Posted by on Jun 20, 2008 in Marketing | 6 comments

I  am pretty sure there is a picture of me, with a target drawn on it, in the offices of most Yellow Page salesman.  I have long argued that the Yellow Pages are a complete waste of money, attracting only the most avid price shoppers.

And with the advent of the Internet, the overall importance of this tool is declining.  However, to be fair, I present an alternative opinion.  In an article by Ingrid Cliff, the author discusses, how to determine if the investment is a good one for your business.

Read article by Ingrid Cliff to find out!

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  • kenc

    Sorry, don’t think you have reached that level of notoriety
    yet mostly because Yellow Pages provides a medium for MILLIONS of small businesses to cost effectively promote their businesses. Those books actually got referenced over 13 billion times last year. And that’s just the print versions. 87% of all adults reference them at least once a year, 70% in a typical month, and 50+% on average month. How about on average 1.4X each week?

  • admin

    You would be surprised, how many YP sales reps are gunning for me.

    I have worked with clients across the country, documenting the increase in sales when they reduce or eliminate completely the listings, applying the funds instead to more effective marketing.

    Does Yellow pages pay for itself, sometimes…
    Can the money be spent better elsewhere.. Almost always.

    Why? YP is one of the least personl mediums. When I don’t know who to call I open the Yellow Pages, and price shop.

    The funny thing.. my brother sold YP advertising for years, so we have some lively discussions on the subject.

  • http://www.BlitzLocal.com Dennis Yu

    Ingrid,

    Well-put. Sometimes folks jump from the Yellow Pages to an incompetent advertiser, unfamiliar with how to properly set up PPC campaigns or do simple SEO on their website. The hardest thing about Yellow Pages is the measurability– but I don’t think that means you can dismiss them completely. They are one of multiple marketing channels– and if you measure the ROI (as you do), then you can balance spending between the channels or even cut the YP completely.

    Dennis

  • jill may

    If what you say is true, why on my company lead tracker in their ads are we seeing significant call counts??? YP–no electric required, no batteries required-fast, direct and easy. Search one time,–look for your area of need–one glance. It is true, we are seeing great results from the internet also, but the book is still very, very strong. How about those areas that don’t have high speed. There are still many of them. Good consultants would find a balance in programs for the longevity of their job. If your customers don’t get business, who will pay for your services. In my area, those consultants who tell their customers to sink entire budget into internet, are looking for a new consultant. Be careful, both mediums are direct: Someone is already looking for your goods and services–why would you put your eggs in one basket???

  • Greg Fillibuster

    What Jill said.
    I would bet any amount of money that if you tracked phone calls from both internet and print yellow pages your money is best spent in print today.
    Jill uses a lead tracker. put a unique phone number in your SEM program and see how many calls you get.
    Nobody picks up the printed yellow pages to browse. They pick it up when they are ready to BUY.

  • admin

    Very often people turn to the YP to find you. They see a truck, sign or direct mail, then look up the phone number in YP. So when people call, even on the unique numbers, be sure to ask, how they heard about you, and why they picked you from the YP.

    You will find out which elements of your marketing are really working for you.

    Also, consider PURLs ( personalized urls and landing pages ) to measure print, and internet productivity.