Help Consumers Remember You with Vanity Phone Number

Remodelers Journal, April/May 2009
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A phone number like 1-800-HARDWOOD® or 1-800-MILGARD® is proven to pull more responses and generate more leads when used in advertising. In fact, many home remodeling companies experience at least a thirty percent increase in leads, and some are doubling, even tripling their response rates after using a vanity phone number in their ads. And today we can all use a few more leads.

Remodelers who have shared their success stories with me over the years have all followed these key advertising practices:

Rise Above the Competition. Get an unforgettable vanity 800 number, one that ties into your product or service. The right number enhances the brand and the ad message, and helps consumers remember the remodeling contractor for a future project.
Be Seen ~ Everywhere. Put your phone number on everything, from business cards, to yard signs to company trucks. Have employees canvas the neighborhoods in your market with door hangers that feature your vanity number. Use it in all of your advertising – radio, print, television, billboards and promotional materials.
Repeat, Repeat, Repeat. If you run radio ads, mention the unforgettable phone number at least three times. On TV, display the vanity number along the bottom of the screen during the entire ad. Make sure your print ads aren’t too cluttered, so the phone number is easy to spot. Remember, consumers need multiple exposures to ads before they respond. The more branded impressions you provide, the better the retention rate will be by existing and future customers.

Laura Noonan has 15 years of experience in the vanity 800 number and telecommunications services industry. She coaches hundreds of clients each year on using toll-free vanity 800 phone numbers as direct marketing tools to increase advertising response rates. Laura can be reached at lnoonan@800response.com or by calling 1-800-NEW-SALES.