Yellow Page Ad Design: Second Opinions That Will Kill You

One of the first things our Yellow Page ad design clients like to do is get other opinions on their newly designed Yellow Page ad before committing it to print. They ask employees, friends, their spouse, and even their current customers. They may even seek the opinion of a marketing specialist. Once, a client told me he asked his 14-year old daughter for her input (She hated it). The logic is, “the more feedback I get, the better!” But you don’t want bystanders to like your Yellow Page ad, you want PROSPECTS to be persuaded by it.

The simple truth is that second opinions have LITTLE to NO VALUE UNLESS that opinion is coming from a member of your target audience at 1) the exact moment they are viewing your ad and 2) are in immediate need of your service. These folks are in a very "particular” state of mind. They need a solution to their problem (at that instant) and they're smack-dab in the middle of a decision-making process. They're trying to determine "who can best solve my problem?"

At that moment in time, a prospects opinion is worth listening to, but not necessarily something to be taken at face value, cause what a person says they would do and what they actually do, are two different things. Remember, tens of thousands of prospective customers said they preferred the taste of New Coke to Coke...but that hardly meant they were willing to buy it when it came out.

So unfortunately, the most valuable opinion isn’t necessarily a conscious opinion at all – it’s the gut level or emotional response that will drive a prospects buyng decision when confronted with your ad. This is a far cry from polling customers and something really only measurable from results of running an actual ad. But don't worry, there's an answer.

Before you pick up a pencil or stroke a single key for your new Yellow Page ad, define your most important prospect and think about what makes that person click. Crawl deep inside their head! What emotional thoughts and words will move this individual and convince them that YOU are the very best business to call. When you're done, (and if you've been successful) your Yellow Page ad should resonate with NO ONE except this particular target individual. Their opinion will be the only one that matters. And they'll happily voice their opinion through phone calls, lots and lots of phone calls right to YOUR phone.

Experienced judgement absorbed from designing and running decades worth of successful Yellow Page ads can save you years worth of trial and error as well as tens of thousands of dollars worth of missed sales. If you hire an experienced expert that truly knows their craft – and you trust their judgement - you can be darn sure that YOUR OPINION of Yellow Page advertising is going to drastically change for the better.

By: John Morana

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Explosive Yellow Pages advertising...Yellow Pages advertising design that works! Call John Morana at 800-726-7006 for expert advice and a FREE no-obligation Yellow Page ad evaluation. Learn how to maximize your Yellow Pages advertising ROI at www.max-effect.com © 2006 MaxEffect Yellow Page Ad Design. All rights reserved.