Did you know that there can be a total of 10 billion phone numbers in the United States alone? Any business owner knows how important it is to have a business telephone number but not every owner knows that a vanity number could be even better than a regular phone number. But what is a vanity phone number exactly and why is it so important for your business?
Is it really any different than a regular business phone number? More than that, what are the benefits of having vanity numbers for businesses in contrast to ordinary phone numbers? Keep reading and learn more about what makes a vanity telephone number unique.
Table of Contents
1. A Vanity Number Is Much Easier To Remember
2. Expand Your Market With Vanity Numbers
3. Market Your Company Brand With Vanity Phone Numbers
4. How To Get a Vanity Number for Your Business
5. Why You Need a Vanity Number
A Vanity Number Is Much Easier To Remember
Let's face it: a lot of people have trouble memorizing phone numbers. While some phone numbers are easier to memorize than others, all of these strings of numbers can still be a pain and an unnecessary effort to remember. Fortunately, this task has become easier with smartphones which do a lot of the memorization for you.
However, there are still some cases in which you will need to remember a phone number or two. When it comes to your business's phone number, you will want it to be as easy to remember as possible. While you can try and get a phone number consisting of digits that are easy to remember, words are much easier to remember than numbers could ever be.
This is because words have meaning and order while the numbers in the average phone number are more or less random.
This is exactly what a vanity number is.
Understanding Vanity Numbers
A vanity number is simply a phone number that includes a word somewhere along the typical string of numbers, usually at the end. You've likely seen plenty of vanity numbers shown on commercials on TV or you may have heard of them on the radio.
For example, 1-800-CLEAN is a good vanity number for a cleaning company. A lot of people think that vanity numbers have lost their touch and relevance over the years, but this is not quite true. While technology has changed along with the way contact businesses, vanity numbers can still be very relevant when you use them right.
They can also make contacting a business much easier than before. First of all, any 1-800 number is easy to remember because it is such a short string of numbers. Following that string is a short word that should be easy to remember.
Using Vanity Numbers
However, this word should also relate to your business in some way. That way, whoever has this number written down or memorized will remember what business the number is attached to. This will make finding and contacting your business easier than ever before.
This is not to mention that, in a way, vanity phone numbers do a lot to promote your brand. Regular phone numbers don't have this power and they are much easier to forget. It doesn't take a lot of effort to get a vanity number and, as you can see, these simple numbers can do a lot of good.
Expand Your Market With Vanity Numbers
Most ordinary phone numbers can only do so much. This is because most ordinary phone numbers are local numbers. Local numbers will limit your business, of course, to the local area.
This will make it harder for people across the state or even across the country to find your business and contact you. More than that, people from across the country will be dissuaded to contact your business phone number even if they do find it. This is because most ordinary numbers require a distanced caller to pay a toll.
Toll-free numbers, on the other hand, are entirely different. When calling a toll-free number, potential customers won't have to worry about paying extra fees just to call a number. This will make it much more likely for your potential customers to call your business no matter where they might be in the state or country.
What does this have to do with vanity numbers, you might ask?
Toll-Free Vanity Numbers
Vanity numbers are toll-free numbers, so you can hit two birds with one stone. By having a toll-free number and a phone number that's easy to remember, your business will be much easier to contact compared to your competitors.
You might be wondering what the point is of having people from across the country contacting your business. While, of course, a person from another state won't be able to walk into your store like your local customers, a distanced individual might still be able to do some business with you. For example, if a person calls your business from afar and learns that you have a website, that person might be tempted to buy whatever goods and services you might have on your website.
Getting Customers Around the Country
As you can imagine, if multiple people around the country do this, you will have a very successful business on your hands. Vanity numbers are one of the best ways you can expand your reach and reach wider target audiences than ever before. With such a number, you'll be able to compete with other similar businesses in your area without much trouble.
You might even have the chance to kick out the competition entirely in your local area. Remember that the appeal of a vanity number is that it is so catchy and easy to remember, even for people who don't live in your local area. As long as you pick a good vanity number, people all over the place will hear it and perhaps even get it stuck in their heads.
If a person is tempted enough, he or she will call up the number and see what your business has to offer. But keep in mind that vanity numbers are not just for getting more people to call your business. They even have the power to empower and represent your brand.
Market Your Company Brand With Vanity Phone Numbers
As mentioned before, a vanity phone number is nothing more than a 1-800 number tied to a word or two. This word, of course, can vary greatly depending on what your business is and what you want the number to be. The point of a vanity number is to be easy to remember and, preferably, to represent your business.
Suppose that you own a flower shop and you decide to get a vanity number. The last thing you want is for your vanity number to be something unrelated like 1-800-PLUMBING. This is an obvious example, but the point is to make sure that the vanity number matches your company as closely as possible.
That way, people who see or hear the vanity number will right away know what kind of business they're dealing with. For example, the number 1-800-FLORIST will tell a potential customer everything he or she needs to know. All they need to do is call up your number to order some fresh flowers or a bouquet.
Choosing the Right Number
In some cases, you can put multiple words separated by dashes in your vanity number. This will allow you to be a bit more specific with representing your business through the vanity number. For example, you could use a number like 1-800-GET-FIT if you have a company that offers weight loss services.
The more specific and obvious your vanity number is, the better. People will be interested in the message that the number has to offer and if they happen to fit your target audience, they might be tempted to make a call. However, there is a fine balance between a specific vanity number and overwhelming vanity numbers.
The last thing you want to do is choose a vanity number that includes a bit too much information at one time. Of course, vanity numbers can only be so long, but you don't want to cram the number with words and abbreviations. Otherwise, the vanity number will start to lose some of its most important qualities.
Instead of being easy to remember and enter into your phone, a convoluted vanity number becomes almost as complicated to remember as an ordinary number full of random digits. Keep in mind that your vanity number should both be specific yet short and catchy.
Think About Your Choice
It can take a while before you finally choose a good vanity number, but it is certainly important that you put a lot of thought into the choice. Think about what kind of number would be easiest for you to remember. If you find a number to be easy to remember, others will likely find the number easy to memorize as well.
By making the right choice, you can display what your business is through a phone number while also making it easily available to people all across the state or country. But even though vanity numbers are full of benefits, how should you go about getting a vanity number for your business?
How To Get a Vanity Number for Your Business
There are certain services that offer vanity numbers for businesses, but you will have to find them first and make sure that they are reputable and professional. Vanity numbers usually come with an extra fee. The last thing you want is to be scammed out of your money by an unprofessional phone number service, so make sure that you do your research beforehand.
Once you find the right service for you, you can start thinking about what you want your vanity number to be. As mentioned before, the vanity number should reflect your business in some way. However, you should also be prepared to be flexible and make some compromises.
More likely than not, other businesses have thought of similar vanity numbers as you. So, the vanity number you want may not actually be available. Instead, you'll have to think of something similar but just as catchy if this is the case.
The Price
You will also want to think about the price of the phone number. Some phone number providers may charge more than others for vanity numbers. While vanity numbers are typically not a lot of money, a few extra dollars may be important if you're on a tight budget.
Usually, you will need to pay a monthly fee for the vanity number (although this is not always the case as we will explore later). Some are quite affordable and are only $10.00 per month or so. On the other hand, some are quite a bit more expensive and may be as much as $30.00 per month.
Why does the price fluctuate so much, you might ask? It has to do with what the phone number service provides for you. For example, a more expensive vanity phone number may come with several extensions.
iPlum, on the other hand, doesn't charge any extra fee at all for vanity numbers. In fact, iPlum's price is the same for vanity and non-vanity numbers. This is not to mention that it offers one of the lowest prices for toll-free numbers and you can configure as many extensions as you want.
You can even opt for a free phone tree option. Once you make the choice, your vanity number will spring into action and you will soon enjoy its many benefits.
Why You Need a Vanity Number
While some may think that vanity numbers are no longer relevant, this is far from the truth. A vanity number is a phone number that is very easy to remember in contrast to ordinary phone numbers. More than that, it does wonders for promoting your brand and, in a way, advertising your company to people all across the country.
If you want to know more about how these phone numbers work, don't hesitate to contact us here.
