Yext has been recognized by CIOReview Magazine as the recipient of “20 Most Promising Financial Services Technology Solution Providers - 2016,” based on our proprietary methodology, reflecting its position in the industry. This profile has been developed by the CIOReview research and editorial team based on insights from an interview with Marc Ferrentino, Chief Strategy Officer.

Yext
Putting Financial Institutions on the Map

Marc Ferrentino, Chief Strategy Officer

“Smartphones not only empower customers to interact with their financial institutions digitally, but also act as a bridge between digital financial services and brick-and-mortar locations,” begins Marc Ferrentino, Chief Strategy Officer, Yext. With the rise of mobile search, ensuring consumers obtain all the required information accurately and instantly through search results creates a better client experience. While financial institutions tend to be proficient at data management in areas like CRM and employee data, they often trail behind in organizing and leveraging their location data effectively.

“Yext was born to put brick-and-mortar businesses on the map, so they can compete in today’s mobile-first world,” asserts Ferrentino. Yext’s platform and product portfolio help firms attract new customers with search-optimized location information while making it easy for existing customers to find their nearest branch, advisor, agent, or ATM.

When consumers come across incorrect information about a bank in a map, their trust in the financial service provider is diminished. To help businesses maintain trust by actively managing their location data, Yext’s Listings offering allows businesses to update the information that appears in search results—name, address, phone number, open hours, and specialties—in real time. “Our PowerListings Network of search engines, social networks, maps, and apps allows businesses to make real-time updates in our system and have them automatically update across over 100 online publishers,” says Ferrentino.

Search engines work by continuously pulling information on a business that their algorithms identify as most up to date, so even if a listing is rectified once, it will change later and could potentially become incorrect again. To prevent this, whenever an institution loads its location data into Yext’s system, the company runs a Match search using its database and software integrations through the PowerListings Network to identify other business listings corresponding to the same location. This makes it possible to Lock listings, preventing automatic changes to information due to subsequent search crawling. Match and Lock returns control to the business over how its locations appear online.

Yext was born to put brick-and-mortar businesses on the map, so they can compete in today’s mobile-first world

“Our new Location Cloud Platform enables financial institutions to take advantage of their location information in innovative ways by building new integrations with Yext,” said Ferrentino. Using the platform, companies can plug in and use their location data to do things like enhance smart CRM by incorporating location-specific information into customer histories, improve customer support by localizing it to the right representatives, respond to location reviews through support software.

Financial institutions especially need to ensure the accuracy of their information due to strict regulations. Yext’s Pages builds SEO-optimized local pages for businesses to provide high-quality information about the specific business location, keeping customers informed and improving search rankings. Yext’s Pages archives old versions of location websites, enabling clients to easily pull up what their sites looked like on a given date during an audit.

Another front on which financial institutions are competing is online location reviews. Yext’s Reviews product helps businesses generate reviews easily from their client base, activating the existing reserve of satisfied customers to bring up their ratings. Yext has built a balancing algorithm that automatically determines which reviews site will be most impactful for businesses, and asks consumers to leave reviews there.

“Our goal is to put millions of business locations all over the world on the map, and we are well on our way with over 800,000 already,” says Ferrentino. Yext is committed to keeping its clients ahead of the curve in this booming area of technology so they can provide the best possible service to their customers. “We believe the benefits of effective Location Data Management are endless, both for informing and serving customers and for being found in the new age of mobile search,” concludes Ferrentino.

Yext

Yext Introduces AI Generated Review Response, Enabling Businesses to Deliver Individualized Review Experiences at Scale

Friday, July 21, 2023

-With Reviews, businesses have a solution that automatically composes review responses leveraging their own unique data and brand voice

-Latest AI innovation in Reviews extends Yext’s digital experience platform leadership

Yext Inc., a leading digital experience platform, announced AI Generated Review Response enabling businesses to deliver a more engaging customer experience. This new capability within Yext Reviews enables businesses to use AI with their own data to automatically generate individualized review experiences across owned and third-party channels.

In the modern digital landscape, the significance of customer engagement with reviews cannot be overstated for a business's success. Reviews hold substantial influence over major buying decisions, and search engines rely on them to rank results. According to a recent poll conducted among Yext customers, businesses that respond to over 50 percent of their reviews experienced a notable improvement of almost half a star in their ratings, compared to businesses that neglect review responses. However, responding to reviews can be challenging and demanding in terms of resources. Here, AI Generated Review Response comes to the rescue, offering a single system that empowers businesses to efficiently handle customer reviews across various digital platforms, scaling small teams effectively.

The innovative AI Generated Review Response feature empowers businesses to automatically generate contextually appropriate and brand-based responses by analyzing the tone and sentiment of the posts. By utilizing Yext Content in conjunction with generative models, companies can provide personalized responses using their unique business data and voice, effectively addressing specific real-world reviews on various digital channels, including mobile, web, chat platforms, and social media. For instance, consider a scenario where a franchise owner receives a surge of reviews for their Minneapolis locations following a promotional launch. In such a case, Reviews can automatically generate responses that are tailored to the local region and specific store locations, while also delivering a personalized touch for each customer.

“With Yext, businesses have the platform to elevate engagement and deliver brand-building experiences,” said Marc Ferrentino, president and chief operating officer, Yext. “Engaging with customers allows them to take those experiences to the next level. It is a massive competitive advantage to provide one-of-a-kind review experiences at scale for every customer which is now possible with Yext Reviews.”

Yext Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2025 Results

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

NEW YORK --Yext, Inc. (NYSE: YEXT), the leading digital presence platform for multi-location brands, today released its results for the three months ended April 30, 2024, or the Company’s first quarter of fiscal year 2025.

Visit Yext’s Investor Relations website to view the first quarter fiscal 2025 Shareholder Letter.

Today, Yext will host a conference call at 5:00 p.m. (ET) / 2:00 p.m. (PT) to discuss its financial results with the investment community.

Call Details:

Event: Yext First Quarter Fiscal 2025 Earnings Conference Call

Date: Monday, June 10, 2024

Time: 5:00 p.m. (ET) / 2:00 p.m. (PT)

A live webcast of the event will be available on the Yext Investor Relations website at http://investors.yext.com.

A live dial-in is available domestically at (877) 883-0383 and internationally at (412) 902-6506, passcode 6185062.

A replay will be available domestically at (877) 344-7529 or internationally at (412) 317-0088, passcode 6437087, until midnight (ET) June 17, 2024.

20 Most Promising Financial Services Technology Solution Providers - 2016

Company
Yext

Management
Marc Ferrentino, Chief Strategy Officer

Description
Enables financial institutions to manage location data across their websites, mobile apps, and internal systems.

Yext Putting Financial Institutions on the Map