This executive briefing on how organizations can best leverage the Yelp social media platform was prepared by Kimberly M. Jasper while an MBA student in the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana.
Overview
People love to post pictures of their meals after dining out at restaurants. A person’s Facebook and Instagram friends may not care about what they ordered for dinner; however, Yelp does. The social media platform cares about what the customer ate for dinner as well as their entire dining experience. Every review of a restaurant, hotel, or mechanic helps others in the same vicinity decide whether or not they will be spending their money and time at a local business. The reviews also help local businesses get the feedback they need to enhance their operations. Yelp is the answer to people and local businesses connecting through a social media outlet.
The Platform in Brief
Yelp is a social media platform that “focuses on reviewing businesses and sharing information about them” (Fuller, 2009). Members of Yelp are able to write reviews about local businesses that anyone browsing the site can read. The reviews include an overall rating on the user’s experience (1 to 5 stars) and a comment with unlimited characters (Yelp, 2015). Anyone can rate a review as useful, funny or cool, but only members of Yelp can send a complement, send a message to a reviewer, or share the review. Users can also check-in which allows their friends to know when they are at a specific business. Yelp has a blog portion where Yelp employees post interesting articles. Local businesses are able to buy advertisements to promote their business and provide deals and gift certificates through Yelp. Also, local businesses are able to message reviewers (Yelp, 2015.).
Yelp was founded in 2004 by Jeremy Stoppelman, the current chief executive officer, and Russel Simmons. Yelp is a multinational corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California (“Yelp-Wikipedia,” n.d.). The corporation went public in March of 2012, and currently trades for about 53 dollars a share (“Yelp, Inc.,” 2015). Yelp has about 2,000 employees (“Yelp-Wikipedia,” n.d.). The majority of the company’s revenues are from selling ads to local businesses. They are labeled “Yelp Ads” and are displayed around the site (Yelp, 2015).
According to Alexa.com, Yelp’s demographics breakdown shows that more women populate the social media platform than men. Also when it comes to the education of Yelp users, users with college experience and college students are more represented on the site than graduate students and users with no college experience (“Yelp.com,” n.d.).
The Platform in Operation
Yelp users have the ability to create business listings so that they can leave a review for a local business that does not currently have a listing. These listings cannot be removed from Yelp, but businesses have the option to “claim the listing and manage it in some ways” (Briere, n.d.). Businesses are able to add pictures, their hours of operation, and receive alerts when users post reviews (Briere, n.d.).
An example of a business that has taken advantage of Yelp is A-1 Discount Pharmacy in Hammond, Louisiana. The pharmacy does not currently have any reviews which says they created their own Yelp account to gain more customers. A-1 Discount Pharmacy has posted their hours as well as some information on their specialties and their history. The local Hammond restaurant the Yellow Bird Café has plenty of reviews, but does not claim their listing (Yelp, 2015.). If the restaurant did claim their listing, they would be able to interact with their reviewers and offer deals to attract more customers. Even though A-1 Discount Pharmacy has claimed their business listings, the business along with the Yellow Bird Café are not taking full advantage of Yelp. Local businesses need to focus their social media presence on Yelp in order to help them improve their business.
Once a local business claims their business listing, it is important they read the profiles of their local competitors. This helps local businesses discover what sets them apart from their competition (Casel, 2012). Local businesses should make sure their profile is as engaging as possible by adding operation hours, editing the business’s history, and uploading photos. These photos should be professionally done and show what a person will see as their driving by the business (Casel, 2012). Having an attractive Yelp profile urges customers to come to the business. As Yelp users start leaving reviews, it is essential that local business owners “recognize the value of the customer reviews” and “respond to the reviews” (Casel, 2012). Whether the review is positive or negative, the reviewers should be thanked for coming to the local business and taking the time to leave a review. All of these steps ensure local businesses are reaping the benefits of Yelp.
The Platform’s Pros and Cons
There are many pros for local businesses to use Yelp. The first one is the amount of traffic Yelp accumulates (Arce, 2013). The social media platform “had an average of approximately 139 million monthly unique visitors in Q3 of 2014” (Yelp, 2015.). Other pros include: trustworthy reviews, easy way for customers to reach local businesses, and the social media presence it gives local businesses.
One con for local businesses using Yelp is the filtered reviews (Arce, 2013). Not all reviews written for a business are shown. Yelp has a system that filters out reviews that are deemed to not be helpful for users (Yelp, 2015). However, some of the reviews filtered are good reviews that browsers of the listing do not get to see displayed. Another con for businesses is that anyone with a Yelp account can leave a review on a business’s account. The competition could even leave negative reviews under a listing. The last con for businesses using Yelp is the pressure to purchase expensive ads. These advertisement costs vary from 300 dollars a month to 1,100 dollars a month. Also, businesses have to sign a 12 month commitment contract (Agrawal, 2012).
One pro for users using Yelp is accessibility. Yelp’s mobile app makes it easy for anyone with a phone or tablet to get information. Other pros of Yelp members using the social media platform are easy use, the enjoyment of reading and writing reviews, and the useful information (Arce, 2013). Filtered reviews can also be considered a con for Yelp users. Users get upset when they realize their review was filtered out.
Analysis
Overall, Yelp is a great social media platform for both local businesses and users. There may be some cons to using Yelp, but the amount of pros outweigh them. Yelp will continue to grow because it has a clear purpose: “To connect people with great local businesses” (Yelp, 2015). The social media platform has not strayed from this purpose in its years of existence. As long as Yelp continues to remain easy to use and continues to perfect its review filtering system, it will continue to be the go-to social media platform to read and write local business reviews. Consumers will start expecting businesses to have a presence on Yelp which will push many businesses to invest in the Yelp Ads. This creates more revenue for Yelp and more business for local companies.
References
Arce, M. (2013, May 6). Pros and Cons to Having Your Business on Yelp [Web log post].
Retrieved from http://loudrumor.com/blog/pros-and-cons-to-having-your-business-on-yelp/.
Agrawal, R. (2012, February 6). Yelp advertising is a rip-off for small advertisers. Retrieved
from http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/06/yelp-advertising-is-a-rip-off-for-small-advertisers/.
Briere, L. (n.d.). How Can I Remove My Business From Yelp? Retrieved from
http://vision-advertising.com/can-remove-business-yelp/.
Casel, B. (2012, August 15). 7 Ways to Use Yelp to Improve Your Local Business. Retrieved
from http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/yelp/.
Yelp.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/yelp.com.
Fuller, J. (2009, July 20). How Yelp Works -. Retrieved from
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking/networks/yelp.htm.
Yelp. (n.d.). About Yelp. Retrieved from http://www.yelp.com.
Yelp. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelp.
Yelp, Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=YELP.
People love to post pictures of their meals after dining out at restaurants. A person’s Facebook and Instagram friends may not care about what they ordered for dinner; however, Yelp does. The social media platform cares about what the customer ate for dinner as well as their entire dining experience. Every review of a restaurant, hotel, or mechanic helps others in the same vicinity decide whether or not they will be spending their money and time at a local business. The reviews also help local businesses get the feedback they need to enhance their operations. Yelp is the answer to people and local businesses connecting through a social media outlet.
The Platform in Brief
Yelp is a social media platform that “focuses on reviewing businesses and sharing information about them” (Fuller, 2009). Members of Yelp are able to write reviews about local businesses that anyone browsing the site can read. The reviews include an overall rating on the user’s experience (1 to 5 stars) and a comment with unlimited characters (Yelp, 2015). Anyone can rate a review as useful, funny or cool, but only members of Yelp can send a complement, send a message to a reviewer, or share the review. Users can also check-in which allows their friends to know when they are at a specific business. Yelp has a blog portion where Yelp employees post interesting articles. Local businesses are able to buy advertisements to promote their business and provide deals and gift certificates through Yelp. Also, local businesses are able to message reviewers (Yelp, 2015.).
Yelp was founded in 2004 by Jeremy Stoppelman, the current chief executive officer, and Russel Simmons. Yelp is a multinational corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California (“Yelp-Wikipedia,” n.d.). The corporation went public in March of 2012, and currently trades for about 53 dollars a share (“Yelp, Inc.,” 2015). Yelp has about 2,000 employees (“Yelp-Wikipedia,” n.d.). The majority of the company’s revenues are from selling ads to local businesses. They are labeled “Yelp Ads” and are displayed around the site (Yelp, 2015).
According to Alexa.com, Yelp’s demographics breakdown shows that more women populate the social media platform than men. Also when it comes to the education of Yelp users, users with college experience and college students are more represented on the site than graduate students and users with no college experience (“Yelp.com,” n.d.).
The Platform in Operation
Yelp users have the ability to create business listings so that they can leave a review for a local business that does not currently have a listing. These listings cannot be removed from Yelp, but businesses have the option to “claim the listing and manage it in some ways” (Briere, n.d.). Businesses are able to add pictures, their hours of operation, and receive alerts when users post reviews (Briere, n.d.).
An example of a business that has taken advantage of Yelp is A-1 Discount Pharmacy in Hammond, Louisiana. The pharmacy does not currently have any reviews which says they created their own Yelp account to gain more customers. A-1 Discount Pharmacy has posted their hours as well as some information on their specialties and their history. The local Hammond restaurant the Yellow Bird Café has plenty of reviews, but does not claim their listing (Yelp, 2015.). If the restaurant did claim their listing, they would be able to interact with their reviewers and offer deals to attract more customers. Even though A-1 Discount Pharmacy has claimed their business listings, the business along with the Yellow Bird Café are not taking full advantage of Yelp. Local businesses need to focus their social media presence on Yelp in order to help them improve their business.
Once a local business claims their business listing, it is important they read the profiles of their local competitors. This helps local businesses discover what sets them apart from their competition (Casel, 2012). Local businesses should make sure their profile is as engaging as possible by adding operation hours, editing the business’s history, and uploading photos. These photos should be professionally done and show what a person will see as their driving by the business (Casel, 2012). Having an attractive Yelp profile urges customers to come to the business. As Yelp users start leaving reviews, it is essential that local business owners “recognize the value of the customer reviews” and “respond to the reviews” (Casel, 2012). Whether the review is positive or negative, the reviewers should be thanked for coming to the local business and taking the time to leave a review. All of these steps ensure local businesses are reaping the benefits of Yelp.
The Platform’s Pros and Cons
There are many pros for local businesses to use Yelp. The first one is the amount of traffic Yelp accumulates (Arce, 2013). The social media platform “had an average of approximately 139 million monthly unique visitors in Q3 of 2014” (Yelp, 2015.). Other pros include: trustworthy reviews, easy way for customers to reach local businesses, and the social media presence it gives local businesses.
One con for local businesses using Yelp is the filtered reviews (Arce, 2013). Not all reviews written for a business are shown. Yelp has a system that filters out reviews that are deemed to not be helpful for users (Yelp, 2015). However, some of the reviews filtered are good reviews that browsers of the listing do not get to see displayed. Another con for businesses is that anyone with a Yelp account can leave a review on a business’s account. The competition could even leave negative reviews under a listing. The last con for businesses using Yelp is the pressure to purchase expensive ads. These advertisement costs vary from 300 dollars a month to 1,100 dollars a month. Also, businesses have to sign a 12 month commitment contract (Agrawal, 2012).
One pro for users using Yelp is accessibility. Yelp’s mobile app makes it easy for anyone with a phone or tablet to get information. Other pros of Yelp members using the social media platform are easy use, the enjoyment of reading and writing reviews, and the useful information (Arce, 2013). Filtered reviews can also be considered a con for Yelp users. Users get upset when they realize their review was filtered out.
Analysis
Overall, Yelp is a great social media platform for both local businesses and users. There may be some cons to using Yelp, but the amount of pros outweigh them. Yelp will continue to grow because it has a clear purpose: “To connect people with great local businesses” (Yelp, 2015). The social media platform has not strayed from this purpose in its years of existence. As long as Yelp continues to remain easy to use and continues to perfect its review filtering system, it will continue to be the go-to social media platform to read and write local business reviews. Consumers will start expecting businesses to have a presence on Yelp which will push many businesses to invest in the Yelp Ads. This creates more revenue for Yelp and more business for local companies.
References
Arce, M. (2013, May 6). Pros and Cons to Having Your Business on Yelp [Web log post].
Retrieved from http://loudrumor.com/blog/pros-and-cons-to-having-your-business-on-yelp/.
Agrawal, R. (2012, February 6). Yelp advertising is a rip-off for small advertisers. Retrieved
from http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/06/yelp-advertising-is-a-rip-off-for-small-advertisers/.
Briere, L. (n.d.). How Can I Remove My Business From Yelp? Retrieved from
http://vision-advertising.com/can-remove-business-yelp/.
Casel, B. (2012, August 15). 7 Ways to Use Yelp to Improve Your Local Business. Retrieved
from http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/yelp/.
Yelp.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/yelp.com.
Fuller, J. (2009, July 20). How Yelp Works -. Retrieved from
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking/networks/yelp.htm.
Yelp. (n.d.). About Yelp. Retrieved from http://www.yelp.com.
Yelp. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelp.
Yelp, Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=YELP.
Contact Information
To contact the author of this article, “What You Need to Know About Yelp: An Executive Roadmap for Social Media Success,” please email the author at [email protected].
About the Student Publication Program
The mission of the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University is to provide educational experiences for personal, professional and intellectual growth, enable the creation and sharing of knowledge to enhance learning and to advance the practice of business, and engage communities through service to positively impact their future. The Accounting and Business programs in the College of Business are accredited by the AACSB International.
RSS Feed