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This is an open letter to anyone struggling with sorting the truth from hype about success in the Yellow Pages....
The Case AGAINST
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I'm ticked that there's so much hype in this industry.... there's a lot of ad reps out there making huge promises...and what they do is take people's money and they don't deliver... they give everyone who has anything to do with marketing (even those of us who don't work for Yellow Pages directories) a "black eye." And I'm tired of it!
--Andre Bell |
Dear Yellow Pages Advertiser,
It's a fact...
Most people no longer use the Yellow Pages as actively as ten years ago, or even five years ago for that matter.
Why? Because other media are taking market share away from the Yellow Pages. Larry Small, the Director of Research at the Yellow Pages Association (YPA), admits the internet has adversely affected the effectiveness of advertising in the Yellow Pages.
In a nutshell...
The Internet Has Killed The Power of
Advertising In The Yellow Pages!
Larry knows more than anyone how bad things are for Yellow Pages advertisers.
He's the Director at the trade organization whose members account for almost 85 percent of all Yellow Pages revenue generated in the U.S. and Canada alone. They are the 'Microsoft' of Yellow Pages. They totally dominate the Yellow Pages market.
Despite the huge exodus of shoppers abandoning the Yellow Pages, the directories continue to increase rates each year. That's like gas companies charging higher and higher rates for gas and at the same time decreasing the volume amount of gas you're allowed to buy. Instead of a gallon, you get half a gallon or a measly pint -- but at higher rates each year.
That's highway robbery!
Here's the thing though...
Despite fewer people 'letting their fingers do the walking' in the yellow pages, ad agents still lie and say paying for ads created by ad reps is a good value. That's a blatant lie.
After years of tossing money down the drain wondering if it will ever come back, many former Yellow Pages advertising loyalists have chosen to "opt out" of Yellow Pages advertising altogether.
Because of this huge exodus... if you so much as think of canceling your ad, your Yellow Pages ad rep will show up on your doorstep telling "success" stories that get bigger and bigger each time the stories are told... just like the exaggerated stories told by a buddy of mine after he returns from a fishing trip.
Do You Make These Mistakes
In Your Yellow Pages Ad?
If shrinking users isn't bad enough... your potential customers see your ad at the same time they see ads from your competitors -- all on the same page.
The competition here is fierce. More fierce than any other kind of advertising or marketing.
The greatest advertising "sin" committed in the Yellow Pages is a form of advertising incest.
Basically all the ads are created 'cut and paste' one from another. From a common template. There's no variation other than name, rank, and serial number. And just like real incest, these ads get dumber and dumber as they continue to reproduce.
Just look at the ads in any Yellow Pages directory. They all have name, phone number, maybe a picture of the staff or owner, some lame 'touchy feely' slogan that anyone else can also claim, and a "laundry list" of products or services offered by the company.
What should be an effective and competitive ad is reduced to nothing more than an oversized, ineffective business card. Why do all these ads look alike? Because ad reps are required to say 'sameness' sells.
It doesn't.
Sameness reduces you to a commodity where the only prospect to give you money are the lowest-profit, tightwad, greedy and unappreciative, price-shopping prospects.
Why do ad reps willingly tell these lies?
There are three reasons... and each can kill your business...
Who Else Wants Profitable And Predictable
Yellow Pages Ad Performance?
The first is because the reps don't know any better. They have been trained to repeat the lies and misinformation.
Their managers force them to repeat false information to boost ad sales. Usually ad reps are not bad people. They just don't know any better because their 'education' comes from the very company that pays them to take your money. They are forced to either believe (or pretend to believe) the lies themselves...or they won't get paid.
Second, the directories believe they cannot ethically give one client a competitive advantage over another. Can you imagine how you'd feel if you found out your ad rep likes one of your competitors better than the rep likes you? What kind of ad do you think you'd get compared to your competitor? Pretty crappy, huh?
You'd drop that ad in a hot second. Then you'd go spend your marketing dollars somewhere else. And so would everyone else that happened to. That's exactly why Yellow Pages directories shoot for similar, mediocre, sterile ads. The more people they convince into believing sameness is 'normal', the fewer ad commissions Yellow Pages directories lose from cancellations.
The third reason ad reps are trained to lie is because of time.
There's a tremendous amount of time required to come up with a clear competitive advantage that kicks out the teeth of your competition. An ad writer must research your products and services, your industry, your customers... and your competitors. This requires reading a year of back issues of your official industry guide as a start.
The research required to create a powerfully persuasive promotion would kill an ad rep. That's why YOUR success is not the basis for their compensation.
So instead of creating better ads, ad reps focus on stories and catch phrases and generic 'statistics'. Like possessed snake charmers, they to do everything they can to talk your money out of your pockets and into theirs as quickly as is humanly possible.
Don't get me wrong. Ad reps have not set themselves up to be your enemy. Far from it. The way they see things... the quicker they can get done with you the quicker they can move along to another advertiser -- and get another commission. It all comes down to more money into their pockets...regardless of the outcome for you.
What Excuse Do You Make When Asked
How's Your
Yellow Pages Ad Working...
And You Have No Answer...?
The directories compensate ad reps for quantity of ads sold. There is no incentive to help you actually make money with your ad. Besides, if an ad rep ever wanted to spend more time creating better ads for you, they'd get fired by the directories for a 'lack of productivity'.
But here's the deal... I don't work for any Yellow Pages advertiser and I refuse to accept a single penny in commission from them. That's why I'm free to tell you like it really is... instead of the way they want you to believe it should be. So here are some questions to ask yourself and your ad rep the next time they come talking to you about renewals or trying to talk you into 'bigger is better' (i.e. a bigger commission in their pocket is better than a smaller one).
- Name three ways to increase Yellow Pages Ad response without increasing ad cost.
- What two things must a Yellow Pages Ad do to boost response significantly?
- What's the dumbest assumption 99% of Yellow Pages Advertisers make when creating an ad?
- How does an ad rep's definition of USP differ completely from a true USP?
- Is the success rate of Yellow Pages Ads measurable?
- Who should never advertise in the Yellow Pages, and why?
- When should an ad never get renewed?
- When is bigger not better?
- What makes people buy?
Those nine questions are just the tip of the iceberg. Does your ad rep know the answer to all nine questions? No way. Sure, he or she can make up answers on the spot just to try to lull or distract you. What he's really trying to do is slowly reach around and grab your wallet without your notice, like a well trained pickpocket.
Oh, here are a couple other 'dangers' to be on the watch for...
Lies about branding and 'top of mind awareness'. Let me ask you something... when was the last time you received top of mind awareness or branding in the mail and ran off to the bank and deposited it? Never! Those things cannot be measured. That is why ad reps claim those are reasons for advertising
It's a scam. One big fat lie!
If you bought into those lies in the past you are now wrestling with my words. Everyone does. You are probably feeling internal conflict right now, as your paradigm is being challenged.
I've lost track of the number of business owners and entrepreneurs I've conversed with who had these same struggles. They try with all their might to cling to the lies they've been told. To their misleading advertising paradigms about 'top of mind' awareness. It isn't that they don't want better ad response... they don't want to admit they had been duped. That's painful.
...Bring That Mother Down!
I say, like the walls of Jericho, let that paradigm fall!
What you want to receive from your advertising is money you can deposit. That's it. Nothing less. Not 'awareness'. And recall isn't the 'touchstone' for judging ad effectiveness either. What matters is generating money into your pockets in predictable and measurable streams.
Here's proof...
Just imagine, you tell your staff or vendors: "we are not going to give you a check this month. Instead we've decided to give you a share of our top of mind awareness. Isn't that great?!?".
What do you think would happen?
They'd mob you. Probably cut you into tiny little pieces and feed you to the alligators in your sewer. Why? Because everyone knows top of mind awareness and branding cannot be deposited. Those are just catch phrases used by advertisers to mislead and distract... just like pickpockets who work in tandem to get into your wallet or purse.
The difference here is Yellow Pages theft can totally kill a company. Let's be honest. Everyone who searches through the Yellow Pages is looking for one thing...
...Solutions
...and your market want those solutions now.
Your market isn't looking through the Yellow Pages for future use. They are not reading the Yellow Pages for entertainment value. And they are not reading it so they can recall someone later.
Your prospect has an itch now and needs that itch scratched now. That's why your ad must generate money you can deposit now. When your ad rep comes promising future 'branding', say 'to heck with awareness, give me money now!'
The only way to force shoppers to call you instead of your competitors is to communicate a compelling and specific and powerful message that cannot be ignored.
How To Increase
Your Yellow Pages
Response By 40% to 400% Overnight
 Andre Bell, Expert Yellow Pages Copywriter |
In all my years of researching what works and what doesn't work, I've finally created a Yellow Pages Advertising Guide that will help any advertiser turn failing ads into huge money makers.
My guide is designed for anyone super serious about making yellow pages work, whether you're looking to write better ads for yourself or interested in writing for others.
Besides my guide, there is only one other yellow pages copywriting guide I recommend.
Check out this Yellow Page Advertising Guide for the UK and USA while you are online. I found it while searching the internet for tools to help a client. I was so impressed I bought this Yellow Pages Advertising Guide myself. I highly recommend you buy it too. With so much hype online, it's hard to find information that will truly benefit you.
Well...I'm here to tell you, this Yellow Pages Advertising Guide is the real deal. Get it today. I'm certain you'll be happy with the results too.
Yours in Success,
Yellow Pages Advertising Pain YellowPagesPain.com (c) Andre Bell 2007
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