Phone book ads

[Cowboy]

Hello fellow Optiboarders,

I am in negotiations with our local phone book rep on cost and size of ad. I have been getting very mixed reviews from both the O's proffession and the general market. I would like some feed back from the Wise and all Powerful Optiboard.

Should a phone book ad be business card size, larger, smaller, or should it just be a simple bold listing? We have been established for 4 years, if that is of any concern for your decision.

Thank you for your time and resposes to my thread.

Cowboy:cheers:

[Texas Ranger]

Cowboy NH, Please Do Not waste your money on a phone book ad, all you need is a bold listing, anything else is like throwing twenties on the sidewalk!

[CME4SPECS]

I think it really depends on your locale. I'm in a tourist town and I pick up a lot of repair business and frame sales from visitors, who break their glasses while on vacation. I advertise repairs, adjusments and frame replacements in my ad. Other than that I'd say it's a waste also. We have a community of 40,000 and 4 phone books! I use only one. Terry Agin

[Traci]

I agree with Texas Ranger on this one. I wouldn't waste my money on phone books ads, instead I would concentrate on my current clients and local advertising.

The phonebook is very costly and doesn't offer changes or updates throughout the year. Of course, keep your name in all of the sections that will be beneficial to your business.

I advertise in local metro magazines, the ad is current for a month at a time and I can change it up with updated photos as I please. If I want to skip a month, then I can, so it works with my budget during the busy and slow seasons. It also gives flexibility to promote sunwear or ophthalmic whenever I get new inventory in.

This could be a control issue on my part????

[Excel-Lentes]

Hi, .

I have a small listing in the Yellow Pages. Just one line and Se Habla Espanol. Funny thing is we have had quite a few English speaking customers find us but fewer Hispanic people through this listing. We have found the Hispanic Phone Books worked best. (Hola Hartford)

This year we increased the size of our ad in the Yellow Pages to about a half of a business card size. We have seen profitable results from our listing so this may increase the visibility.

I was very cautious about sinking more money into the yellow pages for the same reasons others listed before. I certainly wouldn't invest more than a business card size ad. Personally I look in the yellow pages when I need a phone number, etc...
so I wouldn't call it a complete waste of 20 bills.:D

-Brendan

[Texas Ranger]

Brendan, did you get my e-mail? would like to hear from you...

[Pete Hanlin]

Ditto everyone else's comments on the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of phonebook ads.

For optical goods, I think the phone book is simply a reference tool- people already know where they want to go, they just need to look up the number.

Simple bold listing would seem sufficient. Note, however, that the phone book rep only makes money if you increase the amount of money you spend (which is why s/he probably has some great new concept or deal for you each year).

Also, take this test- without looking, what ad is on the back of your current phone book? You can bet the owner of that ad paid a whole lot to put it there (probably a lawyer), but you've never looked at it closely, have you?

[Robert Martellaro]

Cowboy,

My 1 3/4" X 2" add (650K homes) pays for itself and then some. I am an independent optician (no doctors, no insurance), in a small professional building without OMDs or ODs, with a retail store front. Your situation may be entirely different, so I would talk to the folks that more closely match your type of business, market size and type, etc.

Clean and uncluttered adds work best, and the use of color on a white background makes the add "pop".

Most yellow pages have a small section immediately before opticians and optometrists called "Optical Goods-Sales & Service".

When I use the yellow pages I look for at least a small add that offers some amount of information about the business. It also tells me that they can afford a YP add, with a greater likelihood of a prospering and established business. IMHP of course.

Robert

[paw]

Being in the phone book legitimizes a business. If a buiness doesn't have an ad, it seems mom & pop - ish.

As a consumer, I use the yellow pages more than the white pages. I can find stuff faster and it gives more info. To have an ad is even better than a bold listing, because it usually has business hours, services offered, etc.

Regarding the size of the ad, even if a large ad gets people's attention FIRST, most people will at least browse through the rest of the ads, so I would start with a business card ad, and upsize next year if you feel the need. Just try not to get caught up in an upsizing race with your competitors.

[Johns]

We spend over $7500 to be in 3 books. One is a full-page ad, while the other are 1/2 page. From the price, you can see that they are not awfully big books, but for the money, it's worth every penny. On top of the ad, the books all have an on-line presence as well.

[Texas Ranger]

In our bold listing, we have 1. our address, 2. our phone number w/AC, and 3. our web site address. which is provided by Varilux, has a Mapquest map. and posts our hours, and what services we offer; we have a "message on hold" message on our phone system, to provide that information, and an after-hours message...so, why waste a ton of money with all that info in the yellow pages? Calculate this, cost your YP ads, times three, i.e. say you spend $1000 a month on yp ads. and perhaps you have a gross profit of %50, which means your COG is %50 also, so your sales to cover the ads cost, needs to be double, or $2000, and your average sale is $200, so you need to sell an "extra" 10 orders just to break even on the ads. and I mean "new clients", not just your current clientele who were hopefully coming to you anyway. So, what do you say in the ad? you"do eye exams", you "make glasses", you "fit contact lenses"; you "validate parking", you do "free adjustments"; you"have fashionable eyewear", so, how did the person find you in the yellow pages? your ad is under "Optical Goods"; it' "Optometrists"; its "Opticians"...if we had a nice ad in the four area phone books, it would cost about $35K a year, or I'd have to "increase sales" (every year) by $70K to justify the ads...random thoughts..