Small Business Owners: Click Don't Flip

Hey, Click Don't Flip

As a small business owner, determining how you will spend your advertising dollars can be a daunting task. With so many options to choose from it can be challenging to determine what methods will work best for your business and your ROI. Small business owners often focus on marketing strategies that will reach their local market. For many years, these businesses have relied on promoting their business in the local phone directory but with so many advances in technology the question exists as to if this is one of the best marketing tactics.

Take a few seconds and ask yourself what method you used last when searching for a local service or product. Did you take the time to track down your phone book or did you open a search engine on your computer or mobile device? In the growing world of technology, marketing is growing further and further away from the phone book and more towards digital marketing, specifically local search marketing.

According to many industry surveys that we have studied, we see that 97% of consumers looked online for local businesses.

Let’s explore some cons of phone book advertising.

• While older demographics may still use a phone directory the numbers of readers are decreasing as the new generations turn to their phone to find businesses. 70% of Americans don’t even open a phone book.
  
• You must commit to a year of advertising. Unlike digital local search marketing, there is no way to swap out your ad with updated messaging.
  
• ROI tracking is difficult with phone books. With local search marketing you have access to an analytics platform to evaluate the success of an ad or campaign. Unless you ask every caller how they found your business, there is no way to track leads with phone book advertising.
• Online reviews are everything. 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations and positive reviews make 73% of consumers trust a local business more. A listing or ad in a phone book is just that. There aren’t any reviews in a phone book to make your business stand out any more than the business listed before or after yours.

Every day the phone book becomes less relevant in this day and age of advertising. Tommy House Studios is focused on providing local businesses the resources needed to help grow your digital online presence. Contact us at 334-310-2915 or 1-877-246-1315 for a free consultation.