Robert Wolfe
31st December 2002, 15:20
I’m curious to learn what kind of success instructors have had with ads in the Yellow Pages.
Up through the 2000 Harrisburg Metropolitan directory, we used a column listing, in bold, with the names of the arts taught and our web site address. That ad produced a consistent rate of contacts — a few more than 60 per year — 17% of which actually enrolled. And at $49 per month, the expense was reasonable for the results achieved.
For the 2001 directory, we upgraded to a display ad, one of the small, so-called “band-aid” shaped ads. Compared to the other ads of the same size, ours was clean, with one photo each of kenjutsu and aikijutsu, the street address and web URL, and a lot of white space. I had been told by the Verizon sales rep that I could expect a 49% increase in contacts by switching from a column listing to a display ad. Instead, the ad produced fewer contacts and enrollments, and that at a cost of $150 per month (which was an incentive rate).
This past year, we tweaked the ad to include a description of the location (just off an exit from one of the Interstates that form a beltway of sorts around Harrisburg) rather than just the street address. The post office under which the dojo falls might lead prospective students to believe the dojo is in an out of the way location, which certainly isn’t the case, so I figured describing the location might preclude that assumption. (Of course, I’m continually amazed by the number of people who think having to drive more than 10 minutes to get to the dojo is an unreasonable expectation — I’d be thrilled just to have my instructors live in the same state...)
In any case, the current ad costs $190 per month (since the incentive rate expired) and produced even fewer contacts and enrollments than the year before.
Next year, I’m going back to just a column listing.
Another interesting trend has been the rate at which contacts through the Internet have increased in each of the past four years. This past year, we received more than half as many contacts through our web site as through the Yellow Pages, and the conversion rate of contacts to enrollments has been consistently higher with the folks who use the web. Considering hosting for our web site costs about $15 per month — and could be had for less — I’m convinced web-based advertising will completely supplant printed phone directories in fairly short order.
What have been your experiences?
Up through the 2000 Harrisburg Metropolitan directory, we used a column listing, in bold, with the names of the arts taught and our web site address. That ad produced a consistent rate of contacts — a few more than 60 per year — 17% of which actually enrolled. And at $49 per month, the expense was reasonable for the results achieved.
For the 2001 directory, we upgraded to a display ad, one of the small, so-called “band-aid” shaped ads. Compared to the other ads of the same size, ours was clean, with one photo each of kenjutsu and aikijutsu, the street address and web URL, and a lot of white space. I had been told by the Verizon sales rep that I could expect a 49% increase in contacts by switching from a column listing to a display ad. Instead, the ad produced fewer contacts and enrollments, and that at a cost of $150 per month (which was an incentive rate).
This past year, we tweaked the ad to include a description of the location (just off an exit from one of the Interstates that form a beltway of sorts around Harrisburg) rather than just the street address. The post office under which the dojo falls might lead prospective students to believe the dojo is in an out of the way location, which certainly isn’t the case, so I figured describing the location might preclude that assumption. (Of course, I’m continually amazed by the number of people who think having to drive more than 10 minutes to get to the dojo is an unreasonable expectation — I’d be thrilled just to have my instructors live in the same state...)
In any case, the current ad costs $190 per month (since the incentive rate expired) and produced even fewer contacts and enrollments than the year before.
Next year, I’m going back to just a column listing.
Another interesting trend has been the rate at which contacts through the Internet have increased in each of the past four years. This past year, we received more than half as many contacts through our web site as through the Yellow Pages, and the conversion rate of contacts to enrollments has been consistently higher with the folks who use the web. Considering hosting for our web site costs about $15 per month — and could be had for less — I’m convinced web-based advertising will completely supplant printed phone directories in fairly short order.
What have been your experiences?