Why Local is ‘The Last Mile’ for National Restaurant Brands

Local search has had a big moment during the pandemic, and now as inflation surges and inventory challenges mark the latest hurdle, I think that moment is here to stay. Industry advertisers have needed to remain nimble as economic conditions have turned on a dime, reevaluating their campaigns to reflect changing restrictions, consumer behaviors and more, sometimes at a mere moment’s notice. Despite these challenges, on-premise dining continues to return, with 13 million diners seated via Yelp in Q1 2022, up 48 percent compared to Q1 2021.

As we look at the impact of the last two years, the importance of prioritizing local advertising and creating campaigns that spoke to individual, local communities became clear, especially for national brands.

In fact, according to a 2022 survey from BrightLocal, 78 percent of U.S. consumers have used the internet to find information about local businesses more than once a week. At Yelp, we call this local search piece of a campaign “the last…