I Have Said This Before…

Computer Directory.

In a recent post I caution against judging traditional print-on-paper phone directories to be dead.  This post is a timely complement to that post.  Briefly, be cautious of people who want to be paid convincing you that phone directories are dead.  If I can say this again and help someone be a smarter, better decision maker, I will say it again.

Make sure you’re doing business with a reputable internet marketing company.  Make sure you’re doing business with a reputable advertising professional.  Can’t say it enough.

In particular, beware of  people who offer savings as the reason to dump advertising or shift investments as their key benefit. 

Advertising opportunities — and risks — are very confusing today and a class of “experts” ready to prey upon the uninformed or the gullible lurks out there.  They look for businesses owners who might not know exactly what their advertising does for their business.  They also look for people lured by the appeal of being trend-forward  Perhaps they will capitalize on business owners ready to outsource some of their management responsibilities.  Most often they use savings as the key incentive for doing business. 

If savings cut profits, they’re not really savings.

These cutters and slashers promise businesses access to the riches being made on internet…kind of.  They often offer access to the internet, but they really sell savings.  Instead of paying X, pay one-half of X and get internet advertising, for example.

First of all, if you’re currently buying “old media” chances are good that your old media service also offers “new media” options for your business.  Take advantage of your existing relationship.  Your current advertising professional already knows something about your business.  They have the same incentives for your success whether you invest in existing services or expand into new ones.

Second, check your “expert.”  With all due respect to SEO and SEM professionals, look at proliferation of internet marketing professionals out there, especially in a down economy.  There are many people eager to stretch their experience a bit into an expertise in now-vogue areas of social media, mobile search, and good old fashioned search engine marketing and website optimization.  Just look at profiles on Facebook, Twitter, or the like.  It can feel like everyone is an internet guru today.

In my opinion, you should pass on anyone who comes to you offering you savings and only asks for a percentage of the savings as compensation.  (“You pay nothing unless I can save you money.”)   They will look at your current advertising contracts and offer to negotiate a better program.  It sounds good, but…Ask yourself, do you think they will look to maximize savings to serve your best interests or to increase their commission?

Of course you need to be cautious of anyone selling on commission and ask yourself the same question about whose interests are best being served.  Most of these cutter services, however, operate on a single contract and move on.  Perhaps they will ask for a two-year contract.  In other words, they have no long term interest in your business.  Unlike an advertising professional selling services based on results versus savings, they have a short-term incentive — your savings — and not the long-term incentive of selling services that will generate revenue and profits.

Likewise be careful with new media programs that offer to find you savings in your current advertising contracts and transfer those savings to cover new advertising programs.  Many people are ready to find “savings” for you in one media only if they can transfer it to another program. 

Make sure you are working with someone who wants your business, not just your cash.  Test them.  Tell them you’re happy with your current advertising media; tell them you think it is earning a profit for you.  If the primary reason given for doing business with them is to shift “wasted” money to “better” advertising, make them work more for the sale.  If you’re making a profit on one form of advertising, they should not try to cut your advertising.  They can offer to diversify by adding to your opportunities, but why should you cut something that is already profitable?

I learn everyday that many new media reps don’t understand their old media competition.  Even well-qualified new media advertising professionals don’t always understand the old media they claim to be replacing.  Unfortunately this shortcoming isn’t easy to spot and isn’t likely to be less common in years to come.  This is a red flag that business owners might not ever see . 

When choosing an advertising professional, maybe it helps to think about another major purchase that has changed over the years.  Think of the automobile industry.  Cars have changed dramatically over the years, but people often buy cars from the same dealer even as auto technology changes.  Experienced advertising professionals are not that much different.  Experience and relationships matter.

And I still contend that some of the best values today are in old media.  A phone directory might not be what it was twenty years ago, but it still works and can be more cost-effective now than it was then.  Don’t sacrifice this standby prematurely and if you’re not taking advantage of it, talk to a reputable ad professional and see if it should be in your advertising mix.

Related Articles

• Deloitte: Social Media Advertising Still “Modest” Compared to Television (socialtimes.com)
• UK Advertisers: Penny-Wise, Pound-Foolish? (hubspot.com)

Imminent Death of Paper Phone Books? Not Quite.

Image by smallritual via Flickr

Time to offer some advice. 

A friend forwarded an article citing a study proclaiming the imminent death of paper phone directories.  Don’t believe it.  In fact, if you’re a small business and you’re looking for a cost-effective advertising investment, phone directories might be a better value today than they were just a few years ago.

First…a disclaimer.  I sell advertising that includes phone directories.  I also sell an array of online advertising services in addition to even more “old media” like direct mail.  The people I work for really don’t care if my advertising sales come from print directories or new media.  I don’t care either.  In fact, I would rather sell more internet advertising.  It is popular, easier to sell, and renews nicely.   A lot of misperceptions support this trend.  I won’t complain, however…

…I have to tell you…

There are several sound business factors that favor people who still choose to advertise in phone directories.  Yes, directory usage continues to decline, but it does so very slowly. 

That is the first positive factor favoring print directory advertisers.  The perception that directories don’t get used have influenced some businesses to mistakenly pull from phone books.  This means there’s less competition competing for the leads that do come from phone books.  Ad content in phone directories has declined disproportionately to the usage of directories.  This bodes well for yellow page directory advertisers.

Second, the economy has been down (remember?) and too many business owners mistakenly see advertising as an expense.  (If it really is an expense, why do it all, in good times or bad?)  This has influenced poor decisions about advertising, again limiting the advertisers competing for leads from phone directories which benefits those who choose to stay in the game.

Even industries that are down still generate business.  In fact, in a down market you can argue that it is even more important to advertise.   There might fewer people seeking lawn care maintenance services, for example, but people still seek those services.  If you think of potential business as a pie, even if the pie is smaller, some businesses are getting more of it because they have less competition competing for it.

Which brings up another good reason to stick with directories.  Now is a time to build market share.  It is not a time for the timid.  Phone directories are a very cost-effective way to build market share.  As long as they generate leads, take advantage of it.

And costs generally are better from phone directories.  (But not all directories offer value equally.  More on that in a moment.)  Many people don’t understand how the internet works.  Social media is a big buzz word, but many businesses are not in a position to see a lot of organic growth from social media, especially for new lead generation.  Services like SEO and SEM can be very expensive.  $100 leads are not uncommon.  If you work with a credible advertising professional, phone directories can deliver leads for a fraction of that cost.

Some businesses inherently do very well in phone books.  Any business that caters to emergencies, for example, tend to do well.  You come home and find a very sick pet…do you log on the phone book and start searching or do you flip open a phone book?  The myth of speed and accuracy from the internet has yet to be completely answered. 

Or discretion…need an attorney?  Do you search on the office computer or even the home computer where searches might be tracked?  Examples abound.

Not all phone directories are created equally, however.  Like all industries, the advertising interest evolves and responds to market changes.  Shop a little.  Leads are leads, they’re like a commodity and some businesses deliver the same product at better prices and greater efficiencies.  The phone book you grew up with might not be the best deal.  Again, a good professional can help you sort this out.

Finally, a word about waste.  A single phone book delivered once a year is significantly less wasteful than the daily mail.  (Remember…I sell direct mail, too, so trying to be balanced.)  If you have the patience to do so, hold a month’s worth of junk mail and weigh it against your phone directory.  (Yes, you have one…go look.) 

Don’t pish posh directories.  Not yet.  Even the study funded by the “ban the phone book people” (coincidence?) admits that older folks make up most of phone directory usage and they ain’t quite dead yet…and they have money!

Enough advice.  Now scroll down and read something better.  Tell your friends!