Uberall Releases Direct Integration with Apple’s Business Connect
Days after Apple announced the launch of Business Connect, a feature that allows businesses of all sizes to customize the way their information appears across Apple apps, the customer experience platform Uberall has come out with its own integration solution.
Uberall has launched a direct integration with Apple’s Business Connect. Uberall clients will now be able to customize their Apple Maps place cards and update them with current and accurate business information, offers, and services, and ultimately take greater ownership of their presence on Apple Maps.
Apple has mentioned Uberall’s fellow multi-location martech companies Reputation, Rio SEO, SOCi, and Yext as other platforms that will help multi-location marketers to manage locations at scale using Apple Business Connect.
The Uberall integration should help businesses engage Apple Maps users with fully up-to-date, accurate, and high-quality information about their locations.
“Apple has massive U.S. market share—iPhone users outnumber Android in the U.S. and have more spending power—due to its default status on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and CarPlay. But, it had no API available for technology partners and businesses weren’t able to claim their locations, publish photos, or promote offers via posts like they do on Google. This made confidence in Apple Maps and other Apple apps location information and related marketing limited from a local marketer’s playbook,” says Jennifer Stevenson, Senior Director Product Strategy at Uberall. “With this update, Apple is definitely redefining the way marketers can think about how to leverage Apple Maps in their local marketing campaigns.”
The Uberall integration will also make it easier for businesses to take advantage of Showcases, a Business Connect feature that allows businesses to present customers with offers and incentives in the Apple Maps place card. Uberall customers can now create, preview, and post a “Showcase” using the same publishing workflow they use for other content publishing in the Uberall CoreX platform.
Uberall is one of just a handful of technology partners selected to directly integrate with Apple Maps via a new API. The direct integration with Business Connect should increase efficiency for any business looking to update its local business information at scale and display promotions to consumers within Apple Maps and apps. With the direct integration, Stevenson says Uberall customers are also more likely to attract Apple users to their locations.
One business that’s already started taking advantage of the integration is AutoNation, a Florida-based auto dealer and longtime Uberall customer. AutoNation has been working with Uberall to optimize its dealers’ place cards in Apple Maps, so potential customers who search for the company’s dealerships online get accurate, up-to-date information.
Stevenson expects a number of Uberall clients to benefit. Uberall has been a longtime player in the hyperlocal marketing space. The company works with brick and mortar businesses and uses digital technology to help them stay relevant and profitable. Uberall CoreX, the company’s hybrid customer experience platform, powers the customer journey from online discovery, to store visit, to recommendation and repeat purchase.
While local businesses clearly stand to benefit from the launch of Business Connect, Stevenson says Apple itself stands to gain market share as well. The company has been taking steps to compete with Google on local discovery for years, and this latest move clearly shows an effort to slide into a space that Google currently owns.
“With this update, Apple is better positioned to compete with Google for share of voice on its devices. Brands will be eager to take advantage of this new way to create richer and more accurate location listings that allow them to connect consumers,” Stevenson says. “It’ll be interesting to see through the coming year how this grows consumer engagement with brands and preference on Apple devices.”
