There are several basic rules that apply to all forms of advertising,
and some that are particular to the Yellow Pages. Most are best described as common-sense,
once you stop to think about them. We have presented them here in a simple list
in no particular order.
Identify Your Target
You need to know where to aim to know if you've hit it. How well do you
know your ideal customer? Is he a "he" or a "she", or do both make the
decision? What is his/her family income? What car does he/she drive? Where do
they live? How many kids do they have? How old are they? What is important to
them? What do they want your product or service to do for them? All these
questions and any others you can come up with will build an image of a
hypothetical, perfect customer. That image will be of great help when building
your ads. Back to the Top
Target the Bigger Spenders
This may seem silly at first glance, but bear with us. Notice we didn't
say "big spenders," we said "bigger spenders." Even if you target low-income
families, you should aim more to the bigger spenders. Target those who need
your product or service and who have the ability to easily pay for it. Getting
an enquiry that ends in, "Wow! That much???!!!" is worse than getting none at
all. Back to the Top Use Under-Populated Headings
Make a list of all the possible headings your business could possibly operate
under. You might find some headings that are not very well represented. You may
be in a real dog fight in your primary heading but have the whole field to
yourself on a secondary or specialty one. For example, a chiropractor who has a
strong sports injury practice may face severe competition under chiropractors
but dominate sports medicine with a small, tightly targeted ad. Are there any such
situations that you can take advantage of? Back to the Top Use Multiple Ads in the Same Heading
Often, especially in heavily populated headings, using several ads
targeted to different markets will capture more of the business that is out
there. Back to the Top Dealing with Common Questions
There is a school of thought that says not to provide too much
information so that the prospect must call to get it, therefore giving you a
chance to close the sale. This idea negates the power of the Yellow Pages. What
makes the Yellow Pages so strong is that people call when they are ready to
buy. Forcing them to call for common information means they are probably not
quite ready. Ask whoever answers your phones what kinds of questions they get
asked all the time. These questions should probably be answered in your ad. Back to the Top
About Text Allignment
There's a time and place for centered text, usually on wedding
invitations, sometimes in short bursts to draw attention to a point. Other than
that, keep your text left justified. It's far easier to read.
This text is easy to read and
follows
the general convention of most
languages
to read from right to left. The eye
follows
the line of text easily and starts
at the next
line effortlessly.
This text is clumsy
to read and doesn't
even look very
good.
Both sides of the
text block are ragged
and the eye must
jump
all over the place
to follow what is written. Back to the Top
Choose the Right Book
You might be one of the lucky ones
that only need to deal with one Yellow Pages book from one publisher. You are
the minority. Most major markets are besieged by Yellow Pages books, each
competing for their share of the market. Sometimes they handle different
geographies, often they don't. You will have to do some research to figure out
which works better for you, or do you have to use them both. If you do decide
to use them both, or all, or whatever, you will need to decide how much of your
total budget must go to each. Back to the Top Tracking Success
If you advertise in several books, tracking
your responses is vital. If you only advertise in one, it is only very
important. Did your increased business come from your wonderful new Gra-Fix
Design ad, or just the fact that your biggest competitor went belly-up? Maybe
all these new calls are coming from the newspaper ads you bought. You need to
track where the calls come from. You could track them in several ways.
You could set up different ads with
different phone numbers if your publisher allows it. We've known of people who
use different cell phone numbers on different ads and forward them all to the
office. The cell phone bill automatically lists the incoming calls that were
forwarded.
You could put a special offer in
your ad, like "Mention XYZ Yellow Pages for a 5% discount." Or, easier still,
just ask the caller where he or she found your number. This information is
vital. Let's say you spend $15,000 a year on Yellow Pages, $5000 is each of
three books. Your tracking shows that 50% of your calls are coming from Book 1,
30% from Book 2, and 20% from Book 3. Now you're equipped to either shift $2000
from Book 3 to Book 1, to get more business, or just pocket the savings. Back to the Top Rate Headings
While you are tracking your results,
don't forget to track which heading they called from. A psychologist of my
acquaintance found that her small ad (DQC) in Marriage Counciling targeted at
improving a couple's love life consistently outperformed her half page ad under
Psychologists. Back to the Top Getting a Deal
Talk to your Yellow Pages sales
representative. There are always deals out there. Maybe he can give you
four-color process for the price of knock-out for a year or two. Maybe she can
get you a big discount for jumping two sizes. Maybe he can get you a free ad in
another heading. Maybe she can get you a discount for early commitment. Maybe
there are no deals at all to be had. It doesn't hurt to ask. Back to the Top The Value of a Second Opinion
If you ask 100 people how they like
your ad, you will get 100 different replies. Your wife, husband, neighbor, mail
man, druggist, golf buddies are not your targeted customer. In fact, chances
are that you aren't either. If you really want a second opinion, ask a member
of your target market. If you are targeting low-to-mid income patients for your
clinic, your doctor friends should not be overly impressed by the ad - it's
just not aimed at them. It's sort of like fishing. You can thread a nice, fat
juicy worm on your hook, and catch a lot of pan fish. Don't bother with the
worm if you're deep sea fishing.
For all practical purposes, you do
not need to like your ad. You need to understand it and to see how your target
market will react to it. Back to the Top
Update or Create Your Business Profile on Google
For all intents and purposes, Google is the internet's Yellow Pages. Google tries to make every search relevant to its users by buying lists of business information. That way, they can offer their users access to local, more relevant results. When you do a search on Google, the first results are those who paid for th ekeywords you used. The next results are suppliers most local to you. A search of laser in Wakefield, MA gave 1 result, "cosmedica Laser Center." Since there were no paid keywords, they were the first listing, even though there are several laser clinics in the area. How much would first priority placement cost in his local Yellow Pages? A lot more thna FREE which is what it cost him on Google. Even if you nothing else after visiting this site, do this.
Click here to open a browser to Goolgle.com. It will open in a new window.
Search for your business and principal locality. In this case use used "cosmedica Laser Center, Wakefield, MA."
Your business and a map should appear. Click on "More Information >>."
The next page will give contact info, a map, an Overview of the business, details about the businessm Reviews if any, and web pages. Find the link that reads "Add or edit your business" and click on it.That link will bring you to the "Google Local Business Center."
Before you can actually edit your info, Google will want to validate your listing. Here's what they say: "We'll send a letter containing a PIN and activation
instructions to the business address associated with your listing.After you validate your listing, you may edit your Google Maps listing
at any time."
Once you get your PIN, hustle back to Google and fill the profile. Go into as much detail as you can. Promise yourself you'll do this. It's quick, it's effective, and it's free.
We believe an informed consumer is a good customer. We invite you to inform yourself about our services and the art of successful Yellow Pages advertising. The more you learn about how to best use the Yellow Pages, the more you will appreciate what we do and what we can do for you. The following is a list of publications that, in our opinion, represents the best information in the most readable form. If you would like to add a book or article to the list, or just ask a question, email us at info@Gra-FixDesign.com . Please note that the links will open in a new window.
Whether you choose to use our services, or decide to go your own way, we wish you all the best and hope your phone rings off the hook.
