Online Marketing and Dentist
Dentist use to spend most of their marketing budget in yellow pages advertisements. A large percentage of them are now allocating a certain percentage to online advertising.
Recently I was in need of a dentist in the Overland Park area, so I began my search. Of course I used the search engines, I refuse to crack open the yellow pages. Truthfully yellow page phone books seem archaic to me. I realize that some people still use them, but I believe that percentage shrinks everyday. After all the yellow-pages are published once a year - how up to date can they be?
After a quick search I found a dentist in the area - that catered to those that have a fear of the dentist and want the “perfect smile.” While I wouldn’t say their website was the most aesthetic pleasing it was informative and gave me enough information to book my appointment.
Long story short, if you are a dentist and you are not advertising online, I wonder how many of your potential patients are going elsewhere. Perhaps it’s time to consider placing some of your budget in online advertising. Consider this over 4000 search queries are preformed for dentist every 90 days - that’s a lot of potential patients..
llake said,
June 12, 2007 @ 4:02 pmAwwww..Ken - you must be a yellow pages sales executive? You didn’t change my mind about the yellow pages and here is why:
When people are at work do you think they get up to go and find the yellow pages to find their local professional?
Can they get the kind of details in the yellow pages that they could get from Google on said professional? Probably not.
While your stats are interesting they still won’t stop me from throwing away the BIG yellow book when it lands on my doorstep. I just don’t use it anymore - and I’d be surprised if there weren’t many more out there just like me 
KenC said,
June 12, 2007 @ 8:13 pmAwwww, llake, I think you missed the point. No, I am not a YP executive. I run an independent business. And I wasn’t expecting to change your mind. You had already made it up. I can’t change anything you don’t want to change or even consider.
Not sure about you but how many times do you need to redo your Google search to get what you want, before its right??? If you’re going to spend 15 minutes screwing around with Internet when you could have found it in less than 5 minutes in the print product, where is the advantage?? And how do you think all that stuff that’s in those print products is going to make it to the net?? Self provisioning from small businesses have been a proven failure. No, its going to come back to someone on a one-on-one basis working with each small business to get that info online. It’s not going to happen magically. And right now, the YP people are the only ones out there in the trenches doing that. Not Google, not Yahoo, not any of the others.
Go ahead and toss your book (be sure to recycle it), but understand when you are knee deep in water from a broken pipe or need to find a new gasket for a Toro trimmer so you can finish your yard work before visitors show up in that afternoon, you’re going to wish you had that book.
That’s not a stat. That’s reality. God bless
Brad said,
June 12, 2007 @ 9:16 pmRefusing to use the phone book. Throwing away your directory. You’re such a rebel
llake said,
June 13, 2007 @ 8:47 amThe point is that as business professionals our advertising must be diversified to reach potential prospects. If you find success in advertising in the yellow pages - fantastic, but if you aren’t advertising online - you are missing a great deal of potential prospects, clients, and customers.
I haven’t used a yellow-page book for nearly 4 years - this doesn’t mean that others haven’t. However, if we believe that there won’t come a day that the yellow pages are obsolete then I’m afraid we are all only denying the inevitable.
Will it be 5 year from now, 10 years, or perhaps 3 - who knows - but there will come a day that the yellow book no longer appears on your doorstep. That’s my opinion and uncensored voice.
Even the companies that run the yellow-page business understand this - that’s why they are delving into search marketing and online marketing themselves… i.e. yellowpages.com
Amber said,
February 3, 2008 @ 5:04 pmKenC may say he is not a YP executive, but you might find it interesting that his website is called YP Talk - The Voice of the Yellow Pages Industry. http://www.yptalk.com/index.cfm. At least if that is the same kenc, which it probably is. Funny that he doesn’t provide a link to it on his comments - maybe he thinks it would discredit his comments that are pro printed directories, which in my opinion it really would since it appears he has some affiliation, even if just as a consultant.
If you do a google search by his name, you will find that he makes similiar comments on anyone’s blog who gripes about printed phone books. (He did it to my little no-name blog, which is what clued me in since I know my only regular readers are friends and family.) Sounds like someone has an agenda FOR printed yellow pages.
I would like to know where his stats are coming from. Almost everyone I know, ages 35 and under, does not use a printed directory. Maybe they are only polling older generations not comfortable with computers or the internet?
Molly said,
February 12, 2008 @ 9:51 amI totally agree. You have to advertise online these days. That’s where the people search. Research backs that up!
Katir said,
March 8, 2008 @ 3:33 amPerhaps, some people have yet to realise that almost everything, if not everything, has gone online. I wonder when some will stop using the archaic phone books, most people throw those away nowadays.
Advertising for Doctors: Is it Really that Important? said,
May 28, 2008 @ 7:26 pm[...] efforts, so wanted to respond.One of the most controversial posts that I have written was regarding yellow page advertising for dentists. In that posts I suggest that dentist being placing some of their marketing budget into advertising [...]
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KenC said,
June 12, 2007 @ 3:55 pmYou should rethink using those print yellow pages. Who does use those books that show up at your doorstep FREE??? US adults referenced them over 15 billion times last year. And that’s just the print versions. 90% of all adults reference them at least once a year, 75% in a typical month, and 50+% on average month. How about on average 1.4X each week? And let’s remember that not everyone has Internet access to reference those websites you are talking about.
There is no other directional media that can provide buyers the information they need when they need it about local businesses than the print Yellow Pages. It is truly the original local search engine….
But if you insist that the Internet is the way to go, who do you think is going to get all that neat stuff that is in those print books on to the Net so your Google search actually yields the results you really want??? It’s going be that same Yellow Pages sales rep also has a complete portfolio of local search and Internet based products that they can help small businesses get on the Net…..