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Divert Money
from Phone Book Advertising to more
effective Web Marketing
By Jon Robertson, President
of JAG Marketing & Communications
Every business owner hates it, but every
business owner needs to have it - phone book
directory advertising. In recent years
increased competition has decreased the cost
of this integral form of advertising to more
realistic and affordable levels, which has
helped small businesses tremendously.
Directory Advertising is Necessary
There is no
doubt about it, phone directory advertising
is vital to the growth and success of almost
any business. In fact The Yellow Pages
Group claims that "71%
of all Canadians use directories each month
and 75%
make a purchase or intend to do so". All of
us can certainly relate to using phonebook
directories for buying anything from pizza
to a new furnace. For many consumers the
phone directory is the starting point of
many buying decisions and a company's
absence from it will only hurt them.
What makes People Choose Your Company over
the Competition
In order for people to buy from you they
must first of all feel comfortable with
you. More often than not that comfort level
is achieved when they know more about you
and your company. This is born out by the
higher success rate of larger ads in phone
directories. Yes they are more visible but
they also provide more information, thus
making people feel more comfortable in
dealing with them.
How to make Directory Advertising work in
Tandem with Your Website
Even though it has come down quite a bit,
phone directory advertising is still fairly
expensive. And that isn't without good
reason. From initial sales through
production to the cost of printing and
distribution it is a costly medium. Here is
a 3 step plan to help you reduce your
costs and have a more effective phone
directory campaign:
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1. Purchase 2 line listings in
all of the appropriate
categories in your local phone
book directory(s). This is
considerably cheaper than
purchasing the quarter page you
were considering! |
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2. Line 1 will be your company
name and Line 2 will be your
website address (www.yourcompany.com)
under the chosen categories. |
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3. Invest the money you would
save in a year into an effective
and professional website. Here
are some of the benefits of a
website over a large phone
directory advertisement: |
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It has unlimited room.
You can keep adding to it
and provide a wealth of
information that you would
never be able to provide in
a print format. |
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It can be updated easily.
Unlike a phone
directory which is printed
once a year, you can update
your website on a daily
basis with the latest
offerings of your company.
This is also a great service
to the consumer. |
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It reduces unnecessary
phone calls. If
consumers have the
opportunity to visit your up
to date website they will
not need to call with
questions that have already
been addressed on your site. |
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It is cheaper. The
cost of maintaining and
hosting your site will be
considerably less than your
phone directory advertising. |
We can sit down and discuss your current
budget for phone directory advertising
and show you how to save money and
provide even better information to your
customers. You will save money
and we can guarantee it!
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