In the Book or Online?

Contractors share perspectives on the value of Yellow Pages advertising versus the growing world of Internet marketing

For decades, many contractors have found the Yellow Pages essential to success. But for others, the quantum-leap growth of the Internet and other marketing avenues has stripped some of the luster from directory advertising.

Some contractors remain true believers in Yellow Pages advertising, and say it will remain a mainstay in their marketing. Others view it as a dinosaur of sorts, with little upside. Still others are running smaller phone book ads while increasing their Internet presence. Here’s what three contractors have to say about the value of the Yellow Pages.

The Yellow Pages are an integral part of the success of Lake Norman Sewer and Septic Service in Denver, N.C., says Cindy Currier, who owns the business with her husband, David. “When someone has problems, the first place they go to is the phone book,” she says. “A lot more people are using the Internet these days, but the best form of advertising for our business is the Yellow Pages.

“We bought this business in October 2006 and ran our first Yellow Pages ad before we closed on the deal in order to beat the phone book deadline. The previous owner ran only a name and phone number, but we knew from experience that to grow the business, we’d need a larger presence than that. So we bought a one-third-page ad.

“Now we run what they call a dollar-bill-size ad in two Yellow Pages books. We run two ads in each book, one under plumbing and one under septic services. We also run two one-third-page ads in those same categories in the Yellow Book, which covers a larger geographic area.

“We run color ads on a white background. Color ads cost about $100 a month extra per ad, but it’s worth it because they really catch your eye, compared to black-and-white ads. We spend about $1,400 a month between all three books, and I wouldn’t think about cutting back because we’ve grown from 500 accounts to more than 1,200. If you want to grow your business, you’ve got to advertise, even when business is slow.”

Ronald Carpenter, president of Carp’s Drain Cleaning Inc. in Great Falls, Mont., has mixed emotions about Yellow Pages advertising in a digital age. “The phone book has been our major form of advertising since we started out,” he says. “At first, I kept it fairly small, but visible – quarter-pages or less.

“About 15 years ago, a new one-man shop came into town and bought a full-page ad, which upped the ante for everybody else. But I’ve been trying to cut it back down over the last couple years because of the expense. Establishing a Web site is on my list of things to do. I know people use the Internet, but I think they still reach for a phone book when their sink is backing up or in some other emergency, instead of having to log on and do research.

“On the other hand, we’ve got really good word-of-mouth and highly visible trucks – that’s your best advertising. So I sometimes question the Yellow Pages in terms of bang for the buck. For instance, one time I ran an ad in a phone book, and they offered me a programmable service in which customers could call a special phone number to receive a special offer of the day. You could change the offer at any time. I ran an offer of 10 percent off a service call, but didn’t get any calls.

“So one day, I changed the offer to a free service call for anyone who called. I left the offer on for a month, and only one person called me. That phone book didn’t get any more business from me.”

James Carney, vice president of Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Drain Service of Ashtabula County in Ashtabula, Ohio, says his company has used the Yellow Pages since its inception in 1969.

“We usually take a week out of every month and ask the women who answer the phone to ask customers where they find out about us, and nine times out of 10, it’s the Yellow Pages,” Carney says. “We always had a fairly large display ad – a quarter-page or a half-page. We talked with some other Roto-Rooter franchisees a few years ago, and they sold us on the idea of shrinking the ad and relying more on the Internet. They said when people have a problem now, they’re more likely to go to the Internet than pull out a phone book.”

But as Carney found out, that’s not necessarily true for businesses like his that largely cater to older customers. “We shrank our ad to a dollar-bill-size ad, and people kept telling us they had to call information to find our phone number,” he says.

“Our client demographic is more than 50 years old, so they’re more phone book oriented. The ad was still there – it didn’t go any place – and our logo was still the same. But they just didn’t see it. A lot of our business comes from repeat customers, so maybe for years and years and years, they were used to opening the book and seeing a half-page ad. Historically, the Yellow Pages have always been good for us. We have no plans to ditch it for the Internet.”



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