Today an increased number of businesses are using vanity telephone numbers for the simple reason that they give their business an increased rate of response, better credibility and almost instant recognition of their brand. This is not a new trend. It has also existed earlier during the 90s and 2000s. It is just that once again competition has become so intense that businesses are in dire need for effective marketing and brand building tool that will help them reap concrete returns from their investments.
Apart from direct marketing, like advertising on digital and print media, businesses also prefer to provide their customers a point of reference of contact, which is easy to remember and which people can use to reach them anytime. Customer care services and help-lines are effective tools for communicating with your customers but vanity telephone numbers are a step ahead.
A Few more Benefits
A vanity number is an alphanumeric number that contains a word or a phrase related to the business. It could be the name of the organization or a particular product or service. Unlike a toll free number, it is not a string of 10 digits number rather it is a meaningful combination of words related to your business. Apart from the fact that a vanity telephone number is easy to remember, there are other benefits of a vanity number as well:
- A vanity number helps to build stronger relationship with your customers because it shortens the sales process.
- It yields result almost instantly. The influence of a vanity number is seen in the increased number of customer queries.
- Vanity numbers are toll free numbers. But they are never confusing as a toll free number. A toll free number often gets confusing because you have to remember 10 digits which is never the case for vanity numbers.
- A vanity number puts across a very important fact that you care for your customers and they are your priority.
FCC Study on Vanity Telephone Numbers
A study by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reveals the immense popularity of vanity telephone numbers. According to FCC, a vanity number is a telephone number where the letters are associated with the number’s digit on the telephone. It spells a name or word of value. It could either spell the name of a company or personal initials or a product or a service. Estimates state that in the year 1996 there were about 300,000 vanity phone number users and today this number is close to 7.7 million.
New Vanity Numbers
Ever since its advent the demand for this number is on the rise. Its reliability as a marketing and advertising tool is attracting more and more businesses every day. This has created a dearth for the popular toll free prefix – 800. So a set of new toll prefixes have emerged: 866, 888, 877 and 855. You can also have difficulty in getting the vanity number of your choice because some other business might have already used it. In such cases you have to be creative in finding your vanity number rather than using a generic number. For example, if you are a real estate professional and find 1 888 BUY A HOME already used by some other realtor then you can use a number like 1888 BEST HOME.
