Attracting Locals: How to Master Yelp Marketing - Social Media Explorer
Attracting Locals: How to Master Yelp Marketing
Attracting Locals: How to Master Yelp Marketing
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Have you ever driven past a new restaurant and wondered when it got there? 

You could hope that your potential customers just “drive by your business” or you can give them the tool of discovery: Yelp. 

Yelp marketing, if done correctly, can be an integral part of your plan to attract local customers. 

With an average of 145 million users and 82% of those users intending to make a purchase, Yelp is a goldmine of opportunity. 

If you have no idea how to use this tool, you’re in luck. Keep reading to learn how to use yelp to promote your business in our complete guide. 

Get Started With Yelp Marketing 

Before you become a yelp marketing master, there are a few simple steps you must follow to get started. 

Claim Your Business Page

In order to promote your business on Yelp, you’ll need to claim the page. 

It’s simple and should only take a few minutes, so you can get going. 

Step 1: Use the search function on the Yelp for Business Owners page to find your company.

Step 2: Look for your listing on the drop-down menu that appears. When you find it, click the “Claim this business” button. In the event your business is not listed, click the “Add your business to Yelp” link and complete the form to add your listing.

Step 3: Fill out the form and click continue

Step 4: Click the “call me now” button. 

Yelp uses a phone verification process to authenticate your business. Make sure you are near the phone you listed on the form. Your company phone will be called asking for the four-digit code that appears on the web page. Enter it into the telephone.

Voila! You now have access to your page! Verify that all of your information is correct, add some quality (seriously GOOD QUALITY) photos, include the link to your website and menu, and let’s get started!

Tips for Growth

What’s next now that you’ve set up your business profile?

You can use the following tips to help grow your Yelp presence and ultimately convert visitors into customers.

1. Gain Reviews

90% of respondents who recalled reading online reviews claimed that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, while 86% said buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews. 

Reviews are critical for your business and especially critical for success on Yelp. Remember, this is the point of the platform, so your efforts are dead without reviews. 

The best way to gain Yelp reviews is to provide exceptional service. Customers will want to write about you. 

You can also use Yelp’s tools to serve as a reminder. Request free Yelp signage, show off your official ‘People Love Us On Yelp’ window cling if you’ve earned it, and embed your favorite reviews on your website and social media.

Implement these suggestions into your everyday media and watch the review grow. 

  • Add a Yelp button or badge to your company website
  • Put a link to Yelp in email signatures
  • Place a link to Yelp in your email newsletters

A combination of these tactics should get the momentum going. 

2. Respond to Reviews

Your business’s response to reviews is a very important factor in reputation management and your overall brand perception. 

People will be reading reviews and your responses to them, both good and bad. 

For positive reviews, thank customers for coming in and taking the time to leave a review. 

For negative reviews, you should also thank them for their business and apologize for their experience. Offer to send them a private message, email, or phone call to address their concerns. 

How you handle negative reviews speaks volumes about your brand and can even create a loyal customer. You can also use this feedback to improve your business. 

The bottom line is, your visibility as the owner within the Reviews section will do a lot to set you apart from your competition.

3. Offer Deals and Discounts

Yelp offers a deal called, Yelp Deals. Yelp Deals are prepaid vouchers that offer consumers an attractive discount (e.g., $10 for $20) at your business.

It’s an easy way to give consumers who are already searching for a business like yours an incentive to choose you over the competition. Yelp users can buy your deal or gift certificate directly on your business page via the Yelp website or mobile app.

You can even offer promotions like a “free appetizer for check-in”. Users’ friends on the app can see when they’ve checked into your location, so this expands your reach even more. 

Everyone loves a good deal, so use this feature wisely. 

4. Track Analytics

Measure your progress by analyzing your data. There is no way to manage a process without managing it. 

Yelp offers analytics and insights to help business owners adjust their strategies. 

You can track the amount of traffic your Yelp profile receives and also see how many times your business showed up in search results on Yelp.

You can dig in even deeper by tracking “User Actions”. This gives you an even closer look at how visitors are engaging with your business on Yelp. Actions include behaviors like clicks to your website, mobile check-ins, photos uploaded, etc.

Yelp’s “Revenue Estimate” tool multiplies the customer leads your business receives from Yelp with the average revenue per customer for a business like yours, so you know how well your efforts are performing. 

Use this data, as you would with any data, to make informed decisions. 

5. Utilize Additional Resources

Yelp offers resources, such as the official Yelp for Business Owners section of their site and their official blog, which both offer great tips for success.  

Yelp offers tremendous free resources, but their paid advertising takes it up a level. Purchasing advertising placements on Yelp brings a few interesting benefits, like:

  • Removal of competitors’ ads on your business page
  • Enhanced photo slideshow
  • Video on your profile

These can all help your business stand out in the crowd. 

Crush It!

Now that you have all of the tools you need to be successful, you can go crush your Yelp marketing strategy!

Yelp can be a powerful tool when managed properly, so keep going!

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About the Author

Adam
Adam is an owner at Nanohydr8. He really loves comedy and satire, and the written word in general.

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