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Remember when cell phones were something very few people had? I may be dating myself, but when I was in grade school I had an actual address book. An address book made out of paper. And I wrote down phone numbers in it. I know, right? Very special people, as in my 5 BFFs (my squad, if you will), had the honor of getting their phone numbers memorized. That’s right, I actually committed numbers to memory. Now, everyone has a cell phone, and no one remembers phone numbers because they’re stored in their phones. EXCEPT, of course, vanity toll-free numbers.

Most people still memorize vanity toll-free numbers simply because they can’t help it. They’re just so…memorize-able! When a vanity number includes a word or has a distinct pattern or is sung in a jingle, your brain just WANTS to remember it.

A Chicago Tribune advertising survey found that advertisers using 1-800 vanity numbers were getting ten times the response to those advertising with a local numeric number. (source)

That’s why it’s so important for small businesses and entrepreneurs to invest in 800 numbers and/or toll-free vanity numbers. The more likely a customer remembers your phone number, the more likely they call you when they're ready to buy your product or service.

How to Choose the Best Vanity Toll Free Number for Your Business

Okay, so if you’re this far into the article, you’ve probably decided you're interested in a toll free vanity number, and now you need to figure out how to choose. Here are a few tips for getting your perfect number:

• Make it easy to remember. Obviously.  You want people to remember your number. For the most memorable vanity toll free number, stick with letters over numbers. Words are a lot easier to remember. i.e. 1-800-GOFEDEX
• Make it simple. If your business is pet grooming, 1-800-FLUFFY might seem like the perfect toll-free vanity number, but people could get it confused with other adjectives. “I don’t know, Steve. I think it was 1-800-FUZZY. Or maybe it was 1-800-FURRY? I don’t know, let’s just go to Petco!” Think of what you do, and be specific! Like, 1-800-PET-WASH.
• Stay away from crazy spellings. In a similar vein of keeping your toll-free vanity number simple, don’t make it harder to remember with weird spellings. For instance, you might really want 1-800-PARTY-TIME for your catering business.  If it isn’t available, 1-800-PARTI-TYME may not be the next best option, if no one can remember the spelling.
• Find an easy to remember number sequence. Although numbers are generally harder to remember than words, basic number sequences (or all the same number) are pretty easy to remember, such as 1-800-5656565 or 1-800-777-8888.
• Consider a non-800, toll-free vanity number. The thing about 800 numbers is that EVERYONE wants one. And since they’ve been around for a while, pretty much any spelling you can think of is taken. BUT, there are 5 other toll free prefixes you could use: 1-888, 1-877, 1-866, 1-855, and 1-844. You could also consider using your local area code with a vanity number, if most of your customers are local.
• Let us help you. If you are out of ideas, FreedomVoice’s vanity toll-free number search tool can help you find a new custom toll-free number. You can search by keyword, letters, numbers, or use * for wildcards. The tool will then come up with relevant toll-free vanity numbers for you to choose from.

Once you're the proud new owner of a toll-free vanity number, it’s time to share it with the world! (After all, what good is your cool new phone number if no one calls?) Make sure to put it on all your advertising, emails, business cards, and your website – then sit back and wait for the calls to start coming in!