Six Vanity 800 Number “Do’s”

Vanity
phone numbers, such as 1-800-FLOWERS, can pull more responses and generate more
leads when consistently used across channels.

Laura Noonan ,
vice president of marketing and corporate communications with 800response, a
provider of vanity numbers and related services, offers six tips to ensure
you’re using your vanity 800-number as effectively as possible.

1.
Lather, rinse n’ repeat. We all read the back of shampoo
bottles and laugh at the obvious instructions to “lather, rinse and repeat.”
But, this is great advice when you think of it in other contexts–ones that may
not be so obvious. For example, make sure you feature a vanity phone number in
all advertising, throughout your various media channels. And, when you are
using your vanity number in broadcast (DRTV and radio), repeat the number at
least three times–in the beginning, in the middle and as the last bit of
information to finish off the commercial.

2. Say it loud and proud.
Put your phone number on everything. Make sure people know how to contact you.
Use it in all of your advertising. Radio, print, television, billboards,
collateral materials, even on your Web site. Think big, think branding. Using
your vanity number on all marketing materials and in all advertising campaigns
delivers consistent messaging and ensures that the number will pull more leads
and sales.

3. Say it in a song.
Everyone loves a good jingle. And, they have been proven to stick with people.
Using jingles in radio and television ads have been hugely successful for
businesses in food, package goods and even the automotive industry. They create
an emotional connection with consumers. And, they can last for years (as long
as they are not too cheesy or annoying). The cost of creating one jingle has
HUGE pay off if you use it to brand your business, run it in all broadcast ads
and increase your leads and sales as a result.

4. More is more. Give
your advertising campaign and direct response tool (remember we’re talking
vanity phone numbers here; trackable vanity 800-phone numbers) a chance. Run a
moderate to heavy ad schedule. If it is a radio ad, run on several stations
that target your audience, and run the ads at least several times a week on
each station. Same goes for television and print. The more impressions you
provide the better the retention rate by your audience.

5. Brand,
brand, brand. When you decide to invest in a vanity 800-phone number, get one
that ties into your product or service.

6. Test and
track. Create two separate ads using the same creative elements, just switch up
a toll-free phone number for a vanity 800-number in one of the ads. Then track
the response you get from each ad. It has been proven that people will remember
a vanity phone number (one that spells something, like 1-800-PICK-UPS) in a
radio ad 14 times more than they will remember a numeric number. So you will be
able to test ad campaigns, specific media channels and find out which ones in
your local media/advertising market are best for your success.