Green Marketing in a Yellow Pages World
Posted on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 @ 08:30 AM
What does "green marketing" have to do with the Yellow Pages, and how can you use this green strategy to stay out of the red?
A few days ago, I got a copy of the "Yellow Pages" book dumped unceremoniously on my front porch (not sure by who), despite not having requested it. I don't know about you, but I don't use the Yellow Pages, and haven't now for some time. My fingers aren't doing too much walking, but they surely sprint across the keyboard when I'm on the internet. I'll probably toss it into the recycling bin, just like I have for the past few years.
I think I'm like a lot of people. Want to find some information, whether it's a local merchant's phone number, best place to go out for dinner, or whatever - I search the internet. It's a lot faster, and provides a lot more information, than using other outdated sources. In fact, I find it very hard to believe that media such as Yellow Pages is even cost-effective anymore (think of how much it costs to print it, transport it, recycle it, etc., etc.), compared to the internet.
But I am constantly amazed at how much of industry seems to continue to act like it's still a "Yellow Pages world". It doesn't work that way anymore!
Let's use an example - your company. Think about this:
- Maybe, just maybe, your company has a website. If it does, chances are it doesn't have much content, doesn't say much, has little opportunity to interact with interested parties (except maybe a tired old "contact us" form or worse yet, a phone number), and doesn't get updated often (if ever).
- Does next to nothing to demonstrate why your company is the leader in your industry in an area. Lots of restaurants serve food, and if a basic meal is all you're after, you don't need the best in the area. But if you really want to make an impression, don't you search out the best? Why should your company be any different - don't you want to stand out as the best?
- And worst of all (at least from my perspective), your website - like nearly all corporate websites - says virtually nothing about your company's environmental principles or sustainable practices. Consumers today want green! Are you saying anything about it on your website? Or worse yet, does your site have some stale wording about being a good environmental neighbor?
Come on, we're beyond this. Today's customers are savvy. They likely don't let their fingers do the walking (do you? - I know I don't), but instead do research on the internet. And possibly a lot of research on the internet, including a lot about where you stand, relative to "green issues".
And if you think customers are only motivated by price, well maybe you're right. Today. But tomorrow, this won't be so. With the advent of green building and firmly entrenched public consciousness about all things green, choices will be made based on a company's environmental and sustainability position as much as they will be traditional concepts like service and price.
What about you? Are you living in the Yellow Pages world? Or do you recognize that you had better put out information - a lot of good, solid information - about who you are, what you stand for, and why you are the leader in your market.
I think those that believe in letting their fingers do the walking may be destined to go the way of the Yellow Pages. What does the future hold for you?
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