Is your small business still running ads in the Yellow Pages? Unless your target customers are people who still use rotary phones, it’s time to make a change. There are far more effective marketing methods you can use than print ads in a phone book that typically ends up in the recycling bin or as a toddler’s booster seat. Why not switch out your phone book ad for online marketing with Lead Stream, the lead generation tool from Web.com?
Consider how Yellow Pages advertising works compared to Lead Stream:
With Yellow Pages: You have to wait for customers to dig out their phone books. Is that the way most people search for businesses these days? With 89 percent of smartphone owners using their phones to search for local businesses at least once a week and 58 percent doing so daily, face it: The phone book is not where your customers are spending time.
With Lead Stream: You get a lead site with built-in search engine optimization and placement on Google Maps. When your local business shows up in Google Maps, it literally puts you “on the map” in prospects’ minds.
With Yellow Pages: So you lucked out, and a prospect is actually looking at the phone directory. Don’t hold your breath: He still has to flip through pages and pages of ads for your type of business—and you’d better hope your ad catches his eye before the competition’s does. Does Sam’s Speedy Plumbing really stand a chance against AAA Aardvark Plumbing?
With Lead Stream: Instead of relying on luck to capture leads, Lead Stream optimizes your lead site for search so prospects searching for what you sell visit your site to learn more about your business.
With Yellow Pages: You only get one ad per category of business.
With Lead Stream: Lead Stream identifies the most valuable keywords for your business and creates pay-per-click (PPC) ads based on them. That gives you multiple opportunities to capture prospects’ attention. Your PPC ads also get top placement on search engines like Google and Bing—instead of being buried in a phone book.
With Yellow Pages: Congratulations, a lead is actually calling your business! Oops…no one’s answering the phone, and now you have no way of reaching that lead again.
With Lead Stream: Lead Stream’s lead management platform helps you stay in touch with leads and convert them into customers. Lead notification ensures you never miss out on valuable leads, so you can respond right away. Once you’ve connected with leads, automated email campaigns make it easy to stay in touch. Just use Lead Stream’s library of email templates to customize messages or reach out with special offers.
With Yellow Pages: Sure, you can include a code in your Yellow Pages ad or ask customers who call where they learned about your business, but it’s hit or miss whether they’ll remember (or you’ll remember to ask).
With Lead Stream: An easy-to-use dashboard lets you track every call and email you receive through Lead Stream, monitor your ad spending to stay within budget, and track the performance of each campaign.
With Yellow Pages: If your ad isn’t generating leads, too bad — you’re stuck with it until the next edition of the phone directory goes to print.
With Lead Stream: Lead Stream is trackable and adjustable. Account managers continuously monitor and optimize your campaign to boost performance. In monthly review calls, they’ll go over your campaigns’ performance in detail and make any adjustments you want.
Isn’t it time to retire your Yellow Pages ad?
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
