Can the Yellow Pages Help Your Business?

If you have your own small business then you are always looking for ways to market yourself and to keep the name of your business out in front of the public eye. When it comes to the money that you have to market and promote your company you may wonder if using the yellow pages is the smartest way to go.

As technology advances and we rely more and more on online resources the question then becomes--do we still need the yellow pages to help keep our businesses up and running? Not all businesses are the same. Some can benefit more from promotion by way of these pages than can others.

What you need to think about in this regard is the marketing strategy you have come up with to move your business forward. That will help you to determine if you need yellow to get you where you are going or if you can turn your attention to other means of marketing. The advertising and marketing budget you have set aside for yourself matters as well as does the ad or ads you wish to use.

It can be expensive to advertise through the yellow pages so you need to think carefully about this before you commit to it. While still a viable means of marketing a company, within the past seven to 10 years many consumers search for businesses by way of search engines online or by using their cell phones. Only you can decide after weighing every side what is best for the business that you are building and/or expanding.

You need to also think about the return on your investment in comparison with the cost of advertising by this means. For most business owners paying to advertise in the telephone book, it's all about getting the most exposure possible as visibility is extremely significant in getting customers to be aware of your products and services. If you choose to take this route then it is important that you keep track of the results that you are obtaining. Many business owners do not do this when they use the yellow pages. If you do decide to purchase ads then you must keep accurate records.

You need to be conscientious about the data being received. You need to know how many visitors you have received and how many calls have come in related to the advertising you have been doing in the phone book. If you know how well you are doing in this avenue then you can track your progress and will be able to determine if this type of marketing is working for you or if you should try something else. This tracking process is not that costly to do and can be an essential means of figuring out what marketing options are viable and which ones are not.

The kind of ad you design makes a difference as well. An effective advertisement in the yellow pages needs to grab the audience's attention right away. If you have a small to medium sized business, be it home based or otherwise then branding can be very expensive and taking out too large and/or too glossy an ad in the phone book might be too taxing on the budget you have devised for yourself.