Is Yelp advertising worth it? This isn’t an uncommon question for business owners.
Tire and auto service shop owners aren’t immune to the question, either. As an auto shop owner, you’ve likely been called by a Yelp salesperson asking you to try their ads out for your shop’s profile. You’ve likely heard their take on why running ads will help your business, and you’ve probably asked yourself the question, “Is Yelp advertising worth it?”
Even if you think you know the answer, hear us out.
Like It Or Not, Yelp Is Here To Stay
You often hear business owners describe Yelp like it’s a bad ex:
“Yelp won’t stop calling me.”
“I know Yelp talks to the shop down the street about advertising and at the same time, they call me.”
“I spent a ton of money on Yelp, and I’ve got nothing to show for it.”
Like it or not, Yelp remains at the top of the list of review sites used by people needing auto services and has caused many a business to have a love-hate relationship with it. Additionally, business owners sometimes can’t understand Yelp’s mysterious algorithm for allowing some reviews to post to a profile and others to be filtered. They also get flustered at Yelp’s monopoly on making them pay to remove competitors from their page.
If you look into Yelp’s claim that businesses can acquire more customers by running ads, you’ll see that it is mostly true. It’s worked beautifully for a good number of tire & auto service businesses.
So Why Is Yelp Advertising Worth It For Tire & Auto Shops?
Let’s say you want to bring in more tire customers. Yelp customers are a prime marketing target for two reasons:
- They’re past the point of researching tire type and price.
- They’re at the point of purchase.
At the point of purchase, consumers choose a tire shop based on its customer service reputation. Running ads on Yelp means you’re placing your company name in front of these very people.
People research an auto shop’s customer service reputation primarily by asking family and friends for suggestions; then they use independent review sites like Yelp to find shops with the best reputation in their local area (8 out of 10 people do exactly this, according to Nielsen, a premier media research firm). Advertising to people at this point in the game is the quickest way to earn their business!
Yelp is king in collecting reviews that auto shop customers actually read, so it’s the last step of the consumer’s decision-making process. In fact, not having a presence on Yelp means forfeiting the chance to put your name and outstanding customer reviews in front of people who are looking for tire and auto services.
Yelp Is A Practical Choice
If you’re still asking yourself “Is Yelp advertising worth it?” then let’s talk practicality. Here are some winning points about Yelp’s ads set-up.
Yelp’s campaigns are flexible in several ways:
- Depending on the program you’re in, you may be able to turn your Yelp ads on and off.
- You can set a maximum monthly spend to ensure that you don’t overspend.
Making It Happen
So, we’ve laid out how Yelp works and how you can use it to increase car count and make more money. The question is, are you ready to lead the daily users looking for auto services on Yelp to your door? A small 30-day test can be a great way to figure out if Yelp is best for your tire or auto business!
Ready to have a no-obligation conversation with experts about testing Yelp your auto shop? Reach out today!
