Don’t Stumble Out of the Gate With 8-8-8

Many direct marketers believe that they’re safe using a non-800 toll free number prefix on their websites and in print ads or direct mail pieces. Hence many employ newer prefixes such as 888, 877, or 866, because, after all, since the number is right in front of the consumer, how could they possibly get it wrong? But here’s more evidence that proves that even when such toll free numbers are right under the nose of a prospect, they can indeed get it wrong.

“We started out using 888 numbers because they were easier to get and cheaper,” remarks the president and CEO of a major direct mail powerhouse who wishes to remain anonymous. When the owners of the 800 versions of toll free numbers he was using in his campaigns began to complain of misdials, the adman had an epiphany, “Many people saw ‘toll free’ and they automatically dialed the 8-0-0 version of our numbers. We were losing out on invaluable leads and realized we needed to go exclusively to 800-prefix toll free numbers.”

Dial 800’s bank of 800-prefix toll free numbers, RapidRecall, was the answer. The agency leader remarks, “We love Dial 800 because we discovered it didn’t cost that much more for us to be able to use 800-prefix numbers exclusively. The increase in response makes it most definitely worth it.”

Perhaps it’s the 20-year lead that the 800 prefix had on the others that came much later, but this is yet another example of consumers’ automated predilection for dialing 8-0-0. In a marketplace as competitive as the current one, having the edge of three simple, easy-to-recall digits is an advantage no direct marketer can afford to be without.

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Don’t Stumble Out of the Gate With 8-8-8

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