800 numbers in print, catalog and online advertising

• 58% of magazine ads contain a toll-free number, with 82% using the 800 prefix.
• 34% of magazine ads with toll-free numbers display them prominently, versus only 15% of internet address displays.
• 84% of current Internet users search for product or service information online in order to make a toll free call purchase.
• A Bellcore study reveals that 800 number ads outperform local-number ads by six to one.
• The average phone order from a catalog can be 30% to 70% higher than the average mail order.
• Because telephone buyers use credit cards, they order more merchandise and higher ticket items 95% of the time.
• A productive ad featuring an 800 number can generate approximately 30% more orders.
• Fund-raising organizations have increased their response approximately 25% by adding an 800 number in commercials, print ads or direct mail pieces.

800 numbers in tv and radio commercials

• Twenty-four percent of television commercials contain a toll-free number, 91% use the 800 prefix; 57% are vanity numbers.
• Seventy-nine percent of commercials with toll-free numbers display the number prominently.
• Forty percent emphasize the number with a voice-over by an announcer.
• Only 19% of the commercials featuring toll-free numbers are time sensitive (``act now'' or ``limited time'').
• National advertisers are using vanity numbers more than numeric ones, and local advertisers use them about half the time.
• The top time slot is late afternoon/early evening.
• 79% of 15 second commercials with toll-free numbers use vanity numbers, as do 75% of 30 second commercials.
• In a tv campaign test of 1 800 PRODIGY versus their numeric 800 number, the vanity number pulled 25% more response, over a 24 hour longer period of time.
• After running 1 800 JEEP EAGLE in tv commercials, follow-up determined that within twelve months of the first call to the number, 50% of callers converted to a sale, buying either a Jeep Eagle, or a comparable brand, concluding that the vanity number triggered more qualified leads.
• In a recent study, radio ads with a vanity 800 number drew fourteen times more calls than those with a numeric 800 number.

800 numbers for Customer Service

• To decrease returns by as much as 50%, use an 800 number on product literature.
• Companies who take orders by fax realize as much as 40% order increase by having an 800 number publicized.
• Adding an 800 number to your e-mail signature will increase productivity.