Let’s play a game.

Try to think of any phone number from any business in your area.

Ready…go.

Think. Think of all the radio jingles you’ve ever heard, the TV commercials, the clever phrases or rhymes with phone numbers in them.

Okay stop.

How many did you think of?

One? Maybe two? Zero?

The first time I played this game I thought of one phone number off the top of my head.  One.

I also played this game with people in our office and almost no one could think of more than one phone number either. This is amazing considering that we’ve all heard hundreds of radio jingles, seen thousands of websites and lived in the same area for years and almost no one could think of two business phone number off the top of their head.

What’s my point?

It is this: no one remembers phone numbers anymore. Period. They just don’t.

A 2010 study published in The London Telegraph and The New York Times found that 70% of people don’t remember their best friend’s phone number, 50% don’t know their parent’s phone number and 90% couldn’t remember one single business phone number.

Not one.

The culprit for all of our forgetfulness? Cell phones.

We don’t need to remember phone numbers because our brain knows that if we truly need to reach someone we will look them up in our phone. And if we need to find a business we will use Google.

Based on our non-scientific game at the start of this article and the scientific study, almost NO ONE remembers phone numbers. They don’t remember their friend’s numbers and they certainly don’t remember your business phone number no matter how catchy the jingle might be or how long you’ve had it.

They. Just. Don’t.

Again, this isn’t an opinion. It’s data-based fact.

Why Am I Telling You This?

We are a call tracking company. Call tracking measures which marketing methods generate phone calls and which don’t. It shows businesses where their marketing is working and where it is failing.

But in order for LogMyCalls to track all of this information our clients have to choose new phone numbers. These numbers don’t replace their current number—all of the calls still ring directly to their business—but they do have to advertise new phone numbers. They have to market new local or toll free numbers on the radio, TV, in direct mail, on their website, on Google Places, in magazine, brochures, newspapers or online. They have to get these new phone numbers out into the world so our system can show them which marketing methods are effective and which ones are not.

One common objection we hear from our prospects is this: “LogMyCalls sounds great, but I don’t want to replace the number on my website/mailer/ Google Places/radio ad. People remember that number! It has been my number for 30 years!”

Well, I hate to break it to you, but no one (seriously, no one) remembers that number. They just don’t.

If people want to find a business they are going to Google you. Or, they are going to directly respond to an ad they just heard, read or saw. They are not going to remember a jingle that you’ve had on the radio for 8 years, or a number you’ve had on your website since 1997. They just aren’t. Not in 2012.

Advertise New Phone Numbers = Track Your Marketing

We want to stress clearly that no one has to replace their old number to use LogMyCalls and track their marketing spend. All of your calls will still be answered at your business and nothing will change. The only thing you need to do differently is pick some new phone numbers to advertise in various locations (on your website, on your fliers, on your mailers, online, on Google Places, etc.) If you do this, you can have the best of both worlds: still receive calls at your business AND measure your marketing.

Don’t be afraid to advertise with a new phone number.

Trust me (and the research), no one remembers your phone number anyway. 

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