United Yellow Pages Goes out of Business
Written by admin on December 6th, 2010 4,000 Call Tracking Numbers Deactivated Without Warning
On the week of September 10th 2010, United Yellow Pages went out of business causing 4,000 call tracking numbers to deactivate without warning. Typically, call tracking numbers provide companies with up-to-date information on the number of calls coming into their business as a result of various advertising and marketing campaigns.
The deactivation of this service has left thousands of business owners without the ability to receive incoming calls from current or potential clients. As a result, business owners have not only lost out on advertising dollars already spent, but their current customers could assume they’ve gone out of business now that they can no longer be reached through their Yellow Page call tracking number.
When the situation becomes clear many owners will most likely be upset over why they were not informed, and how it will affect their businesses. The damage done has yet to be established since the majority of those affected still have no idea this service has been deactivated.
The Demise of Print Advertising
Initially, United Yellow Pages had provided call tracking free of charge. However, this service was discontinued because the phone book will no longer be paid and cannot afford the costs. Print advertising has been on the decline since the World Wide Web became popular in the late ‘90s. As consumers build confidence in their navigation skills and online privacy policies, the Internet gains more traffic each day resulting in the demise of many reliable print media, such as United Yellow Pages this fall and The New York Times in 2015.
The Rise of Internet Marketing & Call Tracking
Due to the economy and consumer behavioral changes, business owners have had to figure out new ways to build brand and product awareness, and contain customer retention and sales. Since advertising budgets are tight, marketing dollars are being spent more on campaigns that provide a positive return on their investments.
Such marketing campaigns include updated call tracking software which allows business owners to record and listen to entire phone calls for the purpose of analyzing staff performance, customer service quality, and to identify service gaps. More popular than call tracking services are Internet Marketing Strategy Companies that focus on optimizing web content and design so that companies can be found faster and easier by consumers.
Call tracking helps businesses discover who their customers are, where they are calling from, the time the majority of the calls come in, and which advertising media is performing best. Today, call tracking is available on all types of phone numbers, such as local and long distance, toll-free, and 1-800 numbers.
