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Companies relying on phone calls to convert more prospects and boost sales tend to set themselves apart from the competition by using a simple but extremely effective approach — vanity phone numbers.
Ad campaigns with custom vanity phone numbers are more likely to stand out and catch a user’s attention. Studies show that around 58% of consumers consider vanity cell phone numbers more memorable and respectable. Why is that?
A branded and customized phone number indicates professionalism and reliability for customers. It gives them a sense of an established, trustworthy business, especially when it clearly communicates what a company does and what customers can get from it.
This article will deliver the definition of a vanity number and explain how it helps brands analyze their call traffic. It will also explain how to find vanity phone numbers to better manage your social media campaigns.
What Are Vanity Phone Numbers?
A custom phone number containing less than ten letters and spelling out company names, products, or slogans is called a vanity number. This traditional marketing technique has endured as a valuable business instrument because it can give companies a strategic advantage over their competitors and deliver valuable customer data when used with tracking software.
Such numbers can be a great addition to any company’s marketing and brand visibility initiatives. While they tend to be more expensive than purchasing a regular phone number or leasing a call tracking number, their customizability justifies the extra expense.
Do Vanity Numbers Limit Advertising Possibilities?
While podcasts, TV ads, and offline advertising like billboards are some of the most popular locations to use vanity numbers, they also prove effective for online display ads. In fact, custom vanity phone numbers can improve click-through rates (CTR) by up to 33% for online display advertising.
On top of that, using vanity numbers for other types of ads or on the website can help with branding, as consumers can connect that phone number to the business when they hear or see it. Ultimately, anywhere a consumer might notice such a number is an excellent location for toll-free or local vanity phone numbers.
How to buy local vanity phone numbers and whether they’re worth the price is often the point of contention for businesses of all stripes.
But there’s no denying that companies leasing vanity numbers see higher recall rates because consumers are 3 to 4 times more eager to reach out to brands with vanity cell phone numbers.
So why should a company consider using toll-free or local vanity phone numbers? Here are several takeaways to ponder:
- Increasing the number of word-of-mouth referrals,
- Improving brand recognition and familiarity,
- Matching a product, service, or domain name,
- Increasing recall rates,
- Capturing essential caller data,
- Connecting offline to online buying journeys,
- Expanding the company’s presence nationally.
Apart from these reasons to invest in finding and leasing the best vanity phone numbers for your company, it’s also important to consider other social media marketing benefits and opportunities such numbers can uncover.
Let’s examine how vanity numbers can complement solutions offered by the VoIP service or call intelligence providers.
Tapping Into Phone Conversations
What do businesses usually expect from companies offering VoIP features? As a rule, it’s a standard set of services and tools like number portability, call forwarding, call block, and directory assistance.
Companies looking to access advanced call tracking and distribution features, including custom vanity phone numbers, typically look for comprehensive solutions offering advanced call intelligence and texting functionality.
Naturally, the perfect combination doesn’t exist; it always depends on the company’s current business needs and priorities. For instance, some would settle for tiered pricing and more established call intelligence platforms.
Others would lease vanity phone numbers for business and limit themselves to only critical features like call logs, audio conferencing, and call routing.
But regardless of the solution you choose, it’s crucial to make the most of every phone conversation with a client. When it comes to vanity phone numbers search, what features can complement them to help you tailor communications and make every business call profitable?
Here are the features to look out for when searching for the best providers of local vanity phone numbers:
- Call recordings,
- Call logging,
- Interactive voice response (IVR) or auto attendants,
- Call tracking and distribution,
- User behavior recording,
- Cloud phone system,
- Speech-to-text,
- Software integrations.
How Vanity Numbers Help Analyze Inbound Calls
There’s no denying that prospective clients are not always near a phone when they get promotional messages from your business. Therefore, companies must ensure that their ad campaigns are more entertaining and memorable.
By using cleverly tailored vanity phone numbers rather than regular business numbers, companies can improve ad response rates and keep tabs on phone conversations through call tracking software.
Call tracking systems use trackable phone numbers to enable companies to get detailed attribution for their call traffic. Vanity phone numbers can be used with a call tracking solution for online or offline marketing campaigns.
In a nutshell, such numbers help attribute callers to specific campaigns and marketing channels. So, when a campaign ends, these numbers can be customized and repurposed for other marketing efforts.
Their flexibility, combined with the features and tools of call tracking software, enables brands to track all their marketing initiatives and performance in real-time.
Besides, it allows having an incidental look at various ad campaigns, which is also crucial because it helps to make on-the-go adjustments.
Competitive Edge and Other Marketing Benefits
Call conversions continue to outnumber web leads in a digital world, making phone conversations essential for business.
A single phone call makes a brand more accessible and can help a prospect establish rapport with a company before becoming a client.
But here’s the thing: companies must be creative when leasing and customizing a vanity number. If you’re a marketer looking for available vanity phone numbers, you might discover that most of the regular combinations of sequences and words are taken at this point.
But there’s no need to worry. The key is using letters and numbers that strongly indicate what your company or product is about and, as a result, get consumers to call you.
Having unique and noteworthy vanity phone numbers offers numerous advantages for every company, regardless of size or business sector. Let’s examine in more detail the marketing benefits such numbers provide to brands.
Memorability Matters
A vanity number assists potential buyers in memorizing your brand name and what it offers. People are far more likely to dial up a call when they can easily recall a word or slogan, even when combined with number sequences.
In addition to being a simple but snappy marketing approach, vanity phone numbers make brands instantly memorable to new and returning clients.
Increased Call Volume
When a number is easy to remember, it typically results in increased call traffic flow. Therefore, businesses must ensure that they can handle an increased call volume.
But the target audience is interested in more than just reaching out to a company or being able to dial a number in one click. They must resolve their problems and receive the information they’re inquiring about.
Therefore, companies must implement the right solutions to streamline the call tracking and distribution process.
Enhanced Brand Recognition
A unique and entertaining vanity phone number guarantees that your business will win two types of clients: those wondering what your business has to offer and those interested in purchasing your products or services shortly.
Elevated Customer Experience
Unusual and captivating custom vanity phone numbers will encourage dialogue and make your audience’s experience significantly smoother. That is especially true for returning customers, who won’t have to spend time looking up your number when attempting to contact the business.
Overall, vanity phone numbers communicate and attract target audiences that you have gone above and beyond to ensure they consistently have an easy way of contacting your business.
How To Get Vanity Phone Numbers
Businesses can find vanity phone numbers for lease and sale, including standard, local, international, and toll-free numbers. These numbers are typically part of business phone systems, complementary solutions, and offerings.
Since most vanity numbers are portable, businesses can switch from one provider to another without giving up the number. In other words, portability ensures that your company will have access to the same number when switching to another service provider.
If you’re looking to acquire a vanity phone number, here are the 6 basic steps you must take:
Step 1: Choose the Right Carrier
Every business owner and marketer strives to find a reputable business partner. When acquiring vanity phone numbers, remember to refrain from doing business with someone who offers to sell an existing vanity number. The FCC prohibits “hoarding” and “brokering” toll-free numbers; the only exception is competitive bidding.
Here are several questions that will help you evaluate a vanity number provider:
- Does the company offer local, international, and toll-free vanity numbers?
- Does the provider possess any certification?
- What prefixes are available?
- What pricing options, tools, and features does the provider offer?
- Are any security measures in place (GDPR, CPRA, HIPAA compliance, etc.)?
Step 2: Come Up With Several Ideas for Vanity Numbers
Due to a large number of operating vanity numbers, some of the options you might come up with will almost certainly be taken.
Therefore, it’s a good idea to brainstorm a few phrases and number prefixes that communicate what your company does. Some organizations buy multiple numbers linked to specific regions or marketing campaigns — but this isn’t always necessary for a young or small business.
Here are some of the best practices for choosing vanity phone numbers:
- Keep the wording specific to ensure brand recognition.
- Remember that simplicity is the key.
- Avoid using excessive number sequences.
- Use words or phrases that make sense, are easy to spell, and can be shortened.
- Keep the vanity number no longer than seven characters.
- Call to action can work, as well as the company name.
- Ensure that the preferred choice will maximize your benefits.
- The wording you consider should explain what your company does or offers.
- Avoid terms associated with rival companies or other well-known companies.
- Avoid slang or trending phrases that can quickly become obsolete.
- Have at least two backup choices.
Step 3: Ask About Vanity Phone Numbers Availability
After compiling a list of viable numbers, you can enter your best pick into the provider’s database search tool. It will search the existing number repository and inform you whether the desired option is available.
A provider could offer comparable alternatives if someone else reserved the preferred choice.
Step 4: Choose a Suitable Calling Plan
Every marketer must consider answering several questions before picking the calling and pricing plan. Here are some of them:
- Do you need a customized plan?
- Do you need to implement IVR and have your new number connect to the in-house call center?
- Do you prefer the inbound calls to be handled by third-party agents?
- Do you need to capture and analyze caller data for future call-based campaigns?
Knowing what features and tools your business needs will help you find a suitable provider to integrate them into your telecommunications plan.
Step 5: Consult With the Current Carrier
If you’re not looking to switch to another provider, it’s worth checking whether the current carrier has custom vanity phone numbers that fit your requirements.
Step 6: Claim Your Custom Vanity Phone Numbers
Once the choice is made and finalized, you must pay for the delivered services, and the vanity number is yours. But remember that the standard wait time after the payment clears is around 48 hours. The wait time, however, depends on your provider.
If you’d like to clarify how long you have to wait before using your vanity number, contact your provider for more information.
Add Sophistication With Vanity Phone Numbers
With emerging innovations that help connect consumers and businesses through virtual phone numbers and cloud phone systems, vanity numbers still provide consumers with precisely what they need: a simple way to reach out to companies.
For companies, vanity numbers are an accessible channel for their clients to communicate with them while capturing essential data, offering value, and efficiently delivering their marketing messages.
Regardless of the size of your company, vanity phone numbers can offer multiple benefits and help you make the most of the increased call volume and all the robust features and reporting tools that come with the service.
