Reports of the death of the phone book are premature. As long as there are people without computers or people not internet-savvy, there will be a need for the thick yellow tome that arrives on our doorstep every autumn.
Phone Books Make Great Booster Seats!
That said, I rarely use our phone books for anything other than impromptu booster seats when the grandchildren visit. Businesses trying to reach me solely via the phone book are missing the boat.
Yellow Page Listings
Still, every business benefits from a yellow page listing. A listing is usually free – a benefit of having a business phone line. That yellow page listing also adds your business to an online database, which is used as a source for local online directory information and search results.
Yellow Page Advertising
On the other hand, yellow page advertising is a risky proposition. It’s expensive, ties you into a one-year minimum contract, and frequently has a very low (if any) return on investment. It doesn’t provide the ability to adapt to a changing market or allow you the opportunity to change your message in a timely manner. That’s not to say you shouldn’t ever advertise in the phone book … it can be worthwhile for certain businesses.
Is Phone Book Advertising Right For You?
How can you know if phone book advertising is right for you? Look through the eyes of your target market. Ask yourself those essential questions that must be at the forefront of all advertising efforts:
- Who is my market?
- What is my message?
- How can I best reach my market with my message? Or where is my market already hanging out and potentially receptive to my message?
If you decide to advertise in any phone book, don’t just publish a variation of your business card. Remember that it’s an advertisement first. Use it as such. Include an offer. Give your reader a reason to respond right now. And figure out a way to track response. If you can’t track response, how will you know if the ad was effective … how will you know if you should renew it the next year?
Personally, I’ve never gained one paying customer from a yellow page ad. As a copywriter, my past yellow page ad brought me tire kickers and people offering “wonderful opportunities” to promote myself by writing for them for free.
So, I’ll stick to content marketing, social media exposure and word of mouth. These are proven winners, worthy of my investment of time and effort.
What about you? When was the last time you used a phone book? And what markets do you feel might still be effectively reached through phone book advertising?
Photo by: kiss kiss bang bang on flickr
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Yeah, I covered our phone books with duct tape and let the kids use them as steps for step aerobics when they were little. That way they felt like they were working out with me! Definitely did the booster seat thing, too. It’s true, they must be good for some markets because they are still producing them. My older kids still use the phone books for ordering pizza, and getting business phone numbers. Never residential numbers, though. I will look up doctors if I’m in a hurry. Sometimes its faster than going online. I always enjoy coming to this site, keep up the good work!
In my opinion, phone book advertising are still on the hit, there are some people would referred to choose a yellow page directory for their local searches rather than other directory such like yahoo and others…
last year my construction business was added to the yellow pages and since then I have only had one customer from it. But from free advertising services online I have had well over 20, so I do not believe the phone book has much use
Online advertising is more effective now than the usual way of advertising such yellow pages, however some still choose to use this. Atchisson testimony is true, fact is you can get a lot of target customer through online.
I think it depends alot on the industry. There are certain professions that will continue to use phone books successfully for marketing for a long time to come. IMO, those would include your classic emergency services like a plumbing emergency, etc. When you need something really fast an older generation is still going to whip out the ‘big yellow’. Because they can find something faster than looking on the internet.
Justin is right it all matters what field you are in, some services can do very well.
Being an Montreal web Design Company, we tell all our clients that the Yellow pages are not the way to go. Invest in SEO and you will get a bigger bang for your buck.
Allen
Thank you all for your comments.
I advise all of my clients to consider their market … some, with the right ad will do very well in the yellow pages. We may think the whole world is online, but a significant number still do business the old fashioned way, and that means they reach for the phone book to find contact info for a business.
I know quite a few people who don’t have an Internet connection, many who have no option but slow dial-up, some with no desire to even own a computer. The best SEO practices, content marketing, link building, etc. won’t reach them.
So, study your market. Know who you’re trying to reach and learn where to find them. Concentrate your efforts there … and for some businesses this might mean including a yellow page ad in the marketing mix.
Thank you all … comments are still open and welcome.
How about a computer repair shop? If Dad’s computer dies, he’s not going to use the internet to find a local business.
Another factor important for your business – if you customer has no clue about how to manage his problem, and wants to talk to a human, the yellow pages gives him some valuable contacts.
I bought a 2500 dollar package from the yellow pages. I wish I hadn’t. They’ve already messed up the ad. I also hate the attitude that their company gives me. It is like they are doing me a big favor by letting me do business with them. When their saleman came to meet me, most of his spiel was about how Yellow pages has a cozy relationship with google. It was actually as though he was taking credit for google or something.
Everytime I try to call their office, there is no answer and there is a message “due to a large volume of calls, we cannot answer the phone right now”. Of course, that is not true. It is more like due to minimal staff.
I don’t think yellow pages is worth it. I think it is going to die soon.