The Pest Control Yellow Page Ad

Recently, I've had several calls from people asking me for advice about their yellow page ads.

Each of them had a deadline looming that was forcing them to get a yellow page ad together.

That's par for the course.

For some reason, people wait until the absolute last second to develop a yellow page ad and then expect to design one that gets monstrous results.

I guess I can understand that because I wait until the last minute to get things done too. :-)

The Story of the Pest Control Yellow Page Ad

I received a call from Frank Merryman the other day who was developing his yellow page ad for this upcoming year.

Frank is a very successful pest control business owner here in Houston.

Frank wanted to get a "second opinion" on his ad because he understood how important it is to get his yellow page ad correct.

You see, yellow page ads are a very risky venture.

Here's why...

Risk # 1 - You can only create the ad once.

Risk # 2 - That ad has to run for the next 12 months.

Risk # 3 - You will pay for the ad every month regardless of how well it does.

Risk # 4 - And you can't change the ad if you find out it's not working.


Yellow page advertising is the riskiest advertising there is.

So you have to get it right!

NOTE: That is why I always advise business owners to create several versions of your yellow page ad and test them in local papers before you even think of submitting it to the yellow page directory.


Anyways, I DON'T do any one-on-one coaching anymore but I thought I would redesign the ad to give you some ideas for to think about.

Here is Frank's ad that was created by a local ad agency:

http://url123.com/n9qp4

(copy and paste into your browser)

Tips on Creating a High Performing Yellow Page Ad

To create a dynamic yellow page ad you need to crawl into the head of someone who is actively looking in the yellow pages for something and find out what their decision criteria is.

From my experience a yellow page advertiser will...

1. Open up the yellow pages to the section that they're interested in or a related section.


2. Look for ads that have something that immediately jumps out at them (maybe a photo or a headline).


3. Glance at a few ads they've narrowed down and look for a benefit that resonates with their particular situation or problem.


4. Look for a phone number to call to get their questions answered.



With this in mind, you as an advertiser need to...

1. Have your ad in the right section(s).

2. Give the reader something that immediately jumps out and grabs their attention.


3. Give the reader a very good reason to pick up the phone and call.

4. Make it easy for the reader to call by, (1) lowering the risk barrier and, (2) displaying the phone number in BIG letters.


Tips on Creating a High Performing Yellow Page Ad

Okay, so with all that said, I took a stab at redesigning Frank's yellow page ad.

At first glance you'll go, "uhhh?"

But I used the same direct response principles to recreate this ad that I would normally use to do any other direct response advertisement.

Here's the redesign.

http://url123.com/yqygq

(copy and paste the link into your browser)

After you review it for a few minutes you'll notice a few things.

1. A very large, bold headline

I would use a large bold headline over a large photo any day of the week. Headlines get attention and since most yellow page ads don't use large bold headlines then Frank's ad will stand out even more.

2. A personal message from Frank

People want to connect with a company on a personal level. They don't like to talk to a faceless company. That's why I almost always use photos of the owners in my yellow page ads.

3. A 24 hour recorded message line

A hotline will allow you to deliver your entire sales message automatically without you or any of your employees having to do it manually.

4. Bullet point teasers

Your # 1 objective is to get the call before the reader calls someone else. That's the holy grail of yellow page advertising. The most powerful response booster in marketing is curiosity so that's why I use this tactic.

5. Other phone numbers

Sometimes people won't want to call the hotline so I give them the opportunity to call the normal line.

Does this Type of Yellow Page Ad Work?

Well, you never know if an ad is going to work until you place the ad and test it.

That's why, as I mentioned earlier, always test my yellow page ads in local newspapers before I submit them to the yellow page directory.

I can't say if this ad will out pull the original ad. It will need to be tested.

But my redesigned ad certainly gives the reader a very strong reason to pick up the phone and call.

NOTE: By the way, when a reader calls a multi-line hotline system like you see in the ad, at the end of every message the listener is given the opportunity to connect to a live operator.


Do You Want Some More Professional Yellow Page Advice?

Listen, I'm not a yellow page expert and I don't pretend to be. I'm a direct response marketer.

(although I HAVE written some yellow page ads for the spa and pool industry that are getting excellent results).

But I do know of one yellow page ad expert who knows his stuff and has one of the best newsletters on the Internet.

He is a subscriber to the Marketing Best Practices Newsletter.

His name is Dick Larkin and you can find out more about him at http://www.YPCommando.com

You should at least sign up to his newsletter. It's hilarious (and thought provoking).

Conclusion

Hope this article has helped a bit.

Please don't put off designing your ad to the last moment. That is a serious marketing mistake. And don't let the yellow directory design your ad.

Pay the money and get a direct response marketing professional to do it.

In the end, you could get the same response you're getting today or you could have a marketing pro design your ad and get 5 times the response.

But what's for sure is that you'll end up paying the same for both ads.


The Pest Control Yellow Page Ad - To learn more about this author, visit David Frey's Website.

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