How to design winning Yellow Pages adverts

Articles » Advertising

The majority of advertisements, especially those in the Yellow Pages are saying nothing much to anyone.  Most advertisements basically say, "Hi there, my business name is this and my phone number is this.  These types of advertisements rarely do anything except fund the Yellow Pages.  The people won't read them unless you write them in a way that makes you different  from the rest of the competition.  This is not as difficult as it seems.  But first we have to look at the Bad News and the Good News.

 

The Bad News

The Yellow Pages of the toughest and most competitive advertising media that exists.  In other media your advertisement is not surrounded by your competitor's efforts to attract the most business.  In the Yellow Pages, your advertisement is on pages covered with competitor's advertisements.  These are direct competitors because the Yellow Pages are divided into sections so that people can find the products or services they want.  This is fine unless you are an advertiser.  All your direct competitors are presenting the messages simultaneously to the same potential prospective customer.  Dog eat dog.

 

The Good News

The good news is this, most people who advertise do not know much about advertising and how to make it work.

Try this exercise by following the eight steps. 

  1. Go to the category where you would normally advertise in the Yellow Pages. 
  2. Read the first advertisement carefully. 
  3. Make a note of what they are offering.  Write down every product, feature, benefit, and promise. 
  4. Then go to the next advertisement and put a tick next to anything that you have written down so far that is repeated in the second advertisement. 
  5. If you come across a new product, feature, benefit or promise add that your list. 
  6. Keep on doing at until you have finished your category. 
  7. Count up the number of repeat statements.
  8. Look closely at your advertisement to see if what you say or propose to say is anything different from what your competitors are saying.

This will demonstrate quite clearly that in spite of the highly competitive nature of Yellow Pages advertising, most people are saying the same thing.  Everyone is delivering the same message.  Obviously, you must avoid what everyone else is saying to differentiate yourself from your competition.

What could be a more simple way to stand out from the crowd?

 

The rules for advertising including Yellow Pages are:

  • Keep it simple, trying to get too much information across will cause your advertisement to fail. 
  • If you give too much information, the prospective customer will make a decision on your product without talking to you.
  • The objective of the advertisement is for them to contact you. 
  • Identify your target market and write your advertisement is if you are talking to them.
  • Consider whether not you are trying to go after an existing market, in other words a market where people have already decided to buy and are now just working out from whom they will buy.
  • Consider whether not you are trying to educate people to use your product or service.  Pointing out why they need it and why they should get it from you.
  • Show how you will solve a problem.
  • Show how you will fulfil a dream.
  • Offer great value.
  • WIIIFM.  What Is In It For Me?  The advertisement should answer this question.  (When you look at the current copy of Yellow Pages you will observe that the majority of advertisements fail to answer this question.)
  • Write a strong headline in your advertisement because it can easily double your response.
  • The other advertisements will be intent on putting their business name in large type and taking up most of their space, you will actually be providing people with a reason to read your advertisements.  Flick through the Yellow Pages and look at the advertisements that waste expensive space by using their business name in very large type.  Promise yourself you will never do it.
  • Never ever forget to tell the reader what to do.  Phone, e-mail, visit, try, make an appointment, buy.