To Yelp … or Not to Yelp
I have not used Yelp – as a marketer or a consumer. This post shares a recent Boston Globe article entitled Everyone’s a critic: Yelp and other online sites and their cadre of amateurs have sent nervous ripples through the restaurant world. It caught my eye because a business owner I know shared a similar story with me as the restaurant owner in the article.
The author of the Globe article, Ike DeLorenzo, referred to another article written by Kathleen Richards in East Bay Express. I googled her February 18, 2009 article entitled Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0: Local business owners say Yelp offers to hide negative customer reviews of their businesses on its web site … for a price.
So I offer these articles for your due diligence to determine Yelp’s value to your business. Despite the title of Ms. Richards’ article – I found myself understanding that Yelp is a business with creative advertising packages and not necessarily a company walking the extortion line.
Before investing in a “review solution,” I recommend you include the Review App on your Facebook Page – if reviews fuel your business leads. A Gillis Marketing client had a 10-day old Facebook Page with one review … and received a great referral lead. A consumer saw a friend rave about my client’s service and she was in the market. She called.
Venezia Day Spa has eight 5-star reviews on her Facebook Page which include prospects asking reviewers questions about the spa services. This opened a discussion between the potential customer and the owner of Venezia Day Spa. If you are unsure how to add the Review App – please let me know. But try not to miss this valuable tool.
I came by here tonight, because you are now following me on Twitter and I wanted to get to know you a little better. I see you are from the Boston area and that you are also a pilot. Are you involved in what seems to be an “I dare you” for Chris Brogan to skydive?
I have been writing about YELP for about a year. I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something not quite right. Here are links to my posts, maybe you can give me your thoughts:
Is Your Business Listed on YELP?
http://blog.webconsuls.com/2010/04/google-places.html“>Google is Going Places
I am going to investigate the review tool app for Facebook.
Hi Judy – great to meet you! I was on #blogchat and chose to follow you based on your participation – good stuff! Thank you for sharing your blog and your post on Yelp and Google. Let’s continue to share what we learn about these tools. You asked great questions and I liked your response to the “search” comment you received from a reader.
The Facebook Review app is managed by the Facebook business page owner – so it is not the most objective tool. However, if you enjoy recommendations from people you may know, it is a good tool. Plus there isn’t a charge for it (yet, right?). As a consumer – I have enjoyed the reviews I have read on Facebook Pages. People are not as anonymous, so the reviews tend to be more valuable to me – even with the “censoring” by the business page owner.
And regarding Chris Brogan skydiving – as a pilot, I generally recommend my passengers stay IN the plane for the entire journey