Yellow pages
Sometimes I wonder if i am spending to much in the yellow pages. we have 2 books and it seems like I keep spending more and more. How important are yellow pages and bigger and bigger ads?
I can attest that you won't see the most return on this investment...at least in my particular situation. Because our school is focused on the gen y craze, our demographic just isn't prevalent.
We have purchased large ads in the yellow pages in the past and saw no added benefit. With the internet readily available, most people go online to access company information, phone numbers, etc. We used to fall into the same situtation. More and more money spent with no return. Those phone book salesman are very sneaky and persistent.
Ted-
I don't know that I have seen any stats on how many people are still keeping their books. I can say I for one throw them away as fast as I get them. The numbers for online yellow pages do keep going up.
Are you guys still spending any money on yellow page advertising or have you abandoned it completely?
Mike
I think it's clear that in today's world, 'looking up a number' means going to the internet. I wonder how many of our target market actually have a yellow pages book in their homes anymore?
Hi Christi,
Thanks for your insight. I agree with you completely. Do you also have an online listing?
Tracy
We run a dental assistant school which has no ad in the yellow pages currently. From the research we've done with the dental practice advertising, bigger is much better. Completely dominating,being the biggest advertiser, is the best, but it is the most expensive and does not translate to our small dental assistant school. I Think a small bold listing is best for small schools.
Christi
Thanks Anna. I completely agree! It is valuable to have a listing in the yellow pages for those people who still go there, but do not invest the money on an ad. What has your experience been with the Spanish yellow pages? Do you have Spanish speaking reps?
I think yellow pages on the net are more valuable than the actuall printing, but you will still find that one in the million person that found your school via paper yellow pages. I strongly suggest investing in spanish yellow pages as well.
Agreed! Most people do not just go to the yellow pages without hearing of the school somewhere else.
Our ad in the Yellow Pages is very small. We have seen more of our YP leads coming from on-line. However I still believe it is all the other advertising that leads them to the YP.
This is definitely the trend--to take from the print side and move to the online. A listing is still good to have for presence, however you do not need to invest dollars in an ad.
the company I work for has made this transition just this year - to pull back on the print yellow pages and put more money into the online yellow pages. I think with the Internet as readily available as it is - most people are looking for what they need online.
There is also a resource that you can purchase cost- effectively, that counts the number of leads coming from the ad. You assign it a different phone number that rings at your normal line. This way you know if leads are coming that way. My experience is that they do not come in from yellow pages.
Our experience over the past few years is that one does not need a full page, full color ad to stand out in the yellow pages. Many people use the online function and we have had many clients move to much smaller ads, or only bold their listing and move those dollars to other media where they can generate a lower CPS. It is very important to make sure you are included in the online listings as most people are looking things up there instead of the traditional books.
