Blog

Jul 18

Why Yellow Pages and Yelp are Key to Your SMB’s Digital Marketing Strategy

Phone books. Remember them? The Google of yesteryear. Today most people search online, on mobile! It’s easier, faster and more convenient.

But before you think the phone book is dead, think again. Although dust may be gathering on your large yellow book, online business directories are shaping the way we connect with businesses. Directories such as The Yellow Pages (YP) or Yelp provide us with a comprehensive listing for our local search needs when and where we need them – together with peer reviews, maps and links.

If you need a florist in Florida or a driver in Detroit, they instantly give you the right information, at the right time, from the right people. And it seems that the right people are making all the difference. The customer reviews on Yelp or Yellow Pages validate your SMB and are the reason so many consumers are consulting these directories before buying. We want to know if the desserts are poor or if the masseuse works miracles- and Google doesn’t really tell us this but online directories do!

Yelp, Yellow Pages, Online Directory, Online Marketing, VIddyad, Make a video ad

Yelp attracts approximately 103 million users each month. In 2012, there were nearly 100 million calls made to local businesses via the YP app. That’s not surprising given the findings from the Fleishman-Hillard 2012 Digital Consumer Index, that 89% of consumers use the internet to make their buying decisions.

So point proven. If you are a SME, you simply can’t afford not to be on these online directories. You can list your business for free on sites like these and add important information such as opening hours and contact details. This gives you a generic listing and apart from stellar reviews (which are important but hard to get) leaves little scope for your business to stand out.

That’s why both the Yellow Pages and Yelp offer profile enhancement solutions such as photo slideshows, coupons, and best of all video to help make your business stand out from the crowd and get noticed. Yelp also offers a call to action (CTA) button to drive customers to the action you value the most.

The success of GroupOn and other coupon sites mean businesses are keen to use the coupon feature but power of video advertising isn’t being harnessed fully. Many SMB’s still have the idea that a professional video ad is out of reach for their small marketing budget. But there are plenty of options available to your business to create a professional video ad with a small budget such as:

– Buying equipment: There are a variety of semi professional video production tools in the market at the moment, and for some businesses with experience in video creation this option may be feasible.

– Use an online video ad creation platform: Cloud based platforms, such as Viddyad, allow users with zero knowledge of video production to make a professional ad for their business in minutes. Viddyad has access to millions of stunning rights-cleared videos and images so there’s plenty to choose from. You simply add your text and logo and hey presto! Viddyad creates your video in a matter of seconds. Best of all, it’s completely free to try – you only pay if you want to remove the watermark and download in HD.

At the rate technology is developing and changing, who knows what small businesses will have to do to become visible online in 10 years times. Right now, one thing you can do to assure visibility is to get yourself an enhanced listing on an online directory. Make it easy for clients to find you and to see what you have to offer.

http://viddyad.com/

Related articles