TimmyHYellow Pages looking Past Print
August 13th 2008 03:10
Continuing the print plunge, Yellow Pages advertising is expected to fall over the next five years by almost 40 percent. Small businesses especially are shifting their marketing dollars to the online environment. Predictions coming out of the US are that no adults will be using the Yellow Pages directory in a given month by the year 2010.
But all hope is not lost for the directories, a report by Borrell says that they have been the most successful publishers in transferring to the Online environment. More than 14 percent of their sales last year came from Online directories, a significant figure considering they have only made the change in the last 3 years.
Most other local media outlets, TV, Radio, Newspapers and Cable, have been struggling to keep up with this growth rate. But the problem for Yellow Pages remains the major online competitors like Google and Yahoo.
According to the Borrell report, the key to digital sales lies in retraining sales forces, "Yellow pages publishers have spent the past three years transforming their massive on-the-ground sales forces into marketing consultants who can meet their customers' demands both in print and online.”
The research suggests that more than 80% of directory sales reps are selling online ads which is more than double that of newspapers. Borrell says that online-only rep numbers will grow by more than 50 percent this year.
But the difficulty will still be in competing with the pure-players of online media. Google and Yahoo control some 57 percent of the market with newspapers taking just a quarter and directories lagging at under 10 percent. But the good news is that Internet spending will double in the next year and that means big dollars for anyone who can steal some market share.
The Internet-only players have surged ahead "because they spend all their time competing, rather than half their time protecting a legacy business line," says Gordon Borrell.
Online video is one of the big winners, it remains the fastest growing ad category and will more than triple earnings this year and could reach over $7 billion by 2013, according to the Borrell report.
Directory publishers are selling video content space for less than $3,500 per year. But exclusive online advertisers are producing videos for less than $500. Borrell believes that mobile technology does hold some promise for smaller businesses but these can’t yet be estimated monetarily. "Our research indicates that while the mobile-device audience is large, the future of advertising on the tiny screen is certainly not here and now," according to the study.
Directories themselves are also investing money in advertising their product, publishers have realised that without a market monopoly they are going to be forced to compete in the marketplace with the like of Google and the big newspapers.
Three of the top 10 directory categories, restaurants, doctors and automotive retailers, are already spending more online than in print Yellow Pages books, according to Borrell.
But all hope is not lost for the directories, a report by Borrell says that they have been the most successful publishers in transferring to the Online environment. More than 14 percent of their sales last year came from Online directories, a significant figure considering they have only made the change in the last 3 years.
Most other local media outlets, TV, Radio, Newspapers and Cable, have been struggling to keep up with this growth rate. But the problem for Yellow Pages remains the major online competitors like Google and Yahoo.
According to the Borrell report, the key to digital sales lies in retraining sales forces, "Yellow pages publishers have spent the past three years transforming their massive on-the-ground sales forces into marketing consultants who can meet their customers' demands both in print and online.”
The research suggests that more than 80% of directory sales reps are selling online ads which is more than double that of newspapers. Borrell says that online-only rep numbers will grow by more than 50 percent this year.
But the difficulty will still be in competing with the pure-players of online media. Google and Yahoo control some 57 percent of the market with newspapers taking just a quarter and directories lagging at under 10 percent. But the good news is that Internet spending will double in the next year and that means big dollars for anyone who can steal some market share.
The Internet-only players have surged ahead "because they spend all their time competing, rather than half their time protecting a legacy business line," says Gordon Borrell.
Online video is one of the big winners, it remains the fastest growing ad category and will more than triple earnings this year and could reach over $7 billion by 2013, according to the Borrell report.
Directory publishers are selling video content space for less than $3,500 per year. But exclusive online advertisers are producing videos for less than $500. Borrell believes that mobile technology does hold some promise for smaller businesses but these can’t yet be estimated monetarily. "Our research indicates that while the mobile-device audience is large, the future of advertising on the tiny screen is certainly not here and now," according to the study.
Directories themselves are also investing money in advertising their product, publishers have realised that without a market monopoly they are going to be forced to compete in the marketplace with the like of Google and the big newspapers.
Three of the top 10 directory categories, restaurants, doctors and automotive retailers, are already spending more online than in print Yellow Pages books, according to Borrell.
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