1300 Numbers and Marketing

[altaimage]

Hey Everyone - so it's time to go for a bit more of a re-deployment this year and as always December is the month that I tend to start thinking about what I'm going to do more of/differently etc in the new year.

This year is going to be about client interaction - I've already got a few more automated avenues people can use like our new online print portal. To save us time quoting and clients waiting on printers to quote - clients can now see straight away fixed costings for design and print or just print etc and even order online. Hoping this is something that they'll love using and also that it could potentially bring in new customers who're looking for this sort of thing on the net. And at the very least offer some transparency in print prices between vendors!

(http://www.altaimageprint.com.au)

Anyway - what I'd really like to know about is about 1300 numbers? I recently sat with a client of mine who swears by them and the call rates they now get through this avenue. I've thought about it before but do they really increase call volume if used in a decent ad campaign and if so - anyone know a decent provider with the service? We've been looking through heaps online and asking around and all the deals seem to vary somewhat and I can sense some have the obligatory hidden fees....! The ones my client is using seem ok but entry level is quite a portion and they've got a long minimum sign up contract - I'd at least like to try something maybe without a years marriage upfront!

Any advice massively welcomed!

[Khalid Adam]

If you are a national business, expect an increase. if you are local, then it can backfire.

i would invest in a 1800 inbound service instead of 1300. you can limit it to location and exclude mobiles.

how is your conversion? the reason i ask is that if you can improve on that then it can have a compounding effect when your leads are increased.

You can easily double or triple business just by improving conversions.

[altaimage]

Definitely National - as it goes we're doing work still for clients in the US and Europe which is always good but what we'd really like is to offer something more for our 'local' Australian clientele.

Based in Melbourne now so I'm thinking it's something that we really should have been offering for a while now but as usual these things always get left to last. So while we've got the Christmas break coming up it seems like an ideal time to implement it.

I've just had a call back half hour ago or so from one of the providers I've enquired to but I'm still not convinced by some of the fees.

As for conversions - I guess we'll see what the uptake is with the new number if we can get it into play before January

[GailH]

Disclaimer: I work for a 1300 provider, and think 1300 numbers are pretty cool, so there's a definite bias in what I'm about to say!

One of the things that is really cool about 1300 numbers is that they come with built in reporting that tells you things like the time, date and duration of each call, the location of the caller (where possible e.g. not blocked numbers of calls from mobiles), and the number of calls you failed to answer.

This sort of information is really useful to help you measure marketing success. For example, did you get a huge increase in calls the day you posted something on the Flying Solo forum.

We have customers who have multiple 1300 (or 1800) numbers, and use a different one for each channel/campaign (e.g. one for the web site, one for the blog, one for a radio ad). This helps them to quickly determine which of their marketing campaigns/channels are translating into the highest number of calls, and help them decide where their marketing spend is most effective.

We also hear anecdotally from our customers that they get an increased number of calls after switching to a 1300 or 1800 number. I don't have any hard facts to back that up, other than suggesting you look at the number of 1300 number providers out there, and figuring that if they didn't work, there wouldn't be so many of us!

There are plenty of providers out there who will host your number month by month (no contract), and also a really wide variety of plans out there so you can likely find one that is right for your business and the number (and types) of calls you expect to receive.

If you've got any specific questions, let us know. There are a couple of other 1300 providers on this forum too, so you'll likely get plenty of help!

Cheers
Gail

PS ... just noticed an excess number of smiley faces ... blame it on too much coffee too early in the morning!

[Robert Gerrish]

Yes, we all need to watch those early coffees!

Robert

[nduncan]

I think 1300 and 1800 numbers have lost their impact in recent times. These days so many people get free or discounted calls to landlines that it doesn't really matter if they are calling an interstate number.

[Pross]

As a consumer with a mobile, I'm really sick of getting slugged in the head on my bill every time I have to call a 1300 number. It hurts and it ticks me off. I've gone to competitors on a couple of occasions instead of calling a 1300. If you get one, be nice and include your geographic (0x xxxx xxxx) number as well when you publish it.