Attorney Marketing: Why the Yellow Pages Suck

Yes, They Suck!

It’s serious if the Wall St. Journal says so…

What do dinosaurs and the Yellow Pages have in common? Dinosaurs have been extinct for many years and?it is widely predicted that the Yellow Pages are following in the dinosaur extinction footsteps.

Numerous articles and blogs (including the Wall Street Journal) said that the Yellow Pages ?suck? and encouraged businesses to find a better way to spend their advertising dollars.

As a result, successful attorney marketing tactics have switched Yellow Page ads for?Inbound Marketing techniques.

Inbound Marketing vs. Yellow Page Ads

? Yellow Pages are a form of outbound or traditional marketing. Traditional marketing focuses on print ads of all kinds including newspaper ads, billboards and Yellow Page ads. It puts out the marketing message to a mass market whether or not the folks exposed to the ads are interested. One writer has compared it to finding a needle in a haystack.

? Inbound Marketing is a method of attorney marketing that reaches people who are actually interested in what you do. It includes social tools like Facebook and Twitter. It includes practice areas and blog posts you have on your website. It includes offers you make on landing pages, free reports and even videos.

The goal of Inbound Marketing is to pull in Clients because you have provided them relevant information and educated them on the topic of their interest. Potential clients respond to you and feel confident based on the competence they find in the material you have provided them.

Why Dollars Spent on the Yellow Pages are Now Wasted Dollars

In the words of one marketing expert, the Yellow Pages are as ?dead as Elvis.? Paying money to advertise in Yellow Pages is akin to flushing the money down the toilet.

Consumers of today begin their search for answers online. They do not look in the Yellow Pages. In fact, many do not even have access to the Yellow Pages.

Benefits of Inbound Marketing

Since 2006, studies have shown that Inbound Marketing provides you the greatest return on your investment (ROI) over any outbound marketing technique.

When you attract Visitors to your website and they find valuable and relevant information there, they are likely to become Clients.

Your Content is designed to target a specific audience who is searching for the information you are providing. For example, if you are a personal injury attorney in a specific location, people who have had an accident or suffered damages due to negligence will find you by finding relevant information on your page.

Also:

• You can change the content at any time.
• You can get constant feedback from visitors to your website and adjust your content to better meet the needs of your visitors.
• Your webpage should have a call-to-action which gives visitors an opportunity to get more information or contact you for evaluation of their case.
• Your attorney marketing message can be personalized to meet the needs of the specific types of clients you want to cultivate.
• Inbound marketing?allows you to publish ?the right content in the right place at the right time.?

While “finding a needle in a haystack” is incredibly difficult, you shouldn’t abandon all hope on traditional marketing. It is best used on a case-by-case basis in tandem with Inbound Marketing tactics.

For more information about the benefits of Inbound Marketing, download our free ebook,

Marketing Matters Inbound is an inbound marketing firm specializing in online conversions, content strategy, call-to-action mapping and traditional media placement. Our experience in B2B digital marketing and traditional media allows us to deliver results through a strategic media mix. We believe in aligning and merging marketing and sales/operations for optimal return on your marketing investment.