2019 Wrapped

Spotify's "2019 Wrapped" reports that hit at the beginning of December are a shining example of how to turn data into knowledge (and ultimately) into buzz. Parsing their user streaming data, the company took a three-level approach to customized reporting:

1. Giving individual users insight into their own habits
2. Giving artists insight into their impact and reach
3. Giving the market-at-large insight into music trends

For users and artists, the personalization that was delivered made it engaging and instantly shareable. Social media feeds were stocked with the magenta and lime green tiles, showing 2019 stats. And then the company itself was able to share a meta-view into music trends that was newsworthy in and of itself. Imagine having every one of your customers posting something personal about themselves - but really just sending out an ad for your services to their entire network. Forget Instagram Top 9 or Facebook Year in Review... Spotify took it to a new level. And it was downright brilliant. We couldn't help but feel inspired by it, so we pulled together some of our top stats for 2019 for a little fun. More detailed information about top vanities and patterns can be found in our Phone Number Relevancy report.

Nearly 4,000 local phone numbers were purchased in 2019. When you buy a custom local phone number from RingBoost, you own it outright. You have three options on how to handle your new number(s): you can park it for safe keeping until you're ready to use it, you can port it to a carrier of your choice, or you can sign up for a call-forwarding plan. 38% of our customers selected to have their vanity phone number forwarded this year. Combine that with the ones who have been long standing call-forwarding subscribers and we successfully handled millions of calls and even more minutes of conversation this year. We've always prided ourselves on being focused on the phone number. It makes us more aligned with our customers to find the exact right fit, instead of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole for the sake of getting them to sign up for carrier services. It helps us stay laser focused on our mission of helping people and companies increase brand awareness and maximize marketing response rates. But, we also want to serve our clients and meet their needs. There are many reasons someone would want to forward a phone number. Here are a few that we hear most often:

• A lot of carriers won't assign you a phone number until your business phone is installed, getting a number ahead of time allows you to get a jump on your marketing materials.
• Need time to transition off the old number. Some people don't want to deactivate it until they are sure the call volume has decreased.
• The phone number is tied to a specific campaign
• They want call reporting at an affordable cost. Our call forwarding plans give insight into call volume and trends.
• They operate multiple businesses and want the numbers to ring to the same line.

Regardless of the reason, call forwarding is an option we are happy to provide our customers, and all plans run on a month-to-month basis - meaning you can upgrade, downgrade or cancel at any time.

While Spotify covered music genres in their recaps, we are always interested in industry trends. Some Spotify users groaned that their children skewed their results, but for us at RingBoost, taking a look at our top industries provided no surprises. Home Services (such as roofing, lawn care, cleaning services and junk hauling) tops the list, with Real Estate, Legal, Health & Wellness and Financial Services close behind. The industries that are most drawn to vanity numbers are the ones who need to make strong connections with prospects and customers. There are some overlapping themes that we see in our top industries:

• Customer services - These companies tend to be selling themselves, not a physical product. When you're selling something "invisible" you need to take every chance you can to create positive associations with your brand. Inviting calls is an excellent way to begin building trust and developing a fruitful relationship.
• Advertisers - Whether you're wrapping your lawn care truck with a logo and call-to-action or advertising on a bus stop shelter, advertisers must use every tool and opportunity they can to stand out and be memorable. Vanity numbers are a critical tool.
• Regional Businesses - When it comes to rap songs and local businesses, identifying with your area code evokes a sense of pride and creates association with a community. It can also be a short cut to answering the question of "does this company service my area?"

The first four of our top area codes for 2019 were no surprise - they are considered "exhausted area codes." Unless someone cancels service, so a carrier receives back an old number, you can not get an original 212, 305, 713, or 714 phone number just by signing up for new service. Yet a lot of businesses want to project the feeling of being long-established - and many consumers aren't even aware of the new overlays in their areas. An original area code sends subtle signals about longevity, capability, and wisdom. And fortunately, we have exhausted area code numbers in spades. But Fort Lauderdale?! That caught us a little off guard. Yes, Florida is known to have a lot of out-of-home advertising... when you spend more of your year outdoors, it makes sense.

This stat of tracking number of live chats is a new one for us to look at, and we feel really proud of these stats. We have always tried to make ourselves as reachable as possible. However a customer wants to communicate - phone, email, and live chat - we make it happen. Whether it's sales help to pick the perfect number or customer service to handle call routing or porting, we do our best to always be available for our customers to lend our expertise and our support. While other companies may be extolling the virtues of chat bots and AI... we're advocates of human power. We care about our customers and we care about making personalized connections. Looking back on 2019, we have a lot to be grateful for. Looking ahead into 2020, we are extremely excited about some of the new opportunities to come. So stay tuned!