Yelp Audiences Gives Brands an Off-Platform Solution Using Yelp Search Data

Yelp Wednesday introduced Yelp Audiences, a way for national and regional brands to target users of the business directory and crowdsourced review forum off-platform and across the web based on their search activity on Yelp. The company said Yelp Audiences provides an opportunity for advertisers in the consumer packaged goods, direct-to-consumer, location-based and online sectors to reach audiences that have shown an interest in or need for a product or service at all stages of the buying cycle. Advertisers provide the creative assets for their campaigns and Yelp delivers on mobile applications, premium websites and video streaming services via connected TV, based on users’ purchase intent while on the Yelp platform. Pixel integration and first-party reporting fuel the insights and measurement Yelp provides to brands. Yelp said it has been investing heavily in its marketing, multi-location sales and product development teams to support its strategic initiatives and deliver more value to advertisers. The company added as examples of how Yelp Audience can be used: A national coffee chain wants to target Yelp users who have recently searched for coffee or tea as part of its holiday campaign; or a DTC mattress brand wants to target people who have searched for mattress stores in their local markets and offer them free in-home trials while they are browsing other apps or sites. Yelp said its research has found that 90% of people make purchases within one week after visiting its platform, adding in a statement, “Yelp Audiences enables advertisers to execute a more holistic advertising approach through Yelp, allowing clients the option to work directly with one centralized advertising partner that is well-versed in their business and advertising goals.” KitchenAid teamed up with Yelp in May on off-platform ads supporting its “A Woman’s Place” campaign, which was aimed at encouraging people to eat at women-owned restaurants in their local markets. The campaign leveraged Yelp’s data on women-owned businesses to show consumers a map displaying local spots. A study by Kantar, conducted by KitchenAid, found that the campaign resulted in a 12-point lift in agreement that KitchenAid is made for people who love to cook, or a lift five times higher than the industry benchmark for brand attributes. KitchenAid brand communication manager Priyanka Rathore said in a statement, “As a part of our ‘A Woman’s Place’ campaign efforts, it was critical to drive impact by supporting women-owned businesses. We knew that partnering with Yelp Audiences would be a natural fit not only because it has the ability to reach a very specific audience, but also because its mission matched our goal to reach consumers who are already looking to spend with and support local businesses.” Yelp senior vice president and head of go-to-market, national Tom Foran added, “For years, advertisers have wanted to make more meaningful connections with consumers, and Yelp's unmatched data allows us to support that. Yelp’s high-intent audience can uniquely help brands better develop these important and meaningful connections with the right consumers. With Yelp Audiences, we are able to help advertisers reach our engaged, down-funnel audience in a way no other platform can. We’re honored to have partnered with KitchenAid to connect consumers with women-owned businesses and empower small businesses—something that is so inherently important to Yelp.”