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Marketing Matters

Toll-Free Phrases

Eyecare Business May 1, 2010
marketing matters

Toll-Free Phrases

Rosanne Knorr

Want people to remember your business's name and how to reach your office? Consider using words or phrases as a toll-free number.

Phone "words" can translate to convenience for the patient, better branding, lead generation, and, ultimately, sales and profits.

"We have been using a ‘gorilla marketing’ strategy since opening, and the vanity number has proven to be one of our biggest assets," says Dennis Matzkin, MD, of EyeSight Laser in Atlanta.

ROUTING OPTIONS

Regional routing systems now enable 1-800 prefixes to target local areas. Optical businesses can purchase the specific areas where their potential customers live. It may be one area code, overlapping areas for a large metropolitan area, or a state.

Clarkson Eyecare in St. Louis, for example, does business across state lines, covering areas in Missouri and Illinois. It originally established a toll-free phrase of 1-888-EYECARE to draw patients from a broader area.

They eventually expanded the toll-free phrase to include local use as well. According to Bill Jehling, Clarkson's president, "it's for convenience, so people can call from their car or wherever they are and don't have to look up a local number."

SIGNING UP

Providers offer a variety of 1-800 phone words, sometimes called vanity numbers. The vanity providers manage the routing for the words selected so that the call rings directly and seamlessly to the local office.

In most cases, you can choose the area codes, regions, or states you want to own for the name. If you have multiple locations, the number can be routed to the office closest to the caller.

Most providers charge from $149 to $200 a month for the name and routing service per area code. Actual calls received are billed as well.

The fees for toll-free phone words don't always increase overall ad budgets, since some offices simply lower their Yellow Page or other ad spending outlays.

EXPOSURE HELPS

Once you have the 1-800 number, use it everywhere. The words are great for radio, the signage in front of your office, banners, vehicles, business cards and stationery, direct mail, or billboards. EB

Words That Work

Here are four ways to make your phone words work harder:

1 Use a complete phrase in words rather than a hybrid. For example, use 1-800-GREAT EYES, not 1-800-473-EYES.

2 Use recognized prefixes. Last year, www.EngineReady.com compared the various toll-free prefixes for conversion rates. The highest returns came from the 1-800 prefix, followed by 1-888 (877 and 866 came in last).

3 Spell out your service or product. "Eyesight" or "EyeTest" says what you do. Your name—using DRPHELPS, for example—does not.

4 Avoid words that are hard to spell, like optometrist or ophthalmologist. And, don't use Q or Z, as they're only on newer keypads.

Rosanne Knorr writes about shared-use vanity number provider Tele-Name Communications, Inc., in Sarasota, Fla.

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