Messaging framework case study for Yelp Elite
The history of the Yelp Elite messaging is as old as Yelp itself. Back in the day, Yelp’s first ever Community Manager made it his mission to encourage avid reviewers by hosting exclusive events just for them. The idea back then was to have almost as a secret club—IYKYK kinda thing.
That’s all well and good in the age of hidden bars, pop-ups, supper clubs, and such. We didn’t even have apps at this point.
But this became counter to the goal of growing the community. If no one knows about it, no one knows—so how is it going to entice more members?
On top of that, the name itself—as well as the vibe, press, and language around “the Squad”—felt somewhat uninviting. A re-brand was needed, as was a clear framework for messaging.
*** ***
The research:
We approached this in a qualitative and quantitative manner. The first step was to invite a forum of the most engaged Yelp Elites to discuss their thoughts about what it meant to join this community.
During this focus group, we structured the discussion to draw out natural, non-lead opinions about the goal and language around Yelp Elite, finishing up with some more targeted questions that hit upon core themes.
We followed this up with a survey to get more data around these ideas: altruism, friendship, status, discovery, and perks. The final research piece was to tally up the volume of keywords in the open question responses that fell into positive, neutral, and negative buckets.
Altruism and status ranked highest among the ideas, although all had core resonance. Helping business owners, other consumers, and each other hit the most occurrences, which aligns with the core motivation for most folks writing reviews. (As far as research has lead me, inside and outside of Yelp.)
The secondary motivation centered around status—but not in the sense of being some kind of “VIP” as prior messaging suggested. Instead, these Yelp Elites took great pride in being trustworthy sources on Yelp and acting as a good example for newer Yelpers to learn from, such as adding good photos and describing business experiences in detail.
Examples of positive ranking words included “enjoy”, “experiences”, and “share”. Negative examples included “cliques”, “far-reaching”, and “exclusive”.
With this detailed research in hand, I was able to begin crafting the core messaging behind the Yelp Elite Squad.
First of all, we rebranded as YES! Whereas the word “Elite” was polarizing, “YES!” is inviting, active, and excited. This core reframe became the grounding for the key benefits to follow.
From there we developed the pain points and top level message. A crucial part of the process was to make sure that all elements ladder up to the top level message—it has to solve the pain points, it requires key benefits that can be distilled from it, and it should have proof points anchored in the product, whether features or stats.
Pain points
Discovering and experiencing great local businesses is more meaningful and fun with like-minded, adventurous people—but it’s hard to find a community like this.
Top level message
YES is the best way to discover and support amazing local businesses while meeting new people and making friends.
Key message 1
Functional: Discover more businesses that are new and new to you.
Proof: Elite events and community managers help connect you online and offline to the best of your city.
Key message 2
Emotional: Feel pride in supporting local businesses as a recognized, trusted reviewer.
Proof: Elite badge on your Yelp profile.
Key message 3
Emotional: Help others find joy and adventure in the places you recommend as a trusted reviewer.
Proof: Elite badge on your profile. Higher quality of reviews and photos.
Key message 4
Functional: Meet like-minded awesome locals like yourself and make new friends.
Proof: Elite events and community managers help connect you online and offline to people in your city.
For the results of the re-brand, check out the work.