Return on investment... three tricky words for those who manage the marketing and advertising initiatives for a company or client. After all, response rates and budget optimization are the crux of a successful campaign.
Today, advertising is required to be efficient and meet many expectations; generate leads, optimize budgets and stay ahead of the competition. Advertising also has to be clever, inspiring and unique. Many of these challenges are addressed by creative executives, web designers and the new alternative media gurus. Other challenges, like ensuring strong ROI, are more difficult to overcome for the advertising and marketing executives, but are not un-surmountable.
So how do professionals who manage advertising programs make sure they are implementing a strong campaign? One that tracks ROI in today's complicated media environment while also producing results? It is easier than you may think if you employ old (the phone) and new (the internet) technology.
First, you need to incorporate a memorable direct-response tool in your advertising and use it as a call-to-action, like a vanity 800 number. When used in advertising, vanity 800 numbers are proven to increase response rates by at least thirty percent (30%). And, according to a recent study by Infosurv, Inc. and eRewards, consumer recall improves up to eight-four percent (84%) with a vanity 800 number in print and outdoor ads, versus a numeric phone number. The study also finds that consumers have a nine times higher recall rate of vanity 800 numbers in radio and television ads, versus a numeric phone number. This simple but powerful response device translates into significantly more leads and sales for your business and will set you on the path to a healthy ROI.
There are many benefits to using an unforgettable phone number as the call-to-action in your advertising. Together, the ads and the response tool establish a strong image in your market segment. For example, almost everyone recognizes the McDonald's arches while racing by on the highway. The same goes for notable logos like the Nike swoosh. This concept of image recognition translates to your vanity 800 number if it aligns with your brand (e.g., a roofer using 1-800-NEW-ROOF). And, when you place a memorable number in all of your advertisements, business materials (business cards, order forms) and marketing materials (promotional items, yard signs, vehicle signs),it will do the leg-work of identifying your company and maintaining a consistent image in your market(s).
Increasing consumer recall and response rates and Security Spyware more leads only gets you halfway down the ROI path. Next, you must analyze those leads so you can re-align your advertising campaigns and spend your media budgets wisely.
To evaluate campaigns you need to have the tools in place to monitor your advertising performance. It is very easy to ask new customers or clients where they heard about you, but it's not always accurate. Monitor your advertising campaigns based on actual response rates. It's easy with the call tracking data that you'll capture on every incoming call to your vanity 800 number.
So, ask yourself these questions:
1. Do I know how each incoming lead found my company?
2. Am I able to track my company's return on advertising dollars effectively and accurately?
3. Do I really know which media outlets are working well, and which ones are draining my budget?
With real-time online call tracking reports advertisers have definitive data to answer these three questions and more. You will gain the ability to build a database of leads for future marketing efforts, analyze campaign results for media budget optimization, and examine a wide range of call data such as cost of calls, missed calls, and markets that produce the most results and bring you the most leads - the markets you should focus on in the future.
Recently a post-secondary career college implemented this two-pronged approach of generating more incoming call traffic and tracking their advertising. After activating a vanity 800 number and featuring the number in their advertising the incoming call volume to the admissions department jumped seventy percent, and in turn produced an identifiable increase in enrollment opportunities for the organization.
The executive director of Cambria-Rowe Business College recently shared with me, "We've had the best two years in history since we started using our vanity 800 number. More applications are coming in as a result of our advertising, and I attribute that directly to the vanity number."
Using the phone number as a direct response and branding tool, the school not only observed an increase in leads, but they are now also able to track their calls and see where they originate. After being approached multiple times by a local magazine to purchase ad space, the magazine's sales rep switched tactics. The rep convinced the school's marketing department to test the magazine's response rates using free ad space. To the school's surprise the magazine generated the highest return of all other media outlets they had been using. The school admits that they never would have known how valuable the magazine is to them had they not been able to track response with hard data, rather than supposition.
The scenario here demonstrates just how effective advertising with an unforgettable phone number is. It really is that simple. Vanity 800 numbers increase response rates and call tracking data empowers you to monitor advertising performance, learn what works for your business and resonates with your target audience, and gives you the opportunity to improve your ROI.