Call me, if you can: why your phone number doesn't work in your audio ad.

Finally, I have home Wi-Fi and I’m eagerly catching up on the UK radio soundscape.

​A particular commercial last week caught my attention. It started off nicely with a sweet, although very short hook, went into who they are and what they do, and what they have on offer at the moment, mentioned a phone number for somewhere in the Midlands, 476 347 or something, said their business name and closed with the tag line.

You’ve just read about as many words as there are in an average 30 second audio commercial. Without looking, can you remember what that phone number was?

Unless you have ninja memory skills, I bet it slipped out of your mind almost straight away.

Some people treat their audio commercials like print, but it's linear. The listener can’t rewind or re-read it.

What’s the first thing you do when someone offers their number? You reach for your pen, mobile, lipstick, some way to note it down to pull out later when you need it.

There’s no time for that with an audio spot. And listeners can’t pre-prepare because they won’t know it’s coming until they’ve heard your ad a few times. That’s a lot of lost opportunity for ROI.

Which leads me to businesses that do use phone numbers effectively. Mostly it’s taxi firms and pizza delivery places – you know, those ads that repeat the number. Over and over. Usually in a song (because melody aids recall, but that’s a subject for another post). Although even these guys are gradually moving over to apps and websites.

Of course, you always need to consider your target market. In this post, I’m talking about the majority of the consuming population.

Older generations like the early baby boomers and upwards are more used to getting phone numbers from audio (radio) ads. Maybe then, your number could be the best point of contact, but think about it on a case-by-case basis.

If you’re not sure, try calling your friendly marcoms expert. She's probably more than happy to help you make an informed decision. Do you remember her number?