Whether in print or, increasingly, on the Internet, directories provide a mine of information that is specific either to geographical areas or to sectors such as beauty, engineering, banking. General directories such as Thomson Local, The Phone Book from BT and Yell are delivered to every household and business. More niche directories are produced for service industries.
Judith Mellor, marketing manager of directory publishers Trades Exhibitions, says, “Directories allow your products to be marketed to people sourcing goods/services, so you would reach a wider audience than you might through your own marketing. They should be a central part of an SME’s marketing strategy.”
Even B2C directories have a B2B spin, in that a company wanting to buy flowers, for example, might use a B2C directory to find a florist. In essence, consumer versions are mass market, whilst trade directories appeal to a more targeted audience.
Print and online advertising fulfil different functions. Kendall Gordon, marketing & strategic development director for Thomson Directories, comments, “Companies need to understand their audience. If a software company is looking to attract new customers, it should consider search engine marketing. But for a company making ride-on lawn mowers with a target market of smallholdings or SMEs, a local print directory might be suitable.” For niche products such as a copper wire manufacturer, a specialist like industrial engine Kellysearch would fit the bill.
Looks good on paper
Budget also plays a large (or small) part. A classified ad will promote a business to those who do not know it; an A-Z business listing is useful for finding a business when the user knows the name. It might benefit some businesses to appear in two classifications, for example a restaurant with a catering service.
Options in most directories range from a bold print entry to a double page spread (DPS) advertisement. Yell has recently introduced spine advertising, branded fillers (name, logo and website) between ads in the classification index, and DPS. Yell customers may also buy priority listings on its directory enquiries service, 118-24-7. Yell spokesman, Jon Salmon, says, “Customers can pay for a priority presence at the call centre, with additional content such as opening times, car park facility, disabled access.”
Greater choice online
Online entries are controlled by the ability to buy keywords, which ensures priority in targeted sectors on the directory website, eg. enhanced listing on yell.com or Business Finder on ThomsonLocal.com. In addition, Business Finder Diamond Advertiser offers priority listing on the Thomson site and across its partner network that includes Wanadoo and Ask Jeeves.
Thomson’s WebFinder Fixed Fee package guarantees 200 visitors to a company’s website for £150 and businesses pay only when someone visits their website. The service is managed by Thomson Directories and is aimed at companies that are new to Internet marketing.
More flexible, is WebFinder Variable Price, which gives businesses control and the chance to bid for keywords they think potential customers will use to find their products or services.
Alternatively, there are specialist agencies such as TMP and DAA that handle directory advertising and general agencies also manage this activity.
Yell, BT and Thomson view online and print as complementary. Marc Tonnon, head of marketing and production for BT Phone Book, comments, “We do not think online will replace print. Radio didn’t kill newspaper and TV didn’t kill radio.”
He points out there are still ‘significant’ advantages to print: “You can see more information on a double page spread, which appears on several screens online. You can mark up a phone book but not a webpage and print is transportable.”
The number of advertising options is also greater: a DPS does not work online, for example; and research in print can also be quicker.
Websites allow searches using multiple criteria, daily updates of information and advertisements, and give live access to the database.
Specialist directories
Industrial directories are a different matter, not least because they contain enormous amounts of specialist information that could send print directories into numerous volumes. Kelly’s, published by RBI Search, is a business manufacturing directory and appears in a small print version.
“Kelly’s is a database and economics dictate we cannot publish it in hard copy,” says managing director Jerry Gosney, who uses search engines as a way of making kellysearch.com attractive via specific words. “Type semi-submersible pumps into Google and it comes to us,” Gosney continues.
There are no hard and fast rules about choosing a directory and how a company advertises in it. Directories are well distributed and designed to be referred to regularly, daily in some cases. Understand your audience and target it carefully and you will achieve excellent exposure in directories.
Directories versus other media
Compared to most media, directories are well targeted and people use them when they need them. Says Jerry Gosney of RBI Search: “Someone goes to a directory site researching a decision to buy or looking for certain types of product – these sites are strong places to advertise because it puts the advertisement in front of an audience at a critical time.” Someone may see a product advertised in a magazine and be interested, but probably do not need it at that moment. When they do need it, they may not be able to find the magazine. Says BT’s Marc Tonnon: “The benefit of directories for SMEs are their ubiquity and permanence. They are available 365 days a year, which is not true of most types of advertising. And like a dictionary, everyone knows where their directory is.” High praise, indeed.
