Its essential for small and local business to basically forget the Telephone Books and start getting more and more online.
Most plumbers for example are great at adding a listing to the Yellow Pages, but little to none of them are willing to get a search engine marketing (or SEM) consultant to build an online campaign. They know how to do the plumbing side of things so efficiently by using up to date technology to make their lives easier, however when it comes to the information technology and internet marketing, they fall very short.
Most business owners are savvy, that is why they are in business as they are smarter than those that work hard for other people. These people who own these businesses are the same people who would think of nothing to buy the latest piece of equipment that would build their widget fast or better. Whilst they think that a book is going to help bring more of the daily leads in. CRAZY
Many small business owners don’t realise the level of profits that online marketing can bring. For Example Let’s say you are an Air Conditioner Supplier / Installer and your average customer is worth $3000 worth of business per year. And you use a Telephone Book advertisement for $5000 for a full page ad every year. You assume most of your customers come from this ad each year, so you have never thought to change it or stop running the ad. But your local football club also has your number listed in the business section, your truck has your business painted all over it and your customers recommend your services. So all in all you have no idea who is benefiting from the ad, you or the telephone book company. Now, think about a highly targeted campaign using intelligence that a Search Engine Marketer has access to. He or She has the ability to drill down on certain key phrases that actually will have more people interested in your website. A truly optimized campaign would build a website that has the ability to lead potential customers into a funnel where their only option is to contact the small business as they ‘rank’ highly in the Google search engine. Perhaps a more cost effective strategy compared to the telephone directory one is to engage a Search Engine Marketing Strategy where $5000 would build you a network of web pages, customer pages, articles on your topic, pictures/ videos of your business or work, etc where your customer can learn to trust and feel like they actually know you before ever meeting you.
