How Directory Assistants Can Help A Business Reach Target Markets

While directory assistants are a relatively new profession, they have been proving their worth in providing Yellow Pages advertisers find the best and most effective way to reach their customers.

The Yellow Pages have been successfully reaching targeted audiences for decades, however they are also costly. To their benefit they catch consumers at the critical time when they are ready to buy. Still it is easy for business to overspend in this medium.

While many people have moved to Internet searches and online listings for locating services and companies, there are still enough people who use a phone book to make this a valuable medium. However, it is more important than ever to keep a close look at yellow page costs since it will make or break your ROI quicker than ever. Directory Assistants helps small businesses develop yellow page programs while saving up to 80% on annual costs.

Yellow pages are a specialized niche. Certain demographics do not have a computer or mobile phones to conduct online searches, so ignoring them in favor of an exclusive Internet based strategy may not be the best way to reach your local market. Directory assistants are specialized consultants that understand who is using the Yellow Pages and how you can best capture their business without overspending.

According to AT&T, 63.3 percent of small businesses advertise in the phone book. The Local Search Association has stated that:

1) 85 percent of people who use the Yellow Pages follow up with a direct action.

2) 88 percent of those who do use Yellow Pages will ultimately make or are more willing to make a purchase.

3) The phone book is used on average 44 times a year per person.

Directory assistants are experts in Yellow Pages advertising and know how to help a small business develop a cost effective and efficient strategic marketing plan for their local phone books.

Online listings reach certain demographics, yellow pages reach others and some cases they overlap. Hiring third-party phone directory assistants can help small businesses save up to 80% on costs while still reaching their target markets that rely on the Yellow Pages.

Who can the Yellow Pages still reach? Directory assistants have the specialized knowledge of three coveted markets that small businesses should target.

Demographics - Online listings leave behind seniors who have never touched a computer or the lower-income families that cannot afford to access the Internet regularly. These are people who still need services that they usually find in the Yellow Pages. Many small businesses have not clearly identified their targeted demographics, but directory assistants extensive advertising experience helps small business identify and reach targeted markets.

Location/Region - Yellow Pages are still delivered to rural areas and small towns where the Internet is not as easily accessible as in urban or more populated areas. People still lose cell service frequently and Internet routers crash. In an emergency in a more remote area, where will people turn to locate an emergency service like a towing company? The Yellow Pages! Directory assistants can help businesses in small towns to reach their best customers.

Industry/Service - A personal injury law firm that has been helping injured people for half a century has always been listed in the phone book. It could be detrimental to their business to abandon the ads and listings that have generated new business year after year, albeit less. Directory assistants know the industries and services that best succeed in the Yellow Pages and also have the expertise in the category headings and ad size best suited for each service. Directory assistants know the way people, the targeted markets, search for specific services and industries.

While many of the buying decisions start online these days, there is no denying the Yellow Pages can still reach markets that rely on the trusted print medium. A small business can turn to directory assistants to locate the people with the following Yellow Pages habits:

Those are pretty good odds for a small business looking for strong ROI on its advertising. Dismissing these consumers with substantial buying power could be detrimental to a small business. Consulting with directory assistants can help a small business to identify these target markets and to create a Yellow Pages ad that best reaches these demographics.

Creating targeted phone book advertising can be cumbersome for a small business. But with these experienced directory assistants, navigating the options and strategies can mean staying ahead of the competition by sticking with a trusted and tested advertising outlet.