• by Laurie Sullivan , 7 hours ago

Yelp launched an ad unit that lets national brands like Pepsi and Bilt spotlight local business partners to target ads. These ads appear in search results and offer national advertisers a contextual way to support small businesses, while local partners benefit from increased visibility at no cost to them.

It's a strategy national brands have used for years when running television ads. National brands leverage local branded TV ads to connect with consumers on a more personal level in their neighborhood. This lets national advertisers offer specific discounts and promotions locally at businesses they love. 

The format builds on Yelp’s sponsored collection of ads. It combines national branding with high-intent, local discovery. Brands can use photo or video ads to feature local partners in relevant searches – such as when Pepsi wants to promote its national variety of soft drinks at a neighborhood burger restaurant.

André Moraes, head of PepsiCo’s Away From Home Digital Lab, believes this “co-branded approach has made it easier to spotlight local restaurants” that serve Pepsi products.

The brand is just halfway through the campaign and has already seen a more than 25% drop in cost per lead and lift in restaurant visits. This type of result underscores the impact of reaching consumers in the moment.

Yelp said Bilt was one of the first advertisers to test local co-branded showcase ads that highlighted partner restaurants where Bilt Members unlock exclusive benefits.

During the first two months of Bilt’s pilot program, the campaign helped consumers discover more than 700 NYC-based Bilt partner restaurants, driving more than 300,000 measured location visits. Local restaurants included in the program saw, on average, a 5.5% increase in the number of page views on their Yelp business pages.

It’s Yelp’s connection to community that appears to find the “high-intent users” searching through the platform to find the restaurants, dry cleaners, hotels, painters, and more.

As the program grows, Yelp said it will work to build more types of connections between brands, local businesses, and the communities they serve.