AAdvertising Dollars Well Spent

Have you gotten this phone call?

“Hello, may I speak with the business owner or whoever is in charge of advertising and marketing decisions?”

It’s the Yellow Pages or one of the other phone book companies, and they want your business to advertise in their publication. What to do? What to do? Well, you have two obvious options: buy an ad or don’t. It’s that simple. The decision, however, might make you want to commit hari-kari.

There are pros and cons with each. So what’s new? Everything has a dark side, even duct tape. A lot of businesses still advertise in these directories, and they’re one way to get your name out there. People will see your business name, and maybe a little blurb about what you do, but that’s it.

In the not-so-distant past, this ad space was priceless. If your business wasn’t listed in the yellow pages, then your potential customers couldn’t “let their fingers do the walking” and find you. Of course, if you operated Wilson’s Whitewash, your listing would be well below AAble Whitewashing Company. As a result, you probably got a lot fewer calls. So, even though it was incredibly important to be listed in the telephone directory, there were still drawbacks.

Fast forward to today. When was the last time you pulled out a phone book to look up a number? It’s more likely that you use the book as a booster seat at the Thanksgiving dinner table. It’s going away, and replacing it are Google rankings and search engine optimization. A well programmed website will go a long way to increase your chances of landing a job when a potential customer searches for a whitewashing company. The old trick of adding a couple of “A”s to your business’ name to beat out the competition are over. Good riddance to bad practices.

Even if you and your audience are not computer savvy, there are still better ways to spend those advertising dollars. Instead of buying a phone book ad, consider a billboard or vinyl lettering on your company cars. Remember, not everyone is going to see the van driving down the street with Wilson’s Whitewash emblazoned on the side, but a lot more will see that than the phone number buried under little Timmy’s tush.

If you want to explore your options, find the best place to put your money, contact an ogre for a free consultation. We have a phone. The number is 850.912.4203. We’re on Facebook, Twitter, and at cleverogre.com. You can even email us.