The High Return of Online Marketing Compared to Yellow Page Advertising

While telephone directory printers still deliver their books door-to-door every year, spending money from your marketing budget to place an ad may not be as effective as it once was. Today, online marketing has taken over as the most cost-effective channel to promote businesses of all sizes: over 80% of people now use keyword and even Online Video search as a primary way to identify vendors of all types. It's true the Yellow Pages will still be around for a while longer, and certainly there are still people who use them, but their days are numbered as more customers search online. Here are some benefits to consider when using an online approach to marketing.





Focus on Your Local Market

Let's assume you're a local dentist. When you look up your regional Yellow Pages, you'll find hundreds of dentists within your city and the surrounding region. So unless you want to invest thousands for a 1/2 page or even more for a full page Ad, your listing will be lost amongst all the others.

Marketing online is a very different prospect in comparison. As you do your keyword research and build a targeted website, the odds of your business website being found during a local Internet search become much higher. Not only can you be found at the top of the organic search results, you'll also have the option to get traffic from paid Ads where you only pay if someone actually clicks on the Ad. You'll also be able to feature your business in other local search sites, like the online directories or Google Places (the map listing inside of Google you've likely seen). Online Video Marketing is rapidly becoming an affordable way to promote your company online.

Return on Investment

Let's be honest, if you switch your marketing investment to creating a more effective online presence, you'll save tens of thousands of dollars every year. Some people pay upwards of $1,500 per year for a small Yellow Pages ad while others are paying $5,000 or more for half-page or full-page advertisements. Of course, without the larger Ad, you run the risk of getting lost amongst all the other listings.

It's certainly true that an effective online presence does require a higher upfront investment as you need to build a website, write marketing copy, set up Social Media profiles and generate e-mail opt-ins. However, once you've made that one-time commitment your ongoing costs will become much less. You will no longer have to pay high yearly advertising fees and you can zero into different areas of specialization without a large investment. With online marketing you can also very accurately track your ROI and use very effective split testing so that you invest only in the successful campaigns.

Retain Your Existing Customers

Yellow Pages advertisements are just that - advertisements. Online Marketing by contrast allows you to interact with your customers in a much more dynamic way, using e-mail campaigns or social media for example. They can opt-in to your email list, comment on your Blog, or email you for more information. In comparison, your Yellow Page Advertisement will not encourage much in the way of ongoing social engagement.

It's all about ROI - determining which marketing methods will bring you the best results without causing you to spend a ton of cash. You'll be amazed at how much more you can accomplish online.