How to Choose the Perfect Business Phone Number

Since it’s one of the most public elements of your business, your phone number provides a major marketing opportunity. 

A vanity phone number is an all-in-one marketing solution, optimized for memorability. It gives your brand a boost over the traditional randomly generated phone number assigned by your phone carrier. 

There are boundless options for vanity phone numbers. So how do you choose the best possible number? This article will walk you through everything you need to know.

What to consider when picking a number

A great vanity phone number sends a clear, compelling message about who you are and what you do. 

Aligning a number with your brand

As you start to brainstorm your options, there’s a few key points to take into consideration. We recommend starting with these two: 

1. Can you incorporate the name of your business?
2. Can you incorporate the service you offer?

Ultimately the most important features of effective custom phone numbers are…

• Memorability
• Ease-of-use
• Simplicity

If your business name doesn’t work as a phone number, or is already taken, you’ll have to get creative with the message you want to communicate to your potential clients. And if you get stuck in your search, don’t fret: RingBoost customer support team is ready to guide you in the right direction.

Do you need a local or toll-free number?

Answering this question can help you assess which type of number is right for your business:

• Who is your target customer base?
• Where are you doing business?
• Which better represents your brand?

Local 

A local number is one that starts with an area code specifically for a particular region, city, or state.

Because these numbers can be purchased for your use no matter where your business is actually located, they are a useful asset for expanding your company’s market reach. A local area code showcases a physical location (like a city) while establishing a powerful association between your brand and the cultural highlights of that place.

With customization, these types of phone numbers can bridge the gap between a familiar beginning (local area code) and a memorable ending (vanity phrase). Industries that tend to benefit from a local branding campaign include:

• Real estate 
• Cannabis retailers 
• Legal
• Home services
• Health and wellness
• Non-profits
• Financial services

Toll Free

Toll free numbers are telephone numbers that can be dialed from landlines with no charge to the person placing the call. These numbers give your customers access to your line from anywhere without being charged a long-distance fee.

Unlike local numbers, toll free numbers can not be owned, only licensed–which can act as a transfer of “ownership” of sorts.

Toll free numbers are particularly effective as vanity numbers due to memorable prefixes, and because the original 800 and 888 numbers come with a legacy of trust that spans generations of nation-wide consumers.

The success of toll-free numbers has led to a huge demand, and new prefixes to meet it. 800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, and 888 are all toll-free. It is worth investigating vanity options across all toll free prefixes to find the best option for your business.

Available numbers

RingBoost has the largest searchable inventory of available phone numbers in the marketplace. 

Features

To maximize functionality, your business phone number should come with the option of seamlessly integrating any useful features you might need into your communications plan.

RingBoost offers valuable features with all tiers of their call-forwarding plans including: 

• Real-Time Call Reporting & Analytics
• Call Notification Emails
• Caller ID Display
• Faxing
• Voicemail to Email
• Conference Bridge
• Multi Call Forwarding
•  Simultaneous routing 
• And more!

Pricing

In-demand custom phone numbers can come with a premium price tag. Don’t overpay for yours. RingBoost can find you the right number (and plan) at a price to fit any budget.

Tips for choosing a business phone number

Here are some best practices for choosing a number that fits your unique business needs: 

Know your target audience 

It might seem like a no-brainer, but reaching your intended audience becomes much easier once you have identified who they are and how to reach them.

Identifying your target customers, their specific needs, and their location will help you hone in on the kind of phone number that will make it easiest for them to reach you.

Keep it simple

The modern consumer wants convenience and simplicity. Don’t overcomplicate it: simplicity will make your phone number easy-to-dial, and enhance memorability

Make it memorable

An unforgettable phone number comes in many forms. Whether you opt for an easy-dial, repeater, or vanity number, aiming for memorability will ensure that callers can dial you on a whim. 

Phrases or words should be short and easily-recalled. For example, one successful home healthcare business uses 800-HOME-CARE.

Numbers that are easy to remember often repeat (4444, 1212) or are sequential (321, 789, etc). Law offices have had great success with repeater numbers.

Have back-up choices

Due to their rising popularity, premium numbers of all kinds have been bought up by competitive brands. Some exhausted area codes (like New York’s 212 or Miami’s 305) are in high-demand, simply because they’re difficult to obtain. If your first or second choice is not attainable, having back-up choices will save you the time it takes to go back to the drawing board. 

Know that you can expand your vanity phrases beyond the traditional 7 digits or less. 8+ is also an option, so take that into consideration when lining up your back-ups.

Search the largest database of available phone numbers

Simplify your search for the perfect number using RingBoost’s easy-to-search database of available phone numbers. Our search engine lets you conveniently search by:

• Keyword
• Area Code
• State

Browsing by industry is a useful way to quickly come up with fresh ideas as you start your search.

Find the perfect phone number for your business

With insider expertise and access to the largest database of phone numbers, RingBoost makes picking the perfect phone number simple. So what are you waiting for? You can start looking for vanity numbers and local numbers.