Big Improvements With Vanity Numbers...

Like Rome, vanity numbers were not built in a day :). There was a time in the ‘80s when one could not get an unforgettable Vanity number as promptly as one wished. After the Bell system broke up, stacks of number blocks were designated to specific carriers or providers. If a particular provider did not have the Vanity number you wanted, there was no way you could get it. And if you changed providers, you needed to change the numbers too!

But the situation of 800 phone number service provision improved dramatically in 1993, when The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) introduced the concept of ‘portability’ in the field of toll free numbers. Simply put, this meant that customers were allowed more flexibility in choosing their vanity 800 numbers. If you had a Vanity number of your choice and wanted to change the service provider, you could do so. This, and understandably so, sky-rocketed the demand of 800 phone numbers as more and more businesses joined the vanity number boom.

Vanity number service providers are experienced in direct marketing fundamentals. They understand the difference between an ordinary vanity number and a super one. The nature of product, the customer profile, brand expectations and brand deliverables – all have to be kept in mind before expecting success from a vanity 800 number. If the right marketing inputs are in place, then the vanity 800 number can bring magic to a company’s sales performance. Not to speak of the long-term relationship that the company can build with the customer through the help of the number.

A catchy vanity number with an easy-to-remember word or phrase, can revolutionize any business. But then a word of caution. A vanity 800 number by itself can not deliver the moon. That is over-expecting. There have to be other marketing initiatives as well like radio, television, kiosks, in-shop display, online marketing, or whatever the marketer decides, where the brand is expected to receive adequate exposure. The vanity 800 number needs to be included at every vantage corner of the customer vision zone. This can then facilitate a direct response from the customer who will remember the vanity numbers long after the campaign is over.

Companies who can afford it back up vanity numbers by staffing at the back-end with 24x7 service-availability for the customer. This is another value addition which can boost the performance of a Vanity 800 number. Indirectly, the marketer gets the benefit from the oldest advertising tool in the world – word of mouth publicity. For a happy customer, starting with a good vanity number and ending with a caring customer service voice – is bound to pass on the good experience to others.

Vanity number service providers can even help marketers track the performance of such numbers. It might be already evident for the marketer to know about the success or failure of his promotion campaign by studying and analyzing foot falls, sales figures, leads and changes in the dynamics of inquiry/ordering process, but a thorough examination done scientifically by a service provider can add immense value in altering the course of the campaign, if necessary, before any serious damage is done to its image or sales.

Thus, to summarize, an effective and smart vanity 800 number not only makes a product or service unforgettable, but doubles up as a consolidator of the various marketing initiatives which a business may be undertaking, thereby giving the competition a run for their money.

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