Get Maximum Impact With Your Yellow Pages Ad!  

Get Maximum Impact With Your Yellow Pages Ad!   by Steve Yankee

The Yellow Pages are a terrific medium because of one simple reason: they are a directive medium, as opposed to a creative medium, such as a newspaper ad or tv spot. In other words, people use them when they’re ready to buy.

Which means you can(and should)load up your ad with everything you want to say about your capabilities and services --and people will read literally EVERY word. Because for the most part, they've already decided to buy, and your Yellow Pages ad is your best possible opportunity to get them to call you so you can CLOSE the sale!

What should go into your

ad -the RASCIL factors...

People are influenced in their Yellow Pages calling (and buying) decisions by several factors:

-Reliability

-Authorization

-Security

-Completeness of Service

-Illustrations

-Location

Let's take each point, one at a time, starting with RELIABILITY. Key phrases you should use in your ad include:

* Your XX years of experience

* Are you a member of a professional association? Say so.

* Satisfaction guaranteed or any other guarantees you offer

AUTHORIZATION

* Authorized sales/service for name brand manufacturers? Say so.

SECURITY

* Do you store goods in a safe?

* Are you insured, bonded?

* Is your work done on-premises?

COMPLETENESS OF SERVICE

* Do you have the latest and best equipment

* Do you offer multiple lines of goods for best selection?

* Free pickup and delivery?

* Free estimates and initial consultation?

* List your hours.("Open Monday through Friday, 8:30 - 5:30" or whatever. Be accessible!)

* All the services you provide

* Your phone number. This should be the largest component in your ad.

ILLUSTRATION

* Use your logo; a silhouette of something relevant to your business; a photo or drawing of your store, your truck. the logo of a professional association to which you belong; even the Visa/Master Card logos, if you take bankcards. Something to catch the reader's eye quickly.

LOCATION

* Your address! If your location is hard to find and you depend on walk-in business, give readers a clue. "One block south of City Hall," or "Just north of Quincy Street off US-131."

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The extras that will help

your ad pull even better...

There are two things that will help your hard-working ad work even harder. The first is using a second color in your ad. I know it costs you more, but adding a color improves readership by a factor of THREE TIMES.

The second thing is something that won’t cost you extra. Do something with your ad border. Don't just have the Yellow Pages ad production people run a thin line around the ad. If you’re selling boats, use a drawing of a rope. A film company? Make it look like film perforations. You can even incorporate your artwork into it the design. The trick is to make the ad as eye-catching as possible. Ask your yellow pages sales rep for help in design, and even in writing --as long as you remember the sure-selling phrases that we've already discussed.