Yellow Pages Trends, Tests and ROI

There seems to be much debate over whether the Yellow Pages are still useful or not. Some seem to think that while younger people have opted to utilize search engines, , those from the older generation are still more likely to pick up the Yellow Pages. Some argue that the Yellow Pages have no place in an environmentally friendly conscious society and many are even opting out to “save trees.” However, according to the Yellow Pages Association website, trees are not used in the manufacturing of directory paper.

So, what is the real story on the Yellow Pages? According to Google Trends, United States usage has gone down since 2004. The downward trend is even more obvious for the general term search of “phone directories.”

US Yellow Pages Trend Statistics from 2004 to 2008

US “Phone Directories” Trends from 2004 to 2008

Of course, ROI (return on investment) tells the real story. One business owner used a special phone number, specifically for their Yellow Pages Ad. This number was called one time the entire year! This means the business owner paid thousands of dollars and locked into a contract for advertising which only brought them one client in twelve months. Smart business owners test their marketing efforts and know where to find the return on their investment.

A small business owner can set up an optimized site with a special number as well. The difference is, that if they notice they are not getting a return on their investment, they can opt out of a month to month agreement, before wasting thousands of dollars needlessly.

This means it just makes sense to put the majority of one’s advertising dollars toward online marketing. A small business owner should not cut out offline print modalities completely, but they should definitely consider cutting ¼ or ½ page ads to one line text ads and utilize free local publicity, community events, direct mail, billboards, newspapers, radio and TV for offline advertising as well.

Tags: internet advertisingInternet marketingoffline advertisingonline advertisingyellow pages