The phone book is the most common and popular way to search for people and businesses. It is also one of the most frequent guides used by people when they are searching for information and contact details. Advertising in the phone book gives a company a large audience base to advertise to and every time a person uses the phone book the ad, depending on where it is placed, may be viewed. Unlike magazines and newspapers the life of phone book advertising is much longer, i.e. till the phone book is next published. The phone book is used by millions everyday and hence gives you a huge audience to advertise to.

Phone books are of several kinds and cater to different audiences. Hence you may wish to place an ad accordingly. There are residential phone books, business phone books and Yellow Pages or classified directories that list out companies according to their business. The phone book company may even have its own website which may feature ads or classifieds.

Advantages of Phone Book Advertising

Location of the Customer

Phone books have local, regional and national editions and hence a company can publish ads according to the kind of customers or audience it is looking for. A mom and pop kind of general store will profit more from advertising in a local phone book that it would in a regional or national phone book. Thus the fact that phone book advertising allows a company to select the location of your audience helps reach out to its target audience. Selecting the type of phone book a company advertises in helps it target its audience group.

Cheaper than Newspapers

It may be cheaper to advertise in a local phone book or directory rather then advertise in newspapers and magazines, which may have limited appeal. The phone book is likely to be used and read more often than a newspaper or a magazine.

Content and Design

The content and design of a phone book ad can be changed according to the kind of phone book that it will be advertised in. It is important for the content or words of the ad to reach out to the readers and be relevant to them. Similarly the design and structure of the ad may be varied according to the readership of the phone book. It is important that an ad provides all the crucial details such as the contact details and how to get to your business.

Frequency of Use

When a customer requires the services or products of a certain kind, the phone book may be the most obvious place to look. Thus when a customer is looking in a business phone book for a particular service or product they are already actively involved. It is crucial for businesses to advertise in business directories and Yellow Pages so that they don't lose out on crucial business.

Ad Placement

The position of an ad will affect the response it evokes in readers. The full page ad at the beginning of the phone book is found to be the most effective. This ad space is usually bought up much ahead of schedule

TIPS

To know if your ad is working or not, make sure you track where the source is coming from. It's always best to have a dedicated phone number or if it's the website address you have a /incentive after the URL, for example www.YourWebsite.com/FreeGift This way you can track it (Google Analytics) and know if the ad is getting a good return on investment.