The Death of the Yellow Pages
Posted: November 13th, 2008 | Author: Bryan | Filed under: General | 10 Comments »It’s no secret, the yellow pages (and all other brands) are on their dieing breath when it comes to delivered, paper based telephone books. You may or may not know that they still charge for ad placements in a medium that is all but forgotten in the internet generation. Simply ask anyone under the age of 30 when the last time they used a phone book. You’ll either hear an “I have no idea” or a “probably 5 or 6 years ago”.
If they can’t Google you and find your website, you simply don’t exist to those prospective customers, to say the least.
The impact on local marketing:
This shift away from mediums like the telephone book and to online search has had significant impact on local marketing. Gone are the days when college students bust out their Yellow Book to find a pizza place or local hair salon. They simply Google it, the results with phone numbers and addresses are up top, and away they go.
In short, for the younger generation, Google is the new Yellow Book.
Don’t worry, this is good news.
This puts you, the reader, in a unique position to utilize this new found knowledge. Let’s list a couple reasons on why this is good news for you.
- You’re early to the party.
You get to hop on the bandwagon early and position yourself competitively in an emerging market. We both know how saturated the yellow pages are.
- Fast results, instantaneous adjustments.
Not only will Google pick up your site within a day or two, you can make adjustments that affect your site’s performance instantaneously and see their results in a day or two. No more waiting around on the next edition of the yellow pages.
- More affordable, more effective.
Again, it’s no secret that the yellow pages ads are extremely expensive and are becoming less and less effective as every day goes past. Online marketing is cheaper (by 2 fold, on average), more effective and infinitely expandable.
- Hey, its green!
Telephone books waste an outrageous amount of paper, a website wastes none. Why not save a tree while you’re saving and making a buck?
Don’t wait, act.
We can help you succeed online. Because we’re local, just like you, we equate our success with your success. Contact us today and let’s talk a little bit about it. The sooner you act, the sooner your business will flourish.
Ok, so you have an agenda, which isn’t all bad, but what are you basing your comments on? Conversations with 10 buddies? The print Yellow Pages got nearly 14 BILLION look-ups last year. Are you suggesting small business ignore the one media that has consistent made their phone ring??
Absolutely not, if it does well for your business, do it. However, spreading into online marketing will give a business more exposure and make more money, especially as the next generation takes over.
You’ll notice in the coming years we’ll likely see more and more shifts in this marketplace, and they will all be away from paper media. It’s exciting times.
Edit: While it has come up in conversations among several buddies, there are studies that show this trending. Here is one: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Tmp-Directional-Marketing-908381.html
I don’t use or care for the Yellow Pages either. What I despise is the delivery practices – which involve dumping loads and loads of phone books on doorsteps of people that will NOT touch them and make a beeline for the dumpster.
YP companies have no incentive to reduce circulation, because every book printed counts as more ad revenue, despite the ned result. Companies are seeing that however, which is why the industry in a whole is in the decline.
yellowpagesgoesgreen.org is an excellent resource for opt out methods
I have a collection of articles on this at
http://www.futuregringo.com/index.php/2008/11/08/the-life-of-a-phone-book/
And http://www.thedeets.com documents their dismal record of listening to opt outers
james
For a more balanced, non-biased view from a (non-Yellow Pages) marketing company, see:
http://blog.kelseygroup.com/index.php/2008/11/17/more-overwrought-yellow-pages-coverage
I used a phone book yesterday…
for packing my glasses, while moving.
I didn’t have any newspaper. I don’t get that anymore.
It’s the electronic age. I’ve gone completely paperless. I hated getting the phone books. Every month, it seemed like a new one would come. If it wasn’t the yellow pages, it was some other competitor. I don’t even have a home phone!
But anyway, I think you’re right, though. Companies need to realize that consumers would like to consume less… we are going green and trying to stop using so much paper. I also believe everyone should have a website and market themselves online.
The printed word has its place still in this world and I hope that it always does. The web is good for some things, the phone book for others. You’re right about Google being the Yellow Pages of the web, but that’s the web. How will you get a phone number if the power is out? Maybe if someone was smart they’d make the “Green Pages”, made from 100% recycled materials. It would be hip to advertise there.
Yellow book is made with 100% recycled paper and uses vegetable oil inks. How hip is that?
I agree, my HVAC company gets more internet searches than phone book leads.
“How will you get a phone number if the power is out?”
What can you do with that phonenumber when the power is out? If you have a (new) mobile phone then you can also acces the internet so….
I never used the yellow page of my life, i’m 27 year old…
Yellow pages sucks, but ad on paper are still very profitable for small local campany (or bigger one)