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Yellow Page Advertising - Writing a Yellow Page Ad

Guest post by: Sue Barrett

Article Overview: Even though there is a growing focus on internet advertising, the yellow page book is still a popular and effective form of advertising for local businesses. As with any type of advertising, you want to grab the attention of your viewer and get them to act. This is especially important if your business is in a very competitive market, where you may be competing against hundreds of other companies.

Yellow Page Advertising - Writing a Yellow Page Ad

Even though there is a growing focus on internet advertising, the yellow page book is still a popular and effective form of advertising for local businesses.

As with any type of advertising, you want to grab the attention of your viewer and get them to act. This is especially important if your business is in a very competitive market, where you may be competing against hundreds of other companies.

This does not necessarily mean that you need to pay for an expensive full-page ad. However, a small display ad explaining the benefits you give your customers will do multiple times better than just your company name and phone number.

Key factors your want to include in your yellow page ad:

1. Your Headline

Use bold type and larger font. In a short phrase, say who you are and what you do.

2. Your Benefits

State clearly and concisely the benefits you give your customers that your competitors don't offer. Why would a client want to use your services? Do not be too wordy here, using short phrases and bullet points usually works best.

3. Your Incentive

Do you offer free quotes, discounts for first-time customers, free estimates, special coupons? Let people know why they should call you now. Often, getting a prospect to try out your products or services is the hardest part - once they get to know you and like what you do, you can have a repeat customer for life - so give a good incentive up front.

4. Your Contact Information

Do not forget your contact information: phone number, address and website address if you have one. Depending on the business that you are in, customers may want to get more information on your products or services before contacting you, and a website can be a very useful selling tool in this way. If applicable, include your business's hours of operation in your ad.

As you are writing your content, take a look at the styles and layouts of the advertisements that your competitors are using (ads that have run for multiple years). See what is working for others and you can apply similar techniques to your own. You can also see some ad samples online at Max Effect.

If you want a professional to design your yellow page ad, Max Effect designs display ads and lists their rates on their website.

Once you have your advertisement designed, you can submit it to your local yellow pages. If you offer a product that is available nationwide, you can also submit your ad to multiple newspapers and a limited number of high-distribution magazines using one source, Nationwide Classifieds.

You can also place a listing in the internet yellow pages for free on YP.

The cost will vary depending on where you live and size of your ad. To find out the rates for your location, look in the front of your yellow page book (or section), and usually there will be a phone number you can call for advertising rates.

It is generally a good idea to start with one yellow page ad to measure results before submitting to several directories.

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Article Tags: yellow page, yellow page ad, yellow page advertising, yellow page book, yellow pages



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