Yellow Page Advertising

Yellow Page Advertising How-to

You may not need to pay for a Yellow Page ad anymore.  The Internet has become the new Yellow Pages and you can create your listing for free.  Learn about the reputable online directories you need to be a part of and then if you still think you need a Yellow Page ad, we'll help you with how to create the best possible Yellow Page ad for your small business. 

From our experience:  It's worthwhile to invest in online yellow page directories for Google and Yahoo! (the two largest online "go to" sources for people).  Everything else seems of questionable value.  Prices haven't dropped significantly for traditional printed Yellow Pages, while use of them has. Many businesses keep buying ads because they're afraid not to. 

• Free Listings - we've consolidated all the reputable online directories here for you to learn about and get your free listing with.  You don't need a website to create a free listing. 

TIP: Search advertising may have a higher ROI than Yellow Page advertising. An even better investment may be optimizing your website (called SEO for search engine optimization) to ensure your site comes up for all relevant searches for what you're selling.  That will bring free visitors to your site. 

 

About Yellow Page advertising

 

• Yellow Page ads can be a viable source of new business. Test and track how many new business leads you get from what sources to help you determine what to buy. 
• You have to choose which phone books to buy ads in (there are several now in each city and town).  And which online directories to pay to be a part of.  There are also all kinds of specialized online directories, especially for B2B advertisers. 
• You'll need to provide your Yellow Page representative with camera-ready artwork. Get their specifications and requirements for best reproduction. A quality design will convey quality.  A "homemade" or otherwise cheap looking ad may actually make the investment to buy the ad a negative ROI.  If you can't afford to have an ad professionally designed, don't buy the ad space. 
• Your ad will run for a full year before you can make adjustments to it. Make sure it will serve you well, and be a positive reflection on you and your business.

Know this: There are a lot of new and independent directories who want you to advertise with them.  Before investing, ask for proof of how they are distributed.  You want this from a third party, not them. Then do your own research about the company. It may be a better investment to buy ads in online directories than these printed independent phone books. How many phone books is someone going to keep and use?  

 

Phone books:  What type of ad to buy

Know this:  Words of warning...now that you have your own business everyone will be looking to you for your marketing dollars. Phone books, register receipts, and online advertising will drain your business quickly and not guarantee any increase in your business.  Take special caution with phone book advertising as they will offer you a phone number to help track your turns of ads to business but if you decide to cancel you may loose that phone number. Keep in mind that a phone book sits on many people's shelves for years. When you leave your advertiser without the phone number, you have lost those potential sales.

 

• Choose the right classifications to be listed under
  
  • Each category adds costs.  Use keyword research tools to understand the most popular terms people are searching for.

• Is bigger better?
  • Not necessarily.  There's no actual research or data on this.  It's all a matter of judgement and anecdotal stories. Many people correlate the ad size to market share and leadership in the category. 
  • Review the competition's ads that promote the same type services/products. Remember, this was their investment last year and they may be reducing the size of the ad or not buying one. 
  • Your ad doesn't necessarily need to be larger than your competitors, but perhaps the same size or slightly smaller.
  • For professionals who are listed by name, if your last name starts with "J" or further in the alphabet, you may also want to take this into consideration with the size of your display ad since your name listing will be well into the section. A display ad can position you more favorably.
  • Many times in established categories, the best known companies have the smallest ads. 

Know this:  Yellow Page representatives are paid on commission.  They will push larger space display ads.

• To pay more for color? 
  • When just one or two ads on a page used color, it made the ad stand out more than the others on the same page. But once everyone started using color, the affect lost its impact. It may be that a black and white ad (which costs less) will now stand out more if all your competitors are using color ads.
  • Know that red is a no-no for certain businesses (like dentists, physicians, chiropractors).  It is a subconscious reminder of blood.
  • Remember, the Yellow Pages are printed on thin yellow paper.  Choose colors that will coordinate well with yellow. 

• To include photographs of yourself or not?
  • Some doctors, real estate agents and other professionals use their photo in their Yellow Page ad.
  • Some things to consider: A photo will attract attention. It can work for or against you. Photos tend to polarize that way.
  • If you are of a specific ethnic or age segment of the population and you want to attract similar patients/customers, then your photo may help you do so.  For example:  If you are Hispanic and your practice is located in Naperville, Illinois. If you look Hispanic, and you wish to attract Hispanics as patients, then use your photo, by all means. 
  • If you decide to include a photo of yourself, make sure it's professional and your expression is appropriate.  If it comes off as too serious or too jovial, it will work against you.  And reproduction may be a problem on the thin paper Yellow Page books are printed on. 
  • If you are including photos meant to represent your customers, know that older people respond to photos of people 10 years younger than they actually are. So if you're targeting the 50+ crowd, show people who are in their 40s. 
  • If you include photos of your actual patients, customers or clients, you must get their written approval to use their photo. 

• The ad design
  
  • If you spend the money to buy a Yellow Page ad, make sure it looks professionally designed.  It can negatively hurt your brand reputation (and new business leads) if the ad looks "homemade." 
  • Be sure to use your brand look (logo, colors, typeface). 
  • How to Select a Graphic Designer - Find one who has created Yellow Page ads.  The Yellow Page sales reps will also have recommendations and their in-house design teams can also create ads. 
  • Costs to Hire a Graphic Designer
    
  • Best Sources for Marketing Freelancers
    

• Include in large, easy-to-read and find type size
  • A phone number
  • Your website address
  • A map or directions (cross streets or a known landmark)

Online directories

 

• Generally cost less than advertising in printed phone books and are more measurable. 
• The ads link directly to your website and intersect people who are online (or on their phone) looking
• The top online directories to evaluate are:
  • local.google.com
  • superpages.com
  • smartpages.com
  • switchboard.com
  • yellowpages.com

 

TIP:  For a list of online Yellow and White page websites, go to www.telephonebook.com

These articles may by helpful

• How to Choose the Best Newspaper Ad has tips on print advertising.  That includes tips from ad testing research done on newspaper ads.  Ad testing isn't done on Yellow Page ads so there's no learning to share. 
• How to Generate Qualified Leads will also be helpful.

What do you have to say? Share your comments below or give advice about Yellow Page advertising.

^{This information is protected by copyright and for the individual use of MarketingZone Premium Members only.  You have agreed to our Terms of Use.  Please do not post, share or distribute this information without our permission.}