Build a Brand on Your Vanity Number

As a busy business owner, you could be forgiven for thinking that marketing tools and techniques are constantly changing. First you need a new website, then you need to appeal to search engines, start a regular newsletter and a blog, get connected to customers on social, figure out how to go mobile... now that we write it out, that's an exhausting list! But before you run out and advertise for 20 new interns to get all this done, stop to think about the tools you already have at your disposal, especially those that stand the test of time. Almost every established business has some marketing foundation to start from and it's this that will help you build out your brand in 2015, if you choose tools that can cut across marketing channels old and new. 

It's far from child's play, but a vanity number can be the foundation for your brand | Image Credit: Rahego Flickr

Get a Vanity Number, Build a Brand

Vanity numbers provide an excellent foundation to develop your branding. Our Friday's Finest series has shown several examples of companies big and small who have taken a custom telephone number and crafted calls to action or ad campaigns around them. The unique appeal is that vanity numbers tick all the boxes for use across a variety of marketing channels:

• Every time you include your number, it's a contact point and branded hybrid that uses minimum space for maximum exposure
• Vanity numbers with a call to action bring two key brand elements to every advert you post, regardless of platform
• Different numbers can be used for different campaigns or functions, from standard sales drives to customer service campaigns
• Tracking and analytics are baked in to the technology of vanity numbers, giving you access to monitor that all-important ROI.

Advertising is, of course, one of the most effective ways to spread the word, so let’s take a look at how vanity numbers and advertising pair up to make for a high-performance branding campaign.

Ad Campaigns and Branded Numbers

While you likely already have existing ad campaigns in place to promote your business, they may not be suitable for the type of exposure you want to get with your vanity number. In this situation, consider having the marketing team sit down and build some campaigns from scratch that focus on your vanity toll-free number as the centerpiece of your ads. Look around at how other companies are marketing using their branded vanity numbers as this can be an excellent source of inspiration and won’t leave your team recreating the wheel.

In terms of online advertising – whether on search engines like Google, social networks like Facebook or other websites – this is another cost-effective way to spread the word and target your vanity number to many millions of people. Banner advertising is an excellent way to promote a vanity number as you can display the number itself as the banner image; over time these “impressions” of your vanity number build up and before long the end user remembers your vanity number without ever having purchased your products or services.

One area that you might not have considered for your vanity is the video content that you produce for YouTube, Vimeo, and similar platforms. There's a growing feeling that showing viewers too much “watermarked” information at the bottom of videos, or other annotations, quickly gets annoying, so why not just leave a single line of information with custom branded number? This way your viewer knows exactly where they need to call if they want to make a purchase, and you gain additional exposure for your brand. It’s a win-win scenario.

Finally, don’t neglect the free or inexpensive branding opportunities that you can use to expose your vanity number more widely. If you have company vehicles, you can place a magnet or decal with your vanity number on the rear and sides to gain some exposure while driving through town. If you primarily deliver your products by mail, there are many more opportunities to display your number packaging and mailing labels. Sit down with your staff members to come up with a few places to roll out your vanity number for extra exposure and you'll be awash with ideas in no time. No matter where you place it, the most views your vanity number gets, the better it will stick in the customer’s mind!

These are just a few places that you and your marketing team can increase awareness of your brand and use your vanity number to attract new business. With your number front and center announcing the brand and providing a compelling contact point, your business becomes  more memorable in the customer's mind and increases the chance that you'll win their call. Combined with the right channels - what we call a "blended campaign" - and a compelling sales pitch, vanity numbers prove to be the most reliable way to simultaneously expand your brand and keep your sales funnel fresh with new leads.