The End of the Door Stop Directory
It was brought to my attention recently that welovelocal.com, an online local business review site, had commissioned some research into the way in which people look up local businesses these days. In particular it asked about the relevance of printed directories, like the Yellow Pages, Thomson Local and others.
I thought you’d like to see the results as it’s a good bet many of you small business owners will be paying for print directory listings - after all, you’ve probably done so for years and picked up some good business along the way. In fact, it’s one of the most popular places for a small business to advertise, well, at least it used to be…
Now the research is very UK focussed, but I’d bet in most developed countries you’ll be facing a similar situation as here in Britain. So without further ado, here are my highlights of the research findings (or you can find the full wrap-up here):
- Over 50,000,000 directories are distributed each year in the UK, but 35% of adults would prefer not to receive them
- 70% of 18-34 year olds would prefer to use the internet to find local businesses
- In the last 6 months 51% of adults have used the internet to find a local business and only 24% a printed directory
I think you will agree these are some interesting stats. Essentially there’s a massive and not surprising trend towards using the internet for finding businesses.
First priority then, get yourself an online presence. There are no shortage of options for doing this - check out my previous posts for micro-businesses and the very small.
The next step then is to start encouraging other people to create an online presence for you. A great example is to look at Welovelocal.com and ensure your business is both listed and reviewed. If it hasn’t been reviewed yet, don’t be tempted to add your own false reviews, you’ll only get caught out. Try to encourage some locals to get you started, or maybe provide a discount code for those who write a review.
What then happens to the model of paying for directory listings.
Will this continue to add value? Should you still consider advertising in paper directories, or has the Yellow Pages had its day?
My answer to that one is simply, it depends. I know, you wanted a yes or no answer, but it really depends on who your audience is and what product you sell. If you sell products to less technically able customer groups then yes the yellow pages is probably still viable.
For everyone else, move on my friends, move on. Do something different and maybe think about how you can work with the new online review sites like the fantastic Welovelocal. I refer you back to the old quote
Tag:Advertising web 2.0If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got
I do agree with the answer “is depend”. There are too many factor need to consider. Firstly get some research date or analysis data might help to make the decision.
The “survey” in question was carried out online - so the “35% of people” are really exactly the sort of people who would not use printed directories anyway and the survey is therefore skewed into providing welovelocal.com with the answer they wanted in the first place. That’s a surprise…
Similar predictions were made when Teletext arrived - it would be the death of printed newspapers - not quite happened yet. So beware of surveys with vested interests.
Cheers
Peter
this the right thing to be add.because in business there are so many criteria can be fill up.and its should be introduce in there website.
Thanks for your information. Now the research is very UK focussed I hope its need more.
I’m glad I stumbled here. Actually I was reading a similar survey with how people are slowly moving away from newspaper classifieds and other related media to online information.
It also had a nice graph of how subscriptions showed a slowdown, I wish I had the link.
Peter - very valid point you made there. Of course, the answer is the one Welovelocal were looking for and of course they highlighted the most pertinent points to support this. It would be interesting to run this survey again offline, perhaps on a high street somewhere and then to compare the results.
Calvin - the poll conducted 15th - 17th January, 2008 by YouGov poll. The sample size 1,974 adults. You can download the full data on the welovelocal page.
Business Seller - I think it’s inevitable that the online world will overtake the printed world, although I suspect as Peter points out with his Teletext example, there will always be a place for print.
Right, it depends on what kind of business you have. Whether to advertise on yellow pages or to other.
Informing other with the help of the web is really the only fast and easy way. Nice said.
Internet has screwed things up eh?
I agree with the answer “It Depend”. There is no actual formula to find out it is yes or no. We have to find the how much we need for advertising in yellow page.
It is expected that most people will search for jobs and services online. The data they can see online is updated frequently and it is easy to find what you want by using Search or browse through different categories.
I agree with “it depends” as well. It’s just a matter of testing what works and what doesn’t.
yea most directories are worthless… too many companies to choose from and alotta spam :/
~Michael
I very much agree with the answer “depend”. There are too many features which need to think about. Firstly get some investigation date or scrutiny data might be of very help to make the resolution.
Interesting percentages! Personally, I don’t care much for directories. I usually look on the internet before I open up the phone book!
I know I dont even use directories anymore. If I gto anything to find, I google it, then mapquest it
If I want to find some thing than use the Google.
I mostly prefer the internet for marketing, the right way to save your time.