Maybe it is bad luck to post on Friday the 13th. But here goes anyway on my thought of the day: the decline and fall of the Yellow Pages. Most law firms, particularly ones in consumer oriented practice areas such as personal injury and family, spend an inordinate amount of their marketing dollars on the Yellow Pages. Historically, this has been a smart move. The Yellow Pages has proven to be a vital part of the marketing budget for law firms trying to reach these types of markets. However, it is my firm belief that the times are changing. In my experience, hardly any one under the age of 30 uses the Yellow Pages. Pretty much the only use for that big fat yellow book in this demographic is as a stand for their computer monitor. This age group has grown up online. They live to be connected and they get nearly all their information online. As a result, they use search engines almost exclusively when they are looking for something including a lawyer. As a result, law firms should carefully gauge the demographics of their clients. If your firm does a lot of work for young people … start thinking about increasing your SEO budget. You will reach more clients (and at a lower cost) than you will through the Yellow Pages. Even with older clients, you should start to think seriously about your search budget. The usage of the Yellow Pages has been consistently falling over the past few years while the use of search is incrementally increasing. In addition, the cost of Yellow Pages advertising is exorbitantly expensive given its falling market share. In addition, and in some markets including British Columbia, there are competing versions of the “yellow pages” so you have to spend even more to get full coverage. These trends will continue. Eventually, as the “wired population” gets older and bigger, the demographics of the market place are going to kill off the Yellow Pages. An eventual victory for trees if not for the phone companies.

One caveat on all of this: if you are a criminal lawyer, the Yellow Pages still has some important value … as far as I am aware, the authorities will still let an arrested person make one phone call … I don’t think they permit a Google search … yet.