Is it time to cut back on phone book advertising for your veterinary clinic?

Yes. And here’s why…

In the United States during 2010, there were an estimated 1 billion searches of the phone directory, while there were 8 billion searches for businesses through Google.

If you are looking for new, younger clients, a big, expensive phone directory ad is becoming the buggy whip of veterinary marketing.

I asked my college-aged son the other day when was the last time he had used a phone directory to find a local business and his response was “never.” While this is a single data point, I’m confident that the majority of consumers 30 or younger expect your business be easily located on the internet or they won’t use your services.

My suggestion is to shift some of your marketing budget away from directory advertising (a smaller ad) and invest in pay-per-click online advertising (Google AdWords), search engine optimization (SEO) and on improvements to your website. By doing this you will be providing multiple ways that potential clients to find your veterinary business.