Use of toll-free numbers, which generated $10.9 billion in 2004, will amount to $14.5 billion by 2009. Direct response TV will continue to take its share: 82% of all phone numbers in television commercials were toll-free, according to a study from 800Response.com.
To date this year, 28% of television ads featured toll-free numbers, up from 24% in 1998. (The comparatively new online medium, however, has far outstripped this figure. Just over half of all commercials feature a URL, up from 19% in 1998.)
Ads for local marketers were more likely to contain these numbers (35% of all local commercials did so) than were spots for national marketers (only 26% used them).
Six out of 10 were “vanity numbers,” which have an easily remembered word associated with the digits. And three of four began with the 800 prefix rather than the newer 866, 877 and 888 prefixes.
Some 35% of all commercials feature a phone number, toll-free or not.
| TELECOM | 86% |
| COMPUTER | 60% |
| PHARMACEUTICAL | 55% |
| CREDIT | 48% |
| HEALTH | 45% |
| Source: 800Response.com | |
