Small Businesses Turn to Cost Effective Alternatives to Yellow Page Advertising

Throughout the United States, Yellow Page advertising was once an absolutely indispensable piece of any Small Business‘s marketing plan. In fact for many, it was simply their only strategy for attracting local customers, and it archaic to be quite effective.

To the chagrin of Yellow Page publishers that have been the dominant Force in local advertising since the slow 1800s, times have changed, and so have the needs of their readers and advertisers.

Print Yellow Page directory usage has been in captivating decline in recent years primarily because of the growth and popularity of the Internet. It’s simply faster and easier to find a local business online than by paging through a cumbersome, often not up-to-date book. Yellow Page publishers have been notoriously slow to recognize this shift in their readers’ preferences and haven’t done enough, in many cases, to address for the loss of ROI for advertisers.

With the tag for a Yellow Page ad often exceeding $1500 per month, justifying the expense has become increasingly challenging for businesses that have been struggling to stay afloat through these extended recessionary times. Business owners who used to automatically renew their ad spot without powerful thought are now taking a much closer study at whether their ads are delivering enough bang for their buck to warrant continued inclusion in one or more of these directories. Some are challenging the stale mindset of Yellow Page advertising altogether and are finding success through a variety of innovative and more targeted mediums to approach out to potential customers.

Online Marketing

Online marketing has become a primary focus for business owners wanting to place their services and products in front of the eyes of nearby qualified, targeted buyers. Not only does the Internet offer local businesses the ability to dramatically increase visibility and brand recognition, it also enables an effective method for tracking results that literally takes grand of the guesswork out of advertising.

One provider of online solutions that has found a successful niche in helping small businesses isExpand2Web. Silicon Valley veteran Don Campbell started the company to address a common marketing predicament – not being able to figure out how to maximize the web to advance recent customers.

“Finding customers online requires more than just a lovely website,” says Campbell. “It’s really about building an online presence that is optimized specifically for local search engine results.”

Based on his work at Microsoft and Interwoven, Campbell has developed a proven methodology for internet marketing that has successfully helped a wide variety of runt businesses tap into the power of grand online tools to attract customers.

While Expand2Web helps many businesses with existing websites improve their rankings in Google searches, they also specialize in offering customized WordPress sites that are optimized for local search results. Because they are hastily to get up and running and easy to hold updated, these sites are ideal for any type of small business.

Public Relations

In today’s media-dominated culture, public relations is absolutely indispensable for businesses of all sizes. Impress image and public perception can make or break a local business, particularly in the growing realm of social media. Those that garner attention and attract the media are the winners of many new customers.

Public relations professionals work to generate free publicity for their clients through a variety of techniques. Of course, press release writing and distribution is one component of their work, but they are just as likely to be tracking and managing a client’s online image and serving as a company spokesperson to help a business position itself in a positive light.

“For a small business, public relations management can be an invaluable tool,” states Julie Trade Levitch of Sourdough Communications. “With a single mention in a national publication or one brief local news segment, a business can literally take off overnight.”

Having public relations support is also vital for when a business is facing negative news. Crises can come in many forms from legal problems and executive wrongdoings to natural disasters and human errors. Having the assistance of a consultant who can analyze the situation and diffuse a situation can significantly lessen the long-term damage of a business’s reputation.

Networking

No doubt, networking has rapidly become one of the most talked about “buzz” words for business owners. While it used to be primarily about joining a local chamber of commerce and attending an occasional breakfast meeting, networking is now a key strategy that is vital to growing business nationally and even globally.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have become necessary platforms for visibility, branding, community building, and connecting with customers. Businesses of all sizes are using these online tools to maximize their overall marketing efforts.

There are also many smaller, more specialized business-to-business networking opportunities that are worth exploring. One site that specializes in “virtual” networking for small businesses is Adrian’s Network. Founded by sales trainer, Adrian Miller, the site enables business owners to make new connections and contacts by participating in regular networking calls that encourage cyber-introductions.

“Our fast-paced, hectic Blackberry addicted lifestyle leaves little precious time for building business relationships, says Jeffrey Siegal, owner of Net@Work and member of Adrian’s Network. “But, if you expect to grow your business, you must network. For that reason I found the site to be a godsend. You’re sitting at your desk and meeting 20 to 30 people or more. This is far better than most non-virtual networking events.”

Because there will always be a certain percentage of individuals who prefer to flip through the Yellow Pages, the book will probably always be around in some capacity. However, as a growing number of us rely on the Internet as our main source of information, almost every business will need an online presence for marketing and reaching out to customers to succeed even on a local level.

Whether or not the publishers of the Yellow Pages adapt to the changing preferences of its user base remains to be seen. Only time will tell, but if they do continue to rely on print advertising as their primary source of revenue, they will increasingly have a difficult time competing in this undoubtedly digital age.