Phone Book Tracking - Can Help Your Business?

For many years businesses have relied on phone book advertising to generate new customers. Similar to a billboard on the side of the road, phone book advertising is known as "shotgun" advertising because the success of your ad campaign is contingent on whether people actually see the posted ads. You put your ads out for public to view, and hope that they get a reasonable response. This response is part of an important marketing equation called "return on investment(ROI)", which is used to determine whether the ad is generating enough business to pay for itself.

So what is the problem with using the "shotgun" advertising strategy? Up until recently, determining whether a particular ad is justifying its own cost is nearly impossible to calculate. With the cost of Yellow Page advertising space higher than it has ever been, knowing which ads are most effective can save thousands of dollar in marketing costs per year.

Until recently, accurately tracking Yellow Page ads was a nearly impossible feat. It could only be done through the polling of customers to find exactly which page of which phone book they actually called from. Then the data that was recovered had to be processed and compared to the cost of individual ads simply to find out if it is worth keeping the ad running.

Once again, technology saves the day..

These days, finding the Return On Investment(ROI) for individual ads is as easy as checking your email. Not only can you get completely accurate figures on which phone book ads are generating business, but you can use this technology for ALL of your marketing campaigns. You can easily track brochures, magazine ads, websites, radio, business cards and More!

How it is done

The answer is simpler than you think. Sophisticated web-based number tracking software recognizes the unique numbers associated with your individual ads. It then computes the vast amount of useful information about the calls and renders it into an easy to read web-based graphical user interface. Armed with this valuable information, you are able to decide which ad campaigns are worth keeping, and which are not raising the proper ROI.

Among other useful features, this revolutionary software can even specify the location of your clients. This is particularly useful in direct mail campaigns. You can also configure the web-based software to email you if any calls are missed.

The bottom line

Times are changing. As some businesses are becoming more streamlined, others are being left behind. Knowing exactly where your advertising dollars are going is an important part of staying competitive in this economy. Lets face it, the advantages of technology are unavoidable, it is your responsibility to your business to stay ahead of the curve.