Let’s say your business is located in Knoxville TN and you want to expand your reach to clients in Chattanooga, Tri-Cities, and Nashville TN.
You begin by marketing to prospects “out of market”, meaning the new territories. But your prospects in Nashville, for example, might be turned off by your Knoxville phone number. You want to include a local Nashville number in your Nashville ads, a local Chattanooga number in your Chattanooga ads, and so on. This post will show you how. It’s easy.
Buy local numbers for your target locations. You can easily buy phone numbers for any location in the USA.
Using Nashville as our example, there are two area codes, 615 and 629, serving Nashville (Davidson County) and the 12 surrounding counties. 615 is the older, more established area code. 629 was added in 2014 because 615 was saturated. You could choose a number from either area code, but there are more numbers available with 629.
Next, you want to be aware of the Rate Center location. This means the second set of numbers, known as the prefix. For example, the prefix would be in place of “aaa” in the phone number 629-aaa-bbbb. Locals often know what part of town a prefix represents. If your target market is Nashville proper, you don’t want a prefix from an outlying suburb as this might alienate callers from the other side of town, thinking you are located over there. So, in this example, be sure to choose a number from the Nashville Rate Center, like 629-736-bbbb. When you place this phone number in your ads, Nashvillians will know that you serve their location.
You might be wondering how to find numbers.
The easiest way to learn about available phone numbers is to contact me. I’ll check the available inventory based on your target location and needs. It only takes a few minutes.
Now let’s get technical for a minute. If your eyes begin to glaze over, just skip this part.
After you buy your new phone number, we can point that number to ring your business. Maybe you want it to ring alongside your local Knoxville calls. Or, you could designate an individual or group in your organization to receive all the Nashville calls. We will handle the technical stuff for you.
Track your results.
One of the benefits of having another phone number is you can track the activity. For example, “How many people called our Nashville number last month?” This can help you zero in on your most effective marketing activities. This activity is available to you with our online dashboard.
If you have any questions about “out of market” phone numbers, please contact me.
Andy Brasfield
Big Tree Telecom
865-888-6200 (It’s okay. We’re nationwide)