Branding Through Yelp

Do you feel that your product is the best?

Do you think that your service is unmatched?

If you at least meet one of these two criteria, then I think that you are a prime candidate to improve your branding through Yelp. We all know that reviews are a big part of Yelp, but if you meet one of the two mentioned criteria above, then that should be taken care of and will only help with your branding efforts. If you are a local business, then this is doubly important. There are other things that you might not have thought of that could help your branding as well.

I know that there are people out there that think of Yelp as a customer service channel, and not necessarily the place for branding, but there are other reasons that it could be beneficial. It goes without saying, but before you can take advantage of the branding benefits of Yelp, you need to make sure that all your ducks are in order. If that is taken care of, then you can start using Yelp to brand your business.

Photos

The people who are visiting Yelp are big on pictures. They love pictures so much that profiles with photos get 2.5 times the amount of time spent on their page. The more extended the amount of time that people are there, the more opportunity that you will have to get them to come into your business.

One thing that many businesses struggle with is the ability to get high-quality photos for their brand. It could happen for any number of reasons, but the result is that the company is left without good pictures to promote their business. This is one place where Yelp can help your business out. You can have your customers do the high-quality picture taking for you. If you have a restaurant, then they can place your dishes front-and-center.

Keep in mind that this is something that you actively have to manage. Let's face it, not every picture is going to paint your business in the best light. If you are there to manage it, then you can see some benefits for your brand.

Promotions

If you are a business that has something that is a truly unique experience for your business, then promotions might just be your Yelp branding tool of choice. Promotions or check-in offers work well because they are an excellent way to get customers to walk-in to your business. This is where some companies shine.

If you have a great staff, a Yelp promotion can get the business there, and your team can get them to come back. They might even tell someone they know that might also like what you have to offer. Utilizing a promotion tactic in this manner can help increase your brand's exposure over time. You already have customers that are looking for what you offer. Why not give them a little extra incentive to choose you over the competition.

If you are a rockstar with your Yelp page, then you can do some cross-promotion. You can use what you are doing on Yelp and promote it elsewhere. Think about it this way. If you get a 5-star review that mentions your promotion or you get some high-quality photos, wouldn't you want to share them on your other channels? If you have what it takes, then you can let your customers speak for your brand and enhance your word of mouth.

Curate Your Brands Organic Page

One of the places where you have the most control over your brand presence is when people organically search for your brand i.e., when someone types your brand name into a search engine. If your SEO is on point, then your website will hold the number one position, but depending on your industry, Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. can hold the positions immediately under that. It is for this reason that you want to build your brand on Yelp. They have a high domain authority (importance), meaning that they will typically show up higher in the search results page. Curating and maintaining this channel can also aid in your brand-building efforts. 

91% of people read up on reviews before heading to a business. This means that working on your Yelp page for branding purposes can only help your business.

Did I mention that Yelp is also Free? Other than the time that you invest in managing it, it is 100 percent, completely free. It is hard to get the benefits mentioned above at a low cost, let alone for free. Go and look at prices for a professional photographer and tell me that Yelp doesn't sound like a better and better option for your business.

Keep in mind that completeness matters. Wherever there is a place for you to put content about your business, you should take advantage of it. More complete listings get more exposure. So what are you waiting for?