So, what is a vanity number? Basically, a vanity number is a telephone number that has a correspondence to a word or name. Businesses choose to have vanity numbers for many reasons, the biggest being it is easier to remember an important word or phrase instead of a bunch of random numbers. For example, which do you think would be easier to remember as you were driving by a billboard or listening to the radio: 1-800-435-7385 or 1-800-HELPFUL? As you can see, vanity numbers are indeed helpful for your potential customers and a great tool for your business if executed correctly. Here are three tips on how to choose the correct vanity number for your organization.
Choose a Word/Phrase
There are two main choices that someone has when choosing a vanity number: do you want it to spell the name of your company or spell a specific benefit your business offers? In this situation, it is recommended that you use the specific benefit in your number rather than the company name (unless your company name matches what you are selling). This is because you want your potential customers to remember what you can offer them. If your vanity number is 1-800-VALERIE, customers may not remember that your company is Valerie’s Financial Advising Service. However, if your vanity number is 1-800-ADVISER, customers are more likely to remember your number and use your service.
Choose a 7-Letter Word/Phrase
Another piece of advice when choosing a vanity number is try to find a word or phrase that contains the full seven characters needed in a telephone number. You do not want any “ghost numbers,” or numbers that do not help your potential customer remember your full telephone number. For example, if Customer Elation had a vanity number, they would want a number that looks like 1-800-ELATION instead of something like 1-800-329-CALL. Though it may not be the end of the world, chances are there are many people who will only remember the 4-letter word and not the extra numbers in the beginning.
Choose an Easy Word/Phrase
A final piece of advice when choosing a vanity number is to make sure the word or phrase you are using in simple and easy to spell. Try to stay away from slang words; they tend to have multiple spellings. You should also try to stay away from possessives before another “s” word; this will confuse your potential customers as to if the number they need to dial has one “s” or two. Your number should also sound good when being said out loud. You want to make sure that it sounds clear and that your potential customers can easily understand what is being spelled out to them. It is always a good idea to practice saying the number out loud to other people first to see if they can understand what you are saying. For example, 1-800-ONE-WONS is just plain confusing.