? 2005 by Bruce Carlson

The most fundamental form of advertising, and one that most small businesses can’t do without, is Yellow Pages advertising. Practically every business, no matter what size or variety, needs a Yellow Pages presence.

But there are right and wrong ways to advertise in the Yellow Pages. Advertising the right way will increase your results in a huge way. Advertising the wrong way, on the other hand, will give you mediocre results at best.

Here are a few tips to get you off and running with the RIGHT kind of Yellow Pages advertising — and they’ll help you see a mega-increase in your results practically overnight.

CREATE AN ATTENTION-GETTING, BENEFIT-DRIVEN HEADLINE

Most Yellow Pages advertising is basically just an oversized (and bad) business card. This has to do with the mindset of advertising consultants and Yellow Pages representatives, who for some reason cannot or will not understand the concept of direct response.

Rather than create an ad that just mentions things like your logo, your location, your open hours, and your phone number, you need to create a direct response ad.

This starts with a powerful headline. A good headline will get your prospect’s attention much more effectively than the same old generic info which the others (including your competitors) are using. You need to stand out from the crowd, and crafting a powerful headline for your ad is the single most important thing you can do to make that happen.

When you consider that 60% of the people who consult categories in the Yellow Pages are NOT looking for a name they already know, and do NOT have any company in mind, then you can easily see why having a good headline is so important.

And of the other 40%, 30% are waiting to be swayed to another company. Only 10% are “loyal” customers looking in the Yellow Pages for just that one company to do business with.

So these folks need to be sold! And the way you do this is with an attention-getting, benefit-driven headline.

For more on the basics of writing headlines go here:

http://www.dynamic-copywriting.com/headlinetips.html

CREATE AN OFFER THEY CAN’T REFUSE

Once you have a powerful headline in place that gets their attention, you need to follow-up in your ad with something that will get them into your place of business, or at least on the phone to you.

You do this with an offer.

Amazingly enough, you don’t need a lot of space to make an offer to get them lining up. So if you’re on a tight budget and can’t afford a large ad, don’t worry. But there is one thing you definitely need.

Jus one little word.

It’s the most powerful word in advertising.

And that little word is FREE.

Your offer should, if at all humanly possible, utilize the word FREE. A free service call. A free inspection. A free estimate. A free starter package.

Remember, your job with your Yellow Pages ad is to get your prospect into your marketing funnel so you can follow-up with them and make them a genuine customer. Your Yellow Pages ad is thus much more akin to a lead generation ad.

And for this reason you should:

CREATE A SALES-FRIENDLY PHONE SYSTEM FOR YELLOW PAGES LEADS

Even when using direct response, your advertising can flop miserably if your telephone system is not designed to deal with the leads you generate. So you need to come up with a way for you and/or your staff to effectively deal with leads and prospects on the phone.

These people need to be dealt with DIFFERENTLY than existing customers… In other words, they need to be sold!

And all that’s required for this is a very simple “tweak” in your phone system.

Just set up a separate telephone extension for leads and use that number in your Yellow Pages and other advertising. This way whenever that extension is called, you and your staff will know it’s most likely a lead calling in, rather than an existing customer.

You can then be prepared to deal with them in a sales-type situation, and perhaps even use a phone script with a pre-written pitch (highly suggested if your staff has people with little or no sales training on board). This needn’t be a high-pressure sales pitch, but it at least needs to be SALES-ORIENTED. Your offer and your free giveaway should play a big part in this pitch.

If you have only one phone and can’t set up a separate extension for your advertising, find a way to quickly differentiate between customers and leads when they call in.

Once it’s determined that the caller is indeed a lead, rather than an existing customer, you or your staff can then switch to “sales mode”.

Again, a script with a pre-written pitch is very useful here if your staff lacks salesmanship skills.

And don’t worry about the size of your ad. It’s the message that matters. If your budget allows, then by all means build a larger ad. But remember that the message is the most important thing, NOT the size of the ad. By utilizing direct response, you will stand out head and shoulders above the other Yellow Pages advertisers.

So get a hold of that Yellow Pages rep right away and get your new advertising system up and running. Keeping in mind that he/she may not know anything about direct response. Be firm with them! Don’t let them dictate how to run your advertising, the life-blood of your business.

And be prepared for a flood of new customers!

About the Author

Copywriter and direct marketing coach Bruce Carlson would like to help YOU with your online copywriting and marketing. Sign up for his FREE weekly tips at http://www.dynamic-copywriting.com

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