It's that time of the year, when those of you who have yellow page listings will be receiving calls for renewals, and those of you that are thinking about it, will need to think about booking. Every year in the spring, I get asked 2 common questions about the yellow pages. So I thought I would address them for you in this issue.

Question One: Should You Be Advertising in the Yellow Pages?

With so many other ways to access information today, it should be no surprise that the effectiveness of directory books such as the Yellow Pages is on the decline. However they still are a main source of information for visitors in a hotel room, or users of public telephone booths. Some older age demographics also prefer them to other alternatives. It is expected that we will continue to see these familiar yellow books around for approximately 10 more years. So whether they are right for you really comes down to knowing the search habits of your ideal clients.

ASK. Ask your clients if they are likely to be searching for your type of business in the yellow pages. There are many types of businesses, like plumbing, electrical, and take out restaurants, that people tend to seek out in the yellow pages first.

Whether or not you should invest heavily in the yellow pages, therefore depends a lot on whether your target audience is likely to look for you here vs. other venues like the Internet or a physical store location.

Before you make your decision on this alone, you should also consider that the Yellow Pages have 2 different directories. They have the hard copy version which we are most familiar with, and they also have an online version.

Don't overlook the online version. Have you ever searched online for a company and had their company information and a little map to their whereabouts show up right at the top of the listings? This is called either Google Local or Yahoo Local depending on which search engine you are using. Both Google and Yahoo get their information from what they deem credible sources and one of these sources is the phone directories.

Needless to say, the online directory is also an attractive resource for those who search online.

Question Two: How Do I Stand Out From the Competition?

Try this. Have a look at your industry section in the yellow pages. More often than not, you will see that they follow a similar format. In fact in most cases that format includes the company logo in a prominent position, 3 bullet points of info (for some odd reason) and finally contact information. If your ad blends in with all the rest, you are making it very difficult for the reader to choose which companies to call.

No differentiation leaves you exposed to price comparisons. If being the best price is your strategy, then not a big deal. But if you are trying to stay clear of the bargain basement shopper, you need to give them something of value in your ad.

Check out the tips below when designing your yellow page ad.

Designing Your Yellow Page Ad

• Change Your Headline. Unless your brand or logo is well established, lead with the most common pain or frustration you can alleviate for your audience.

• Call to Action. Instead of the 3 point product dump, think of an offering that is different from the competition. This might be a loss leader or a FREE offering. Perhaps it's an area where you have a particular expertise. Make sure it is different from what is normally offered in your industry. Make it easy and exciting for them to call you today.

• Measure. Add contact info that is easy to track. Maybe you ask them to mention promo code 1234, or you use a different phone number or you direct them to a special web address. Like all advertising, it is important to measure the effectiveness for future planning.