The importance of peer-based reviews, specifically Yelp.com

1. Social Matters.
why peer-based review sites are important
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2. “Marketing is dead.”
--Harvard Business Review, August 2012
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/08/marketing_is_dead.html
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3. Smarter.
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4. Savvy.
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5. Wednesday, September 12, 12

6. Corporations.
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7. Experts.
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8. Wednesday, September 12, 12

9. Friends.
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14. Yelp. The Numbers
★ 78 million active monthly users
★ 67% growth in 2Q 2012
★ $135 million in projected revenue
★ 90 international markets
★ Thousands of US cities
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/technology/yelp-revenue-up-67-for-second-quarter.html
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15. Yelp + ?? = $$
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16. (not real economists, they’re just drawings...)
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17. The Study
★3,953 san francisco restaurants
★3 months
★2 data sets
★ ratings
★ reservations
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18. How It Works
★ users rate business in whole stars
★Yelp compiles reviews and assigns an
aggregate, ex: 3.24
★ ratings are rounded & displayed in half-stars
★ ratings are color coded
★ from exciting red to this gross orange
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19. Yelp Star Translated
★ = only because there is no zero stars
★ ★ = pretty terrible
★ ★ ★ = just ok
★ ★ ★ ★ = definitely worth a return trip
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ = YOU HAVE TO COME HERE!!
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20. The Study
★3,953 san francisco restaurants
★3 months
★2 data sets
★ ratings
★ reservations
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21. (crunching numbers...)
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22. Ratings vs. Bookings
★ ★ ★ = 10% booked
★★★ = 30 % booked
★ ★ ★ ★ = 55% booked
★★★★ = 80% booked
*based on peaktime (7pm) reservations available, 36 hours in advance.
business with < ★★★ = ~2.5% booked
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23. Displayed Ratings
3.8
3.7
3.6
3.5 Al's Hotel ★★★
Alice's Hotel ★★★
3.76
3.4 3.74 Bob's Hotel ★★★
Barbra's Hotel ★ ★ ★★
3.3
3.2 3.26
3.24
3.1
Average Yelp Ratings
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24. The Magic Number?
3.77 ★s
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25. Other Fun Stuff
★ less total reviews = stars are more important
★ online booking = more reviews (452 vs 168 on
average)
★ this study was completed in 2011
★ Yelp's market penetration is greater today
★ Medford & The Rogue Valley has an active Yelp
community.
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26. What Now?
★ monitor your online presence
★ encourage guests to leave reviews
★ embrace it as a platform for enagement
★ accept that this is the future
★ READ & LEARN.
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27. Questions?
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28. Disclaimer:
This was just an overview. The actual study is incredibly comprehensive and written by
two people, much smarter than me, who are actual economists--not just drawings
holding up a flag, like the ones on that other slide. There's a lot of great information in
the study, along with a very detailed account of how they arrived at their findings. I
strongly encourage you all to read it, as well as the Harvard Business Review article on
The Death of Marketing. If you would like me to email you links to either of those articles,
feel free to email me at jezk@travelmedford.org. Personally, I really enjoyed it. Then
again, I 'm a little strange and like reading boring things like that. Either way, I hope you
liked our Hotelier Meeting today and maybe you learned something that will help you out
a bit. We try really hard to make these meetings as painless and as useful as possible. I
also hope you had fun. I'm having fun putting it together right now at 10:57 p.m. on
Tuesday night. Especially this slide. I wonder how many of you will actually read this far.
If you made it: Congrats, you overachiever! You win a prize. Probably a 541 shirt. If you
already have one, let's talk. We can work something out. Perhaps some Moose Munch.
We always seem to have Moose Munch laying around the office. Plus, who doesn't like
Moose Munch? It's delicious! My favorite is the dark chocolate one. No, I take that back.
I'm going with the Dark Chocolate Moose Munch Bars. Definitely. Sooooo good. We
should have Moose Munch days at some of these meetings...how amazing would that be?
Who do we talk to about that?? I've reached the end of this slide. MISSION
ACCOMPLISHED. Happy Wednesday, you are all awesome & I'll see you next month!
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29. Thanks!
♥ jez
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