting up custom click-to-call tracking in Google Tag Manager is a simple process that can provide valuable insights into how your audience engages. By creating the custom click-to-call event and trigger, you can now successfully track when visitors click on a telephone link, using that data to improve user experience and increase conversion rates.

Stay tuned as we look to dive deeper into GA4 setup including tracking form submission events and look at some of the key settings you need to be aware of when setting up your GA4 account.

Frequently Asked Questions About Click-to-Call Event Tracking

Question: What is click-to-call event tracking in GA4?

Answer: Click-to-call event tracking in GA4 allows you to monitor when visitors click on a telephone link on your website. This data can be used to improve user experience and increase conversion rates.

Question: How does Google Tag Manager facilitate call tracking in GA4?

Answer: Google Tag Manager (GTM) provides an efficient way to implement tracking codes for GA4. It allows you to set up variables, triggers, and tags to capture click-to-call events.

Question: Can I track multiple phone numbers using this method?

Answer: Yes, you can track multiple phone numbers by utilizing the event parameter name in GA4. This allows you to see which phone numbers are generating engagement.

Question: How do I test if my click-to-call event is working?

Answer: You can test your setup by entering the preview mode in your GTM workspace and clicking on the phone number or icon on your website. If set up correctly, the tag should fire in preview mode.

Question: How long does it take for the click-to-call events to appear in GA4 reports?

Answer: Once you've confirmed that your custom event is firing correctly in GA4, it typically takes 24-36 hours for the event to appear in GA4 reports.