Should you be spending your advertising money on yellow page ads?
A client I met with recently was looking to streamline their advertising. I met with them right after the yellow page rep had been there to renew their account. They had a full page ad in the yellow pages (they were very proud to be the first page in their category) and were spending thousands of dollars a year for this large ad.
These chiropractors are savvy marketers and ask every new client how they heard about them. Not a single one was from the yellow pages. So why had they been advertising with them so much for so long? And what was it going to take for them to stop?
I started asking them questions.
The first question I asked them…Who is your ideal client?
Their ideal clients are employees at large corporations in the area. These patients have good insurance, word of mouth referrals are abundant throughout the corporation once they are in, and the patients rave about the one stop care they receive at this practice.
Second question…Do you ask your new patients how they heard about you?
An enthusiastic “Absolutely every single time” was the answer (right answer).
Third question…Do you get patients from the yellow pages?
No.
Fourth question…How active is your website?
Not very active. We just redid it last month. They informed me that if they’re not in the top three listings no one will click on you (which is not true) and we don’t want to spend $6,000 a month to be in the top three listings.
Knowing this, are the yellow pages the right place to spend thousands of dollars?
Obviously not.
The fact is that the first place people go to find health related information is online - 80% of the time.
Do you have to spend $6,000 a month to be found right away on the internet? Absolutely not! A side note, many people, especially referrals, will use your website to check out who you are and/or look up your phone number and address.
There are many simple and inexpensive things you can do to ensure your website is found right away by your clients:
· Change your website frequently
· Have educational content on the site
· Link to other businesses and have them link back to you
· Send your clients there for information
· Include your website address in all your advertising and marketing communications.
Having an online presence doesn’t have to be just for the big guys. Doing a few simple things can make sure you can be found - on the place where most people look for health information.
It’s ok to have a presence in the yellow pages, but dollar for dollar, you’re better off putting more of your energy online where your prospects are.
To your success!
Kelly Robbins