This is a question asked on a Merchant Circle forum. Here’s the question verbatim, spelling errors and all:
I own a construction co and I’d like to hear from anyone who advertises with the yellow pages. One thing I already know is that it’s rather expensive, but is it worth the money for a small biz just getting started? How is it campared to word of mouth
I’m talking about the actuall book, not the net.
The question prompted 75 answers and responses. The discussion is quite interesting and contains some specific information about ad performance. It may or may not be a good snapshot of the state of broader SMB advertiser attitudes toward print YP and the directory industry.
Read them for yourself, but here are, generally, how the responses shake out:
- Print YP is valuable for certain categories of businesses but reduce the spend
- Print YP isn’t performing like it used to
- There are also very vocal critics who call it a waste of time
January 10, 2009 at 8:01 am |
Not to mention, the environmental impact of further a business that dumps phone books on people’s doorsteps. Evaluate the ROI– yellow pages are not necessarily a waste of time.
January 12, 2009 at 8:08 am |
That you for sharing this and I am not a Yellow Pages type directory fan. As a local business owner, the shift to geo-targeted search is empowering and allows me to compete on a very targeted level with accountability and tracking vs. print. Thanks for this post and I believe accountability and ROI will determine the winners from the old media dogs.
January 14, 2009 at 12:45 am |
Thanks Greg:
I love articles like that. I read the entire lot of responses. Its very creative. A variety of opinions. I suspect that in the midst of long term shrinking of print YP, some industries/businesses will continue to see value.
We’re in the process of moving off in its entirety. Over the last few years our continuing to advertise in YP has been dramatically less effective. We kept advertising on the one hand if only to be in areas where the competition hasn’t been.
I loved the idea about rigorously contacting new home owners for a certain business. I’ve used a variation on that for certain businesses. Its a winner.
My experience over about 5 years is so much like the folks who optimized locally. At least in this service excellent local/regional optimization is a killer. And when you miss there pay for ads.
Thanks again for the article.
Dave
January 14, 2009 at 3:01 pm |
Sure Dave. Hope all is well.