Advertising in the Yellow Pages - Why? Why Not?

Yvonne Cartwright
Bellingham Business Journal
December 2002

Parents of small children use them as booster seats. I've seen them propping up wobbly table legs. And they make fairly stable stepping stools if stacked just right. It doesn't really matter who the publisher is - any big fat Yellow Pages book will do, and will end up being "the one that gets used".

We all take the Yellow Pages for granted - they've been around forever, with the first one published in 1876. And with the glut of books available today, for my money these directories should be happy they are still viewed so often with ambivalence, rather than with the outright hostility that so many business owners express when they ask me to counsel them about their need for "yellow pages advertising".

For the considerable price they are charged, most businesses that I work with as a Bellingham marketing, advertising and design company, want to know for certain that their expenditure with the Yellow Pages, regardless of which book, will go towards getting potential customers to "find them", call them, and buy their product or service. Sure, the booster seat/table prop/stepping stool is a nice "value-add", but on their own, none of those uses can justify a significant investment if that's the biggest bang you will get for the buck.

What businesses hope for with Yellow Pages advertising is the result of what sounds like a simple formula. But is it really? For most businesses, I would say no, despite what they are sometimes told.

Here's what I mean. What businesses are told is that Yellow Pages users are especially valuable as potential customers because of their mind-set: they are ready to spend. No other ad medium can claim that 9 in 10 customers who see its ads ultimately make a purchase.

In addition, those who let their fingers do the walking are more likely than the average consumer to pay full price for a product or service, because their spending is driven by need, not be discounts of special offers they saw in other media. It's therefore no surprise that profit margins on Yellow Pages users tend to be higher than those on customers attracted by sales, or discounts.

Fair enough. This line of thinking is true, as far as it goes at least some of the time. And there are many businesses that will benefit because of it; but note that I say MANY, not MOST. There is a reason that nearly 1 in 4 people who turn to the Yellow pages do so to find pizza. I'm hungry, I don't want to cook, I want a pizza. Bada boom, bada bing. If I don't already have my favorite pizza place on my speed dial, I grab the Yellow Pages to find the number.

If you watch television, perhaps you've seen this recent ad. A plumber rings the doorbell, and is greeted by a young man whose living room is flooded. The dog is floating, the kids' toys are floating - you get the idea. These people need help, and they need it NOW. So, I'm willing to bet that the young man found that plumber in the Yellow Pages. In fact, it is a Yellow Pages customer's dream scenario. There's an immediate need. The customer is ready to spend. And spare no cost, just make this unplanned, unexpected, immediate problem go away!

What I'm trying to illustrate is that there are businesses that will benefit more from their Yellow Pages advertising than will others. And lest you get the wrong idea, I do believe that EVERY business - regardless of their product or service - should have a presence in the Yellow Pages. The question isn't "if", it's "how much". How much of a presence and at what cost?

If you sell items that are designed to meet the needs of unexpected emergencies, or can fulfill an impulsive desire, your business can more than simply "justify" spending some of your ad budget in the Yellow Pages. If your target market consists of those who are "spontaneous" purchasers of services, rather than "planners", then the Yellow Pages has better than average value for you; e.g., personal injury, divorce, or criminal defense attorneys, Walk-in Clinic medical facilities, etc. Cab companies and walk-in beauty salon chains are also good examples of those who may actually make a sale BECAUSE they are in the Yellow Pages.

Are you catching what I'm saying here? Savvy consumers that we are these days, most of us will not seek out most products or services, locate those products or services, and make an immediate purchasing decision all within the time it takes to locate a category in the Yellow Pages.

What we will do is this: we will turn to the desired category with the intention of finding a vendor of whatever service we need, and with whom we are already familiar. If I need an attorney to help me with estate planning, I may turn to that category to quickly find a phone number, but it will be the number of someone I have previously known of, or heard about.
By the same token, I may feel the need to find a new automotive repair service, but you can be sure that when I turn to that category, I'm looking for a business that I have been referred to, or have learned about through other methods of advertising.

And that is the crux of my message this month. Think about what you sell, and to whom you sell. Do they really "find" you in the Yellow Pages? Or are they familiar with you because you have marketed yourself well in a broader sense, and they happen to recall your business name or logo when they see it in the directory?

Asking your customers won't necessarily get you an accurate answer; I have found that many people, when asked, "how did you find us?" or "why did you call us?" reply by saying "I found you in the Yellow Pages". That may be true, but how often were those folks influenced by other advertising venues in the days and weeks previous to making that call? Unfortunately, they won't always remember.

On a final note, did you know that the number of independent publishers of Yellow Pages directories - that is those not affiliated with any telephone company - is growing? That means that the current number of directories (approximately 7,270 directories published by 240 companies) is about to increase.

Anyone need a booster seat?

< previous | next >