If you’ve considered subscribing to a virtual phone number service provider, you may be wondering how they can be used to market your business. In this article, we’ll take a look at some ways that virtual phone numbers can augment your business’ digital marketing strategies.

Call Routing
Virtual phone numbers are based on the latest advances in cloud computing, which means that they can work using technology that gives them functionality aligned with the 21st century. More specifically, calls that are made to virtual phone numbers are instantly routed to any destination phone number that you specify.

This means that you can have multiple virtual phone numbers advertised to different target audiences, but all of them are routed to the same call center and staff. By marketing virtual numbers to different target audiences and routing them to a call center, you compartmentalize your business without having to frustrate your staff and callers with misdirected callers. Additionally, virtual phone numbers from a qualified service provider (like Global Call Forwarding) can come with the option to add extensions to your number, which helps customers navigate their way down the sales funnel in the most efficient ways possible.

Vanity Numbers
Vanity phone numbers are simply phone numbers with a visually appealing series of digits. These vanity phone numbers are usually in high demand, as digits that pertain to a business (think 1-800-FLOWERS) can add a new angle to marketing your business. Similarly, other numbers may just have a series of digits that are easier to remember for your customers and can tie into existing marketing efforts to further augment the perceived visibility of your business. By posting this phone number on your website and social media posts, your customers will recognize your branding as part of a cohesive whole. Vanity numbers also subconsciously communicate your attention-to-detail, where your business has made deliberate efforts to stand out from the competition in the digital marketplace.

Toll Free Numbers
One part of marketing is getting your business in front of as many eyes possible. However, if those same customers can’t reach your business, then it defeats the purpose of any marketing efforts.

That’s where toll free numbers come into the picture. Toll free numbers help make your business more accessible, where any customer — regardless of their long-distance calling plan or personal preference — can reach your business. Toll free numbers also give your business a professional boost, as your business will be aligned with high-volume entities (like any Fortune 500 company). And if your competition doesn’t have a toll free number, your business stands out as recognizing that the customer is your number one priority.

Luckily, with virtual phone numbers, toll free numbers are instantly routed to a phone number of your choice. This also includes international toll free numbers (known as ITFS numbers), where you can advertise your ITFS numbers on your website or in online marketing materials to reach international customers.

Expanding Internationally
Has your business been considering an expansion to new markets and regions? If so, virtual phone numbers offer the key to your business’ international reach. Virtual phone numbers can be purchased in nearly any country in the world, which can help create a presence in an international market that allows residents to reach your business without a hindrance of long-distance fees — or even recognizing your business as a foreign entity. Once you advertise your virtual phone number, you will be able to gain a stake in the new country.

Beyond just a simple phone number, you can also use virtual numbers to purchase ITFS numbers. Short for “International Toll Free Service numbers," ITFS numbers allow you to use the functionality of virtual phone numbers and toll free numbers in international markets. The reason why ITFS numbers are important is that if international callers try to call your domestic toll free numbers outside of their country, they will be charged for the call as if it were any other long-distance or international phone number — which defeats the purpose of a toll free number in the first place.