We all remember the thick book with bible pages that came to our homes many years ago. The Yellow Pages book continues to exist and there are still those who pay to have a place in this book despite the fact that its circulation right now has nothing to do with what it was. The company that still produces this book has done a 360º turn, a change of business model, logo and name. They are now known as BeeDIGITAL. The company has become a digital marketing agency aimed at SMEs and freelancers with more than 70,000 clients and has already helped SMEs and entrepreneurs boost their digital image with the creation of more than 140,000 websites and the management of 44,000 Google campaigns. ads.
Javier Castro is the CEO of BeeDIGITAL. Passionate about technology, digital business and leadership, he has developed an extensive international career of more than 30 years in the digital sector and telecommunications. Before joining BeeDIGITAL he was CEO of Terra, a market leader in digital marketing, digital services and carrier billing in LATAM. He previously held various management positions in the Telefónica Group in Spain and now represents the former Yellow Pages in their transformation and that of their clients.
Right now you are in a moment of transformation with a change of name and logo. Does Yellow Pages have a drag on something old?
Yellow Pages is an iconic brand. This has the advantage of being a well-known brand, but has the challenge of becoming a company that is associated with the digital world and that is why we have chosen to evolve the brand. We want to capture the essence of our company, which is to be experts in SMEs and help attract customers, but with a new image and a new name that is BeeDIGITAL: “Be digital”.
What is BeeDIGITAL and how is it related to the Yellow Pages book?
The transformation of our company has been a 360 degree transformation. Some other companies have to change in many aspects with the digital transformation: in the relationship with customers, in processes, in internal digitization… But our transformation has been complete because it has also had to change the product, and the model of business. Not only has the book become a web page, which already happened more than 20 years ago, but the business of position in a book has become a digital marketing company.
BeeDIGITAL is the leader in digital marketing in Spain in the SME sector and we like to say that “we were Google before the internet existed”. The yellow pages are iconic, we have all used them and BeeDIGITAL is the result of the transformation of that product, which had a mission that remains the same: attract more customers and help them generate more business. The knowledge that Páginas Amarillas acquired over 50 years on the SME market now serves us to be the leader in digital marketing with the same mission.
What have been the main challenges of this digital transformation?
There are many challenges. The first was speed, because the needs remain the same, but it was necessary to change from a more traditional model to a fully digital model and it had to be done quickly. Another of the biggest challenges is cultural change, on two levels. That of the clients, who are not prepared for this change, since they are afraid of leaving their comfort zone and the cultural change of the organization and of the employees. The sense of urgency is fundamental there, that everyone thinks that taking the leap is much better than staying where we were. There are the challenges of training the internal team, attracting talent and organizing the company in another way to communicate with the client. There is a need for greater agility in decision-making, less verticality, more communication… the challenges have been innumerable.
What have been the advantages of the change?
In our case, the change has been a little easier because the opportunity was there. There are a million SMEs in our country that need a solution in the digital world and we are here to provide it. On the other hand, there is also a sense of urgency because we see ourselves as a digital company and have a vision of the future.
For us, in addition, the change towards digital implies greater profitability. This does not occur in other sectors such as telecommunications or journalism. For us, digital business is more profitable than traditional. This also happens to our clients; for them, digital marketing is much more profitable than being in the old Yellow Pages.
Are there any disadvantages?
I wouldn’t say there are disadvantages, but there is some discomfort and sometimes a reluctance to change. Many clients find it difficult to get out of their comfort zone as I have said before.
What does BeeDIGITAL now offer to small entrepreneurs?
We help companies to generate more customers, that is the basic idea. The services we offer aim to cover three main needs, which are: first, that they find them, that the information about them on the Internet is homogeneous, and that the information is secure.
We position our clients in 50 sites and the most important sites are Yellow Pages, Google, Facebook, Waze, etc. Typically 50% of our clients’ information does not exist or is incorrect on the internet and they do not know it. The information must be secure, and only the company can handle that information.
Within BeeDIGITAL we offer these services in the form of packages, which makes it easier and more affordable for small businesses. A small business owner doesn’t know if he has to build a website, or have a profile on Facebook or Instagram, or run a campaign on Google. All this that is very easy and manageable for a user is very complex for companies. We offer all these services: search engine positioning, creating a website or creating and boosting their social networks without them having to worry about anything. With a system of scalable packages and monthly subscription. But everything we do is accompanied by a personalized advisory service and its statistics system with all the information available to the client, since what they want are results. This way companies can win new customers, but focused on their business.
When you comment on the positioning, one of the portals that you promote is still Páginas Amarillas, does this still make sense now that we search on Google directly?
Yes, it still makes sense. If you are a large client, you have your own web page, people visit you and you have traffic, but this is not within the reach of a small business owner or a self-employed person in their town. Your chances of appearing on the first page of Google are very slim, almost impossible. Thanks to our service and especially the Yellow Pages website, we make it possible for anyone who searches for “plumber in Alcobendas” to find the plumbers’ Yellow Pages website on the first page of Google. The small freelancer cannot appear on that first page but our website does appear. This means that this businessman is two clicks away from his clients, something that would not otherwise be possible.
Haven’t Yellow Pages remained as something residual in your business transformation?
It is not residual, it is still important. 30% of the traffic that our clients receive is still received through the . The rest of the traffic and more and more is received through other channels. That is why we position in 50 sites. Our own product is still there and it still makes sense for a company profile but we have many more products like an ad campaign on social networks. What we want to achieve is that the user finds what he is looking for, but above all that our businessmen are found. Large companies like Facebook or Google are not our rivals, but are tools that we can use to position our clients, we have a symbiosis system.
What would you say to a self-employed person who resists change, that he is doing well with the residents of the neighborhood?
I would tell you that you don’t know that your neighborhood neighbors and potential customers start 90% of their purchases with an internet search and that 70% of their information is incorrect on the internet. That if it is not on the internet, the neighbors will soon find their competition before they find them. The presence on the Internet is not an option, it is a necessity and you have to have a sense of urgency and make that transformation as soon as possible.
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