Does It Pay to Use Yellow Pages to Advertise

wildcat · 06-25-2009, 07:35 PM

Originally Posted by Dave020

I only do two things in the main:
HIPAA
2-Person Small Group (usually spousal)

Dave, does your HIPAA traffic drive your group business, or are you also tailoring your site for small group?

Thanks ... John

Dave020 · 06-25-2009, 07:44 PM

I have the site set up to keep them separate, advertising HIPAA on the individual side and spousal group on the small group side.

Most of my leads come in for one or the other then I look at the situation to see which option would work best, now and down the road.

Most people have not looked at both but have bookmarked my site so I direct them to the other area when appropriate so that they can research the idea.

I get a few underwritten every month, but try not to do too many of those (I don't push it on my site) since underwriting is almost always a big ? if someone is over a certain age.

Franz Kafka · 06-25-2009, 10:42 PM

Thanks, Dave, so much for sharing.

sunkist219 · 06-25-2009, 11:04 PM

I'm not an insurance agent so I don't have a personal experience with Yellow Pages, however, I wrote an article on the Yellow Pages industry and where it's headed. You might find it interesting.

Should Small Businesses Still Advertise in the Yellow Pages? | Imprezzio Marketing Blog - Internet Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

bill3173 · 06-26-2009, 11:18 AM

Originally Posted by DHK

The yellow pages are more profitable if you're selling a commodity - like P&C insurance, auto repair, plumbing services, etc.

This is true. I kept getting calls for Auto insurance from what I thought was an "old ad" and didn't realize the yellow page people still had me under auto in the phone book.

When you make changes with ATT it takes an act of congress to get them implemented. Believe it or not, though, I actually sold a health policy from that tiny ad under auto. I think the guy called me from a payphone.

He dropped the policy and then called me back a year later to re-write. He dropped it again. No harm done, I would definitely keep a yellow page ad for auto.

the mayor · 06-26-2009, 12:32 PM

The "Yellow Pages" has become a generic term, like "Coke" or "Kleenex".
There are alternatives, like local yellow books(some are put out by charities) and The Talking Phone Book....that are much cheaper and end up in the same homes and businesses.

Like others have mentioned here...they are becoming obsolete...but, it does depend on your market. If you do insurance for older people...they probably still use the yellow pages.

And it does establish a "local presence" for people looking for personal P&C lines.Buying ad space in a neighboring town and having a phone number with the local exchange makes a lot of people think you are a local

SalemInsuranceGuy · 06-27-2009, 01:26 AM

I think I'm going to take my Yellow Pages book and see how it holds up to my new Russian Saiga Shotgun with the 20 round drum and slugs.

cbailey · 06-28-2009, 02:57 AM

They don't look at Yellow pages anymore. More and more people are online now. I found this cool tool thats gets any business and including Insurance Companies massive exposure.

xrac · 06-28-2009, 07:47 AM

Originally Posted by SalemInsuranceGuy

I think I'm going to take my Yellow Pages book and see how it holds up to my new Russian Saiga Shotgun with the 20 round drum and slugs.

Good idea!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Originally Posted by the mayor

The "Yellow Pages" has become a generic term, like "Coke" or "Kleenex".
There are alternatives, like local yellow books(some are put out by charities) and The Talking Phone Book....that are much cheaper and end up in the same homes and businesses.

Like others have mentioned here...they are becoming obsolete...but, it does depend on your market. If you do insurance for older people...they probably still use the yellow pages.

And it does establish a "local presence" for people looking for personal P&C lines.Buying ad space in a neighboring town and having a phone number with the local exchange makes a lot of people think you are a local

We have a local Yellow Book put out by an independent. It is incomplete and you cannot find half of what you need in it. When I get this book the first thing I always do is throw it in the trash.

Frank Stastny · 06-28-2009, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by cbailey

They don't look at Yellow pages anymore. More and more people are online now. I found this cool tool thats gets any business and including Insurance Companies massive exposure.

Is there a reason why you are not sharing that with us?

Is this something you are selling?

Or is it because, due to the ammunition shortage, you don't have 9,000 rounds of ammo to shoot us all after you tell us?

FinalExpenseRookie · 06-29-2009, 06:48 PM

Ok, I can clearly see from the responses that a yellowpage ad will not be worth it. Do any of you guys know of a company that can design me a website and do a ppc campaign for my local market? Also, if you were selling health insurance face-to-face, which type of lead do you think will have a higher closing ratio? internet of telemarketed?

SalemInsuranceGuy · 06-30-2009, 01:18 AM

Originally Posted by FinalExpenseRookie

Ok, I can clearly see from the responses that a yellowpage ad will not be worth it. Do any of you guys know of a company that can design me a website and do a ppc campaign for my local market? Also, if you were selling health insurance face-to-face, which type of lead do you think will have a higher closing ratio? internet of telemarketed?

Go to yellowpages.com right now and list your business under their free local ad listing. No cost and will take you about 5 to 10 minutes.

After that I'd probably run a combo of the leads. No one lead system works all the time. I've found a little of each tends to work best. Telemarketed leads seem to work best if acted on immediately. Otherwise they tend to have the life expectancy of a fruit fly. Internet leads can be great. Usually a shopper looking for the best deal. Although they can be hard to reach by phone to set up a face to face. I've also done direct mail leads in the past which seemed to have a longer shelf life.

Rick Liuag · 06-30-2009, 10:58 AM

The problem with the Yellow Pages is the nobody younger than 40 knows what the heck they are or what they are for! LOL.... spend the $$$$ on online advertising and you'll get more mileage

sunkist219 · 07-08-2009, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by SalemInsuranceGuy

Go to yellowpages.com right now and list your business under their free local ad listing. No cost and will take you about 5 to 10 minutes.

After that I'd probably run a combo of the leads. No one lead system works all the time. I've found a little of each tends to work best. Telemarketed leads seem to work best if acted on immediately. Otherwise they tend to have the life expectancy of a fruit fly. Internet leads can be great. Usually a shopper looking for the best deal. Although they can be hard to reach by phone to set up a face to face. I've also done direct mail leads in the past which seemed to have a longer shelf life.

I tried doing that and 3 months later my free listing was still "pending". I'm assuming they don't want to give anything away for free. Did yours actually work??

ltcconnects · 08-12-2009, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by FinalExpenseRookie

Ok, I can clearly see from the responses that a yellowpage ad will not be worth it. Do any of you guys know of a company that can design me a website and do a ppc campaign for my local market?

We use a company that can do exactly this for you, and they have done a great job for us. We have a cost per lead number that needs to be met (or least very close) and they create all the PPC campaigns with keywords, ad copy, etc. to meet that need. We have ads running in Google, Yahoo and Bing. Give them a call or check out their site at web1marketing.com. Very sharp group.

xrac · 08-12-2009, 09:24 PM

Originally Posted by Frank Stastny

Is there a reason why you are not sharing that with us?

Is this something you are selling?

Or is it because, due to the ammunition shortage, you don't have 9,000 rounds of ammo to shoot us all after you tell us?

He is probably not a good enough shot.

VacantHomeIns · 08-13-2009, 08:08 PM

Yellow page advertisements = complete waste of money. May have some value as far as brand recognition goes but other then that, count on 1-2 leads per year.

Alston · 08-13-2009, 09:10 PM

The traditional yellow pages were a big money loser for me. I paid about $1,000 a month a couple of years back and wrote only a handful of cases all year.

Their prices are based on supply and demand and not performance. There are still a lot of people who believe that the yellow pages are still the place to be. This keeps the demand up and the prices up. However, performance is down and will probably stay there.

ltcconnects · 08-18-2009, 12:38 PM

The IYP - Internet Yellow Pages, can be helpful. Most, if not all, allow you to include a free listing. These include Yellowpages.com, superpages.com, yelp.com to name a few.

*STIBROKER@AUSTIN.RR.COM* · 08-18-2009, 01:03 PM

To expensive......

Originally Posted by ltcconnects

The IYP - Internet Yellow Pages, can be helpful. Most, if not all, allow you to include a free listing. These include Yellowpages.com, superpages.com, yelp.com to name a few.