Since our attitudes and behavior is influenced by our colleagues and peers, take a moment to look at this from a “blank slate” approach. It’s human nature to assume that everyone behaves as we, ourselves, do. This forces your potential leads to differentiate you based on your price, rather than your value. After all, why would a business spend all that money to look like every other competitor? If you are using the publisher’s graphic design team make sure to have them emphasize your qualities, differences and competitive edge… NOT what makes your law firm the same as every one else. I’ve always been very vocal about not copying the competition. The worst thing advertisers constantly asked me to do was to look at their competitors and mimic their message & design. Lawyers are usually very vocal about which ones work, and which one don’t! There’s no right or wrong here, it’s all about ROI. However, competing independent publishers may distribute to a wider zone, and even though their usage may be less the ad rates may be dramatically less too. Advertising rates in Telco directories are usually more expensive because of the perceived advantage. AT&T is the Telco directory for the cities of Riverside & Corona (& some surrounding cities). As of this writing, in my local market Verizon, (SuperMedia/Dex) is the Telco directory for most of San Bernardino County, Coachella Valley, and Temecula Valley. Telco directory distribution was also generally regarded as the most complete because they were aware of new residents and addresses as phone lines were activated. That was because when a business opened or changed a phone number the telephone company was the first to get notice, and the first to update records and listings. In the past, generally the telephone company phone book was regarded as the most comprehensive & correct, and thus the most used. In the yellow page industry there are either telephone company directories (Telco), or independent publishers (Non-Telco – Yellowbook/Clarke). If it’s enough to justify the investment of a 1 year run in the local phone book will have to be determined by you. However, I strongly believe that there are still people who use them (see below). Given this data, it’s hard to believe that people would still pick up, (or even own), a phone book. The Pew Research Center reported in June of 2013 that 56% of Americans own smartphones and adoption has been growing 10%+ every year since 2011. Yellow page advertising in the past has been most effective if you’re in a service or emergency based type of industry: plumber, electrician, veterinarian, dentist Etc. My intention here is not to endorse or denounce the efficacy of advertising in the yellow pages, but to educate and shed some light on the industry. Here is an article I wrote about yellow page online marketing in 2016 and I’ll again disclose that I worked for a large YP publisher for about 4 years. If you’re a local lawyer, you may be considering advertising in the yellow pages or you’re wondering if the trusty phonebook is dead.
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