Internet marketing should be your first priority when looking to create a strategy for marketing your business as opposed to a large spend in the Yellow Pages. Have a look at the facts and statistics about Yellow Pages directory before you shy away from investing in search and paid marketing options.

To most companies, advertising in Yellow Pages is the unshakeable cornerstone of their annual marketing spend and they would no more think of cancelling it than they would hire David Brent as office manager.

Surely Yellow Pages is established, recognised everywhere and enjoys strong distribution. It's expensive, but is there any alternative?

A moderately sized quarter of half page ad is looking at 3 -5K a year. A whole page? That can be anything from 5K to over 8K for the year. There's no negotiation; take it or leave it - and that's with the regulators on their back capping and indeed cutting rates by 3.4%.

How surprising is it that more and more of my clients are cutting back expenditure on Yellow Pages?

Not surprising at all really. If you think about it, search is not new and it has played a major part in marketing activity for decades in the form of phone books and directories. Effective search engine marketing simply takes this a giant step further, unlocking as is does the incredible introductory potential the web medium provides between supplier and consumer to connect and do business.

This trend is reflected in Yellow Pages own market analysis, which shows a downward trend in client retention from 78% to 75% year on year. Interestingly, it is newer customers who are leaving.

Yellow Pages ads are viewed by people who have all ready made a decision to buy. Don't emphasise why your product or service is needed but rather why it should be obtained from you. Consumers need and want two types of information from Yellow Pages adverts.

Firstly, they need to know why they should purchase from one company and not another.

Secondly, they need information that facilitates making their purchase ie they need to know how to make the purchase or have a call to action.

If you really focus and see things through your customers eyes then your Yellow Pages ad copy should virtually write itself.

The use of colour and how Yellow Pages charge for it is pretty unbelievable.

The book is now printed on white paper (think about it you can't have white ink)

Yellow Pages charge more for white in your adverts - 40% in fact.

But, Yellow Pages actually have to take an extra step to print a yellow coloured ad ie they overlay white paper with a yellow ink but this is cheaper than a white ad.

Our surveys show that colour is not the most important factor in selecting an advert. In fact, it is well down the list.

Yellow Pages sales reps often argue:

"It'll only cost you £800 a year to move up to the next largest ad size and ad colour. Don't you believe that the increased sales you'd obtain would more than offset that expense?"

This is a bad argument for a number of reasons....

It assumes that the business generated by your original ad pays for itself

It assumes that you make a 100% profit on each sale (nice work if you can get it)

It assumes that the use of £800 for additional Yellow Pages advertising would generate more business than would the use of the same £800 in another media

Nonetheless I see many of my clients putting all their eggs in one "Yellow Pages" basket without obtaining effective proof that their adverts are actually working.

The secret is to monitor the response to each and every advert you place.

If you can't measure it you can't manage it.

I know from my experience as a former Yellow Pages sales rep that one had to continually create a false sense of urgency. Typically Yellow Pages reps only work two directories ie they are in each area for six months at a time. The reps are paid a commission on signed orders so it's no surprise they go in for the kill.......

This article is free to republish provided the authors resource box remains intact.

To most companies, advertising in Yellow Pages is the unshakeable cornerstone of their annual marketing spend and they would no more think of cancelling it than they would hire David Brent as office manager.

Surely Yellow Pages is established, recognised everywhere and enjoys strong distribution. It's expensive, but is there any alternative?

A moderately sized quarter of half page ad is looking at 3 -5K a year. A whole page? That can be anything from 5K to over 8K for the year. There's no negotiation; take it or leave it - and that's with the regulators on their back capping and indeed cutting rates by 3.4%.

How surprising is it that more and more of my clients are cutting back expenditure on Yellow Pages?

Not surprising at all really. If you think about it, search is not new and it has played a major part in internet marketing activity for decades in the form of phone books and directories. Effective search engine marketing simply takes this a giant step further, unlocking as is does the incredible introductory potential the web medium provides between supplier and consumer to connect and do business.

This trend is reflected in Yellow Pages own market analysis, which shows a downward trend in client retention from 78% to 75% year on year. Interestingly, it is newer customers who are leaving.

Yellow Pages ads are viewed by people who have all ready made a decision to buy. Don't emphasise why your product or service is needed but rather why it should be obtained from you. Consumers need and want two types of information from Yellow Pages adverts.

Firstly, they need to know why they should purchase from one company and not another.

Secondly, they need information that facilitates making their purchase ie they need to know how to make the purchase or have a call to action.

If you really focus and see things through your customers eyes then your Yellow Pages ad copy should virtually write itself.

The use of colour and how Yellow Pages charge for it is pretty unbelievable.

The book is now printed on white paper (think about it you can't have white ink)

Yellow Pages charge more for white in your adverts - 40% in fact.

But, Yellow Pages actually have to take an extra step to print a yellow coloured ad ie they overlay white paper with a yellow ink but this is cheaper than a white ad.

Our surveys show that colour is not the most important factor in selecting an advert. In fact, it is well down the list.

Yellow Pages sales reps often argue:

"It'll only cost you £800 a year to move up to the next largest ad size and ad colour. Don't you believe that the increased sales you'd obtain would more than offset that expense?"

This is a bad argument for a number of reasons....

• It assumes that the business generated by your original ad pays for itself
• It assumes that you make a 100% profit on each sale (nice work if you can get it)
• It assumes that the use of £800 for additional Yellow Pages advertising would generate more business than would the use of the same £800 in another media

Nonetheless I see many of my clients putting all their eggs in one "Yellow Pages" basket without obtaining effective proof that their adverts are actually working.

The secret is to monitor the response to each and every advert you place.

If you can't measure it you can't manage it.

I know from my experience as a former Yellow Pages sales rep that one had to continually create a false sense of urgency. Typically Yellow Pages reps only work two directories ie they are in each area for six months at a time. The reps are paid a commission on signed orders so it's no surprise they go in for the kill.......

This article is free to republish provided the authors resource box remains intact.

Online marketing is the mantra for success in this competitive world. It is one of the best marketing strategies for promoting online as well as offline sales. Although there is no standard formula for internet marketing, headways offers a combination of services that will make a huge difference to your sales. Headways media is one of the established German online marketing agencies. It has just started its operations in Mexico. It is headquartered in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. The USP of this company is that it customizes the marketing plan to suit your business needs. Unlike other companies, this service provider does not offer packaged solutions. It ensures that your business activity is studied and evaluated carefully and a plan is created specially for your business enterprise. If this information has aroused your curiosity then here is a list of services that you can expect from Headways.

Services Offered

SEO: It stands for Search Engine Optimization. This marketing tool enables you to increase visibility in the market. It helps in creating worldwide online presence. This tool enhances search engine results. For instance, if a prospective customer looks for some information, he or she may type certain keywords in the search engine. If your website is updated with keyword rich articles, then the search engine result will display your URL on its result page. A prospective customer is likely to click on the link and thus visit your site. However, there is a catch to it. Customers usually click on the top 4 - 5 links that appear on the search result page. So, most of the websites will vie for the top position. It is referred to as web positioning. In order to appear on the top, your site should employ the right SEO strategies. Professional service providers who are industry experts can achieve this goal.

SEM: It refers to Search Engine Marketing. This type of internet marketing involves services like SEO, banner ads, paid ads, affiliate marketing, email marketing and much more. Search engine optimization is a part of search engine marketing, which is a wider concept. Headways specialize in this service and offer real time monitoring of the performance of online marketing. You can expect statistical reports and measure the business performance.

Social Media Optimization: SMO, as it is commonly referred to, generates publicity through social media. It uses online communities, forums, blogs, social networking sites, RSS feed, videos and images, creating back links and so on. Headways media uses a combination of these tools for promoting your business. They will first evaluate your target audience, understand your expectations, study the market trend and then implement the internet-marketing plan.

Email Marketing: Imagine sending bulk email to millions of customers. This is possible with the help of email marketing. However, you got to be sure that the database is current and updated. Fake email id's are of no good. It is important that your email data come from a reliable source.

Online marketing is the core business of Headways; it is not an additional service. This means that you can expect the best from this service provider. Specialization and expertise is one of their core strengths. They customize solutions for each client. For instance, if you plan to go with email marketing campaign, they will first identify the target audience. Once that is done, the service provider will arrange for a database or business email list that is suitable for your product or service. They will see to it that the list is current and updated so that your marketing plan delivers the desired results. Indeed, this kind of service can bring drastic improvement in sales.