Yellow Pages Group (YPG), is taking a leap into the social media world, or at least a small dip as they partner with AgendiZe to add Contact Widgets to their site. This free offering will provide Canadian SMB customers using Yellow Pages sites such as YellowPages.ca and Canada411.ca and CanadaPlus.ca service a series of widgets that can be installed on their site or blog. Once installed the widgets will allow site visitors to share business information over several social media site including Facebook, MySpace, Digg, Yahoo! Bookmarks, Gmail, Windows Live, AIM.
“It’s important customers can not only quickly find businesses online, but that they can easily contact them in real life or quickly tell their friends about them — in other words, take action,” said Jean-Pascal Lion, VP Marketing of Yellow Pages Group. “AgendiZe Universal Contact Widgets help local businesses complete the last mile in customer engagement by connecting their website or blog with dozens of different social platforms and mobile devices.”
Contact Widgets are pre-configured and automatically updated to contain each business’ contact and product or service information, and enable consumers to conveniently save and share that information across more than 70 social networking, chat, social bookmarking, address books, desktop, PDA and email services.
I have to admit, I often wonder why in such a web centric world how this big thick book has survived for so long. Perhaps there is something to be said for a small portion of the market place that still wants to grab their trusty yellow pages and find their local hardware store, after all YPG claims to reach 41% of all Canadians so their brand must still be strong.
Dave – to add to your post about social – we have also launched our facebook application, full functional directory within facebook for rating and reviewing – http://apps.facebook.com/yellowpagesca/.
For full disclosure, this is Darby Sieben, Director of Online Services and you are right that YPG’s network, online reached 42.4% in April or 10,162M according to ComScore Media Metrix.
Finally in terms of web centric world, even through I am an online guy, what we know from consumer research is that the majority of people in Canada actually use both mediums and in fact we go well beyond print or internet into voice through our 411 service.
Like the content of your blog … keep up the good work.