How many times have you heard a phone number in a commercial and you recognize it as totally useless information? Aria Connect featured a Post from Jeffrey Hedquist as a reminder of what not to do wth a phone number for your clients...
"Use a phone number in a radio commercial only if a phone call is the primary (or only) response vehicle, and only if the phone number is MEMORABLE. We can?t all have 1-800-FLOWERS, but the simpler your number is to remember the better.
First, use the spot to make listeners want to call, then make it easy for them to call. (Read that sentence again out loud).
If you have a memorable number, build the spot around it: benefit/phone number/ benefit/phone number/ benefit/phone number?
Or, challenge the listener to remember the number, or make a joke about it, or sing the number, or make it rhyme.
If you don?t have a number that?ll stick in the mind, make sure you implant the advertiser?s name, and send those listeners to the White Pages of the phone book, or more appropriately to their favorite search engine, since that?s the way many people get numbers now. That way, they won?t be distracted by the competitors? ads they might see in the Yellow Pages.
Above all, stop adding a phone number as an afterthought. The time spent mentioning a phone number can be used to make the commercial more compelling. If the spot is powerful enough and aired with enough frequency to get listeners to remember the name and the benefits, they?ll find the advertiser."
That's great advice from Hedquist Productions.