Print Still Generates Leads

Telmetrics released call tracking data showing that print Yellow Pages generates online leads.  How can that be?  I thought people only used print or online.

The company looked at leads driven by Yellow Page print ads. 44% of the leads were URL visits while 56% were calls – so half of the people that used the print Yellow Pages to find a source then went online. In other words, they started their search with print, not with the supposed solution to all mankind’s troubles — the Internet.

You can read the full release here.

Net net: Print isn’t dead yet. Not even close.  That’s why SMB advertisers continue to spend their dollars in the media.

Let’s just twist the facts a little

Another example of how the Internet can be an effective tool for twisting facts to make something seem different than it really is.

Fact: According to Restaurant.org, the industry association serving that segment, there are some 945,000 locations nationwide serving more than 70 billion meal and snack occasions resulting in Sales over $558 billion and employing 13.1 million people.

And yet, based on a survey of just 214 of them, one consultant that makes his money hawking an online marketing service, RestaurantMarketing.com, says that a total of 69% of respondents decreased their print Yellow Page expenditures over the past 2 years, eliminated their directory expenses altogether by going to a free listing. Sure they have.

Gee, what a surprise that the top used heading in print Yellow Pages is “Restaurants” which gets some 1 BILLION 288 MILLION look-ups each year (source).

If there is one group of small business owners that is among the best at knowing what drives their business, its restaurant owners. They wouldn’t be investing their hard earned dollars in print Yellow Pages advertising if it wasn’t making their phone ring.

If typically 81% of people using those books to find that local sushi or French restaurant to make a contact (via phone or in person), that’s a lot business coming to that local business.

Now if it’s a click on a website, the response rate is???? Sure. Every small business should have a website. But don’t tell me that your establishment is that good that all you need is a listing. If that’s all you have, that’s all the business you’re probably going to get.

Print YP Still Leads, Even in Digitally Oriented Asia

I recently attended and spoke at an ADPAI – Asian Yellow Pages Publishers conference that was held in Vietnam.

One interesting take away from the chance to meet and talk with these publishers – even in some of the most technologically advanced areas such as Hong Kong, where the publisher sells advertising across a range of digital platforms – mobile, IPTV, Internet and SEO/SEM (local search), the print products still generate over 50% of the company’s total revenue, and are holding steady if not increasing.

Advertisers in these markets are a very demanding group – they don’t have the benefit of the extensive 125+ year history of the value of these print products that US companies have. They will not buy advertising that does not bring a positive ROI for their advertising investment.

It’s just further evidence that print Yellow Pages is still the best medium to connect buyers and sellers.

Print Yellow Pages – Perception vs. Reality

In a recent YP Talk article I cover significant events that occurred at the recent Kelsey Group Directional Media Strategies conference (DMS) held in Atlanta (link to YP Talk article).

Several people who could not attend the event have called and asked about my key takeaways. They were:

1) Yes, print still works for advertisers:

A panel of three top national advertisers talked about their views on media spending, and what they are doing to drive a significant ROI for their organizations. The most impactful comments came from one advertiser who noted that “…print Yellow Pages is still one of our biggest investments, but I have to defend that every day. Executive management is surprised about the results from the call tracking data.” She noted that 65% of their leads come from print vs. just 35% online. She also commented that conversion rates from Internet are significantly lower than leads from print, and that local calls from the print product are typically more qualified.

2) No, advertising money is not rushing from print to online:

Another presentation by a publisher noted that 57% of advertisers that cut their print Yellow Pages were not reinvesting in some other media. Of those that do move the advertising dollars, only 7% are moving it to the Internet. So the perception that print is rapidly losing advertising dollars to the Internet isn’t the root cause behind the slowdown in the industry. In tougher economic times some business will just reduce their total spending.

3) Print is still a trusted, used source at the time of purchase.

Each of the call tracking vendors I talked with commented that their publisher clients were seeing consistent to increased call volumes on metered lines, except in those metro areas where the economy had really turned sour. Since the only place buyers could have gotten those telephone numbers was from the print product, it clearly illustrates that the books are being used and are an important location for advertisers to have their message to catch those buying decisions as they are being made.

Net net: for the foreseeable near term, no, the print Yellow Pages are not dead. Far from it.

Oldest Directory Goes For Big Dollars

Back in June in the YP Talk newsletter, I advised industry members that the first known printed directory as going be auctioned off by Christie’s (link). The directory was printed by O.A. Dorman for the Connecticut District Telephone Co. in November, 1878.

While the expected auction price was anticipated to be in the $40,000 range, it actually went for a whopping $170,500….  Not bad for phone book where there are actually no phone numbers and only 40 pages (you didn’t actually dial a number in those days – instead a real person linked you to the party you wanted)

A great three and a half minute video at the IEEE Spectrum (link: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/video?id=541) has a clip about the auction and what’s inside the book.

And some people believe their print directories have no value – clearly that’s well, donkey dust….

Print yellow pages – the original search engin….

If No One Uses The Print Yellow Pages, Why Does Everyone Get So Upset?

The Paper Atheists who all believe that printed phone books are an evil infringement on their personal space, are only used by elderly people, are only good for finding buggy whip company’s, and are responsible for most of the world’s pollution are a very vocal bunch online. They insist THEY never use a printed directory. Heck, everything they ever need is online or on their mobile device.

If all that is true how come everyone gets upset when an error is made in those print Yellow Pages?? The last case involves the DEX/RHD directory in Snohomish, WA, a Seattle suburb. From Kristi O’Harran at the “HeraldNet”:

“….The first general county number listed, 360-568-2482, gets you to the parks department.

The first listing for the courthouse, 360-435-3441, gets you to a place to make a shelter reservation.

If you dial the Snohomish Health District, listed as 425-388-3411, and press “0″ for an operator, you’ll get the county human resources department….”

Could it be possible that people really do you the print phone book????????????  If you need more proof the next line in the article confirms it:

“…..The human resources department gets about 50 health district calls every day, said Christopher Schwarzen, with the county executive’s office….”

Seems someone must be using those books…

Yellow Pages Are Dead?? Far From It.

I have to hand it to those people who get their knickers in a bunch every time they see a printed Yellow Pages — they are consistent.

In January, on the www.YPGreen.info site I posted an acknowledgment of Valley YP’s efforts on recycling (click here). Lo and behold doesn’t the following diatribe get posted just yesterday:

The search engines, Internet, and a technologically advanced younger generation will be the death of the printed Yellow Pages. The cost for ads and the knowledge that they are static and cannot be changed for one year will be a huge hindrance. Yahoo and Google are primed to capture the advertising dollars. Do not downplay the “going green” movement. This is something the Yellow Page industry downplays and stresses that they are green because they recycle. But how many of the 500 million printed books are thrown in the trash? Too many. Local governments have started to pass laws to stop the delivery of telephone books to people that do not want them. An “opt out” application has been developed at www.I-hate-phonebooks The industry has to change are they will be dead.

I appreciate these posts because once again, it gives me another opportunity to set the record straight. Here was my response:

Your comments display the obtuse tunnel vision that many paper atheists are trying to snowball people with. But it also gives me a great chance to further review the facts that you don’t want to hear or admit to. Once again, here are the facts:

The Yellow Page industry isn’t downplaying the “green” movement (assuming we all know exactly what this is or means). In fact they have actual been ahead of every other traditional ad media in being eco-friendly:

• The industry does have book recycling programs in concert with local governments for the recycling of the books. I haven’t seen the beverage industry or newspaper industries step forward like that. Instead, I pay for it through my taxes and a curbside recycling program.
• The industry knocks down no virgin trees for their paper – it uses paper that has nearly 40% recycled content and residual chips from lumber mills. Have you looked at some of your favorite magazines lately? They can’t make that claim.
• The inks and glues used in the books are non-toxic, so even those books that do make it to a landfill are not leeching into the ground to cause issues. Again, have you looked at other print media to see if they can make that claim?
• The EPA, not me, not the industry, but your government watch dog organization has indicated that print phone books take up a whopping 0.3% of landfills. Sorry to disappoint you with that fact. Did you notice that direct mail and newspapers actual take 10 TIMES MORE LANDFILL SPACE than Yellow Pages??

The print product is often more efficient because it tells me as a shopper, some things I can’t get from the Internet – if that business is paying for a half page ad they must be viable. A cute website developed for a couple of hundred dollars tells me knowing about the real capability of that business other than they are creative.

Your comment on legislation is also naive. To this point while there has been a lot of noise, nothing has passed, anywhere. Why? Because you also ignore that fact that due to its wide distribution yellow pages are the only source the local government can rely on to provide critical information to EVERYONE. Hence, many local governments have partnered with those publishers to include things like hurricane guides, and yes, even recycling information in those books.

I also dispute your claim that younger generations will not use the print products. You may not have used them in the past but as those life events occur, everything from buying your first home, to having kids, to getting married – young people come to see the value that a print product can provide. You should read the www.askmeaboutyp.com blog to read more.

What you are not seeing through your jaded lens is that the industry is changing. It has become the largest seller of local search/internet advertising to local business. This will be the industry that will work with small businesses to help them find the right mix for their advertising dollars – some of which will be online, some in other media such as direct marketing, but also some in print Yellow Pages. Whatever works best for their business, but not excluding the opportunity to reach consumers in any media they may choose to use.

Print Yellow Pages are dead? Nope. Not even close.

The Future of Print Yellow Pages in a Digital/Online World

I came across the following video link of Patrick Dixon, author Futurewise, a futurist and frequent conference keynote speaker. In the video clip from a recent conference he talked about the future of print Yellow Pages, direct mail, paper letters, even printed books in this increasingly online/digital world we now live in.

It runs about 10 minutes but is well worth a view given all of the negative babbling you can read/see online these days about how print Yellow Pages is irrelevant, a dinosaur, and several other nasty things I would prefer not to list here.

Here is the link: http://blip.tv/file/1102950

He provides some very compelling thoughts on why print will be around for a long time…