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Seven Ways to Waste Your Money on Yellow Pages
Advertising
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by:
Greg Chapman
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Copyright
2005 Empower Business Solutions
Each year there is a Yellow Pages arms race where competitors in each
category are encouraged to out spend each other. There is only one
winner in this arms race, and it is not you! Too many advertisers waste
their money on Yellow Pages advertising without first considering their
marketing strategy. Here are seven ways you can waste your money.
1. Attempting to outspend your competitor
As soon as Yellow Pages has convinced you to increase the prominence of
your ad, they get your competitors to match or outbid you. This becomes
an annual auction, with some categories containing pages of half and
full page ads. A buyer can be overwhelmed with choice and may make
their decision before they even get to your ad. Priority in listing is
given to those who have advertised the longest in a category for a
given ad size. You can only get closer to the front by upsizing your ad
or if someone else closer to the front ceases advertising.
2. Putting all your eggs in the Yellow Pages basket
An advertising decision is something you should only make after you
have developed a marketing strategy. Many businesses rush into
advertising in the Yellow Pages, just because that’s what everyone else
does. You don’t become a leader by following the herd. You need to
consider your payback for your investment in this marketing channel.
Ask your Yellow Pages consultant how many leads a particular size ad
generates in your category. Then ask yourself how many of these leads
will you convert into sales, and then decide whether this is a good
investment.
3. Engaging in destructive Head to Head Competition
When you advertise in the Yellow Pages, not only can potential
customers see your ad and your offer, so can your competitors. This can
result in price competition that can turn your product or service into
a commodity. Yellow Pages make comparison shopping easy for buyers and
market research easy for competitors.
4. Spending too much on prominence
When spending on a Yellow Pages ad, you can invest in size and colour.
Size is important, but what you put in the ad, your copy, is far more
important. It is better to go down a size and spend the money you save
on a copywriter. Good copy can generate up to 20 times the response as
poor copy. Colour is also important, but not as important as size, so
go up a size rather than go to colour, which is expensive for its
return. If your category is cluttered with large ads, investing in your
copy is essential.
5. Relying on Yellow Pages free design service
Ad design is important. Yellow Pages do offer a free design service,
but its worth what you pay. The typical design is done in 15 minutes.
As they are designing tens of thousands of ads you can’t really expect
any special attention- especially as there is no charge for the
service! When they design your ad, they will appeal to your vanity
rather than to your customers. So they will put “Joe’s Plumbing” in the
headline. But buyers don’t care who Joe is, and are far more interested
in why they should use Joe. This requires some marketing analysis of
your points of difference and ultimate service benefits, which won’t
happen in 15 minutes!
6. Putting your ad in the wrong category
If you are a plumber, the decision of where to place your ad is easy.
But if your business is in a fairly specialised market such as oil
refinery plumbing, there probably isn’t a good category for you. In
fact, for many B2B businesses Yellow Pages is a poor marketing tool.
Ask yourself the question, where would a buyer look to find out about
your business- it might not even be in the Yellow Pages.
7. Depending on old technology advertising
Every year internet advertising increases, with less being spent on
print advertising. Yellow Pages is now available online and for certain
businesses this is a better option, particularly with a link to their
website. When being sold paper Yellow Pages ads, you may be offered
complimentary online advertising. However, unless your ad is near the
front, you will be invisible to buyers who rarely will browse further
than three pages. It is also worth paying for a link to your website.
The Yellow Pages consultants are on commission to sell you advertising.
They only interested in getting you to spend as much as possible, not
on providing the best marketing solution for your business. Advertising
is not the same as marketing! Good marketing advice on whether and how
you should advertise is money well spent. Not only can this increase
sales, but it can save you thousands of dollars in advertising.
Before making a decision on Yellow Pages advertising, you should
consider all your marketing channels, and make decisions on how much
you invest in each dependent on their ability to attract leads. Having
determined how much you will invest in Yellow Pages, do some market
analysis and invest in your ad copy. This is particularly important for
larger ad sizes. Yellow Pages advertising can be rewarding, but should
only be considered as just one part of your overall marketing strategy.
About the Author
Dr Greg Chapman assists small to medium sized
businesses with business planning, business systems and marketing
strategy. To find out how you can Multiply Your Profits & Make
Your Business Run without You, and to find out How Good Your Business
Really Is with a Free Online Business Medical, go to Empower Business
Solutions website at:
http://www.empowersolutions.com.au
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