The Yellow Pages have been around as long as I can remember but the life of the publication is eventually going to be a thing of the past. Personally I cannot remember the last time I looked in the yellow pages for an ad. This is’t news to a lot of people, but the internet is where a lot of people go to search, buy things and entertain themselves.
So lets get to the question, should you advertise in the yellow pages? Well I can guide you but I can’t answer the question for you. Hopefully the points and discussion below will help.
You know your clients and customers best. Are the majority of your customers internet savvy? Are a lot of your customers elderly and my not be as web savvy as the younger generations? If yes, you may want to apply your marketing in other media’s. Now this doesn’t apply to all business, a lot of services industries like AC and plumbing companies that people need “NOW” to fix their problem, I feel, may still benefit from the Yellow Pages.
When was the last time someone said to you, “I found you in the Yellow Pages”? If this is happening a lot then staying in the book is obvious. I like to tell people it’s a good idea to have a way of track your marketing, and an easy way is to constantly ask your customers how did you here about us? In print advertising, offer a special discount if they mention the ad, use a coupon or a special gift. If the Yellow Pages works keep doing it and if it doesn’t, stop. Have a way of knowing if its effective.
Get to know your clients and their pattern of doing things make it easy for them to find you in every media possible.
Try looking at your most successful competitors not only try what they are doing but try doing the opposite of them, even if it goes against your common sense. And remember the web is what people are using to find information and the Yellow Pages is in serious decline. So, if its still working use it, but know when to discontinue using, and when to stop.
