When seeking strategies to grow your business, word-of-mouth is often regarded as one of the most powerful marketing tools. But in an increasingly digital world, online reviews often serve in place of in-person word-of-mouth recommendations. So, how can you ensure that your business is popping up when people turn online to search for new business recommendations? One strategy is to utilize Yelp advertising.
How does Yelp work?
A user seeking out reviews and recommendations will open Yelp via its website or app. From there, they can enter search terms to narrow down their results. Usually, business listings are categorized by the type of company. If you have your location services turned on, then Yelp will automatically populate with options in your area. Yelp’s main appeal is the user-generated reviews, which give the businesses a rating. This gives an easy way for users to find quick information on a business to decipher if it is the right fit for what they are looking for.
There is also a social component of Yelp that expands to connect with Facebook or your contact list, which leaves room for users to add their friends and increase their range of influence. If a user has highly-rated reviews, showing that they provide trustworthy information, they could be promoted to Yelp Elite status.
How can Yelp advertising grow your business?
On Yelp, you can start a business account for free, but your competitors will automatically come up when a user searches for your company’s name. To avoid this, you’d have to opt for business page upgrades. These are upgrades you can purchase to improve the look of your Yelp page. The upgrades can restrict your competitors, enhance your image gallery, or promote a call-to-action.
Similar to these business page upgrades, you can also pay to advertise on Yelp with Yelp Ads. This is a paid feature that pushes your business to the top of search results and business listings. If you are familiar with Google Ads or Facebook Ads, this is a similar feature since business owners can increase their ad spend and raise their results and placements. These Yelp Ads will target your ideal customers and ultimately increase your return on investment, but it can be tricky to navigate.
What are some benefits of advertising on Yelp?
Customers can message you directly and purchase in the app or on the website.
- Customers are able to reach out to you and purchase through Yelp. This can help increase the number of leads that you’re getting since they simplify the process for the user. All a customer has to do is message you directly through the app. This is hugely beneficial for local businesses to handle customer outreach easily.
Customers are ready to buy.
- A recent Yelp study shows that 98% of Yelp users make a decision to purchase from one of the companies they found on Yelp, either immediately or at a later time. In other words, the majority of Yelp users are looking to buy, which means by the time they come across your business, they are in the last phase of research and are easily converted into a customer. If your company is at the top of the search results and you have positive reviews, this will likely result in a new customer.
iCatch Yelp experts are ready to help you grow on Yelp
If you are looking to get started on Yelp, but you’re unsure of where to start, reach out to the Yelp professionals at iCatch. As an official Yelp Advertising Partner, and one of the top agency partners in the world, we know exactly what to target in order to maximize your return on investment with Yelp advertising.
Recently, we were ranked in the top 25 marketing agencies by Yelp. What does that say about us? Hundreds of companies are trusting us to manage their Yelp ads.
In other words, we know how to run Yelp ads effectively. If you’re ready to revamp your Yelp strategy, reach out to us! Click here to schedule a FREE consultation call with us!
