Friday: Your Daily Yellow Page Ad Review

Its now the fifth day of your journey through your Yellow Page advertising. Youre picked a great headline, sub-head, picture, and text. Youre almost done. But there is some work ahead. Have you chosen the proper size, colors, and placement? Because of your budget constrains, you probably chose an ad based on what you could afford at the time. So lets say you bought a quarter-page for $500 a month and figure its doing its job. Or is it? Suppose your main competition has a full-page, and then there are two half-pages and a one-third page ad, all before yours. Being fifth isnt so bad, right? Well, did you do an ROI study first?

ROI is return on investment. Heres how it works. You have an ad that costs $500 and you profit $100 per customer. So you have a 5 to 1 ROI, or, in other words, it takes five buyers to pay for the monthly cost. But, because youre fifth in line, you barely get those five customers. But what if the first position full page for $2000 gets 20, $100 calls a month. You would say that its the same ROI, right? Wrong! Because even if his ad just broke even, he has a larger base of customers to spread the word-of-mouth and give you referrals. Wouldnt you rather have more customers and still cover your ad cost?

Think about it. If both ads cost you nothing each month, which is a better deal? And what if adding color got you five more customers but only cost $200 more? Finally, what if you had a second ad that also cost you nothing in a secondary heading? For instance, if you are a plumber and could have a smaller ad in Water Heaters or an air conditioning repair person under Furnaces, that could get additional buyers. If the ad is virtually free, then why not make the investment? Hey, its Friday, so take the afternoon off and think about it. Its the way many successful advertisers expand their programs. Speaking of success, you may want to learn about all the other vital elements to your ad. Right about now, you also might also be asking yourself how I know so much about directory advertising.

Well, I was a YP rep and consultant for nearly 25 years and, prior to that, had my own advertising agency. I also have a degree in marketing. Ive been designing Yellow Page ads for the past three decades. So I have experience in creating ads and have advised almost 7000 companies on how to put together the most effective ones. If you have a display or in-column ad, regardless of size, color or position, I can tell you it most probably needs improvement in essentials areas like the headline, artwork, body text, placement, book, or heading. You must also understand the ROI or return on investment and learn how to track the results as well.

So consider getting some expert advice before you place your next ad. If you want to more detailed instruction on all the inside secrets to better YP marketing, then please visit my website listed below.

Jeffrey Hausers latest book is, "Inside the Yellow Pages, which can be viewed at http://www.poweradbook.com

He was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for nearly 25 years. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising and has a Master's Degree in teaching. He had his own advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design firm, ABC Advertising. Currently, he is the Marketing Director for thenurseschoice.com, a Health Information and Doctor Referral site.

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