In the markets that I have worked, there have always been no less than 3 phone books. With so many choices, what is a business owner supposed to do? The truth of the matter is that there is no way of telling what a consumer is going to pick up during a time of need. What amazed me was just because a business owner had a preference they would only advertise in that book. This represented missing over 50% of the market. I understand the frustration of having to be in more than one book. Here are some suggestions.
There are several things to consider. First off determine what is the dominant directory. This can be a difficult task. What I have found is the publisher that contracts with the local telephone utility company has the largest print count. This usually insures better distribution. The other advantage to a utility directory is that when there is a new resident to the community they are usually issued a phone book from their phone service provider. The single biggest disadvantage of a utility directory is that it is usually 3 times more expensive to advertise in them. Some examples of utility directories in the North West are Dex and Verizon.
At a minimum if a business has a large client base they should at least be in bold print in the major directories. Look at it as the cost of doing business. It is a courtesy to existing and referral customers. Once you have determined the books rank, you want to see if it will be possible to be profitable in that directory. If you are new to this media and the directory is well established it is unlikely that your program will be as profitable as the ad that is in the number one position. It does not matter that their full-page ad cost 4 times more than your quarter page ad. Depending on how far back you are they will probably get 8 times more calls. I know this because I have analyzed the call tracking results of competing ads in the same heading. If a directory is new this could be a good opportunity to get good ad placement. Placement is everything in this media. Before you do anything you want to make sure your type of business is even looked up in this type of media. I will share business headings by rank at a future date.
This leads me to the question of cost. I have worked a market where the leading directory was the utility book. Just because it was more used did not mean that is was a better investment. In fact it was a worse investment. Here are the reasons why. Apple to apples it cost 3 times more than the competing directory, however it in no way got twice as much usage. It would have to get at least 3 times more usage just to get the same results as the less expensive book. The other reason is that many times there will be less competition in the other directory. This helps the businesses because if you have a larger portion of the pie your odds increase that you will get the call.
Here is one strategy I have seen used in a market where fortunately the non-utility book clearly dominated. Budget your yellow page advertising dollars and go as big as you can in the leading book. In the remaining books just have representation. In the case of my client she would do a half page in the leading directory and just a quarter of a column in the rest. Most of the time this was just enough to be in the number one position in the top directory. Her strategy impressed me, and that is the reason I have posted it here.