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So... I received a package a few days ago. I didn't ask for it; it just arrived on my front doorstep. In fact, I haven't even brought it inside the house yet - it's still sitting on the front porch, safe and secure inside its plastic wrapper. If I'm feeling eco-conscious, it'll get recycled. If not, it's going straight to the garbage bin.
Yup, I got a phone book.
So, the question is,
"Who uses phone books anymore?!?!?!?"And, being the eco-friendly guy I am,
where do they all go?!?William, Rathke, an anthropologist with a Ph.D. from Harvard, claims phone books account for 10-30% of the trash at your local dump. Others have estimated that as many as 60% of all the phone books that get published end up in the landfills.
It's not that hard to believe. What's more disturbing is this: if we assume the average phone books weighs just 3 pounds (and we know around here they're probably bigger than that), then the 615 million that were distributed last year total up to nearly
one million TONS of phone books.
Let's face it. The Internet is staged to completely replace the phone book. Bill Gates himself said "Yellow Pages usage among people, say, below 50, will drop to zero - or near zero - over the next five years."
Once upon a time, I saw someone break it down simply - and for marketers, the message is clear:
Phone books- Pay per category
- Update once a year
- Local / Metro reach
- Pay for larger ads
- Your competitors are listed right next to you
- Not easily trackable
versus
Online Search- Target as many key phrases as you'd like
- Update anytime
- International reach, but easily geo-targeted
- Don't pay for extra ad size - use entire website to convey message
- Differentiates - you're not displayed side-by-side with competitors
- EASILY trackable
So, stop killing trees and sending me the dang things. I'd rather look it up on Google anyway.
That's my two cents. Call NovelProjects if you want the whole nickel.