My current project is UFC, which is Ultimate Fighting Championship, and that is happening across multiple locations and multiple venues. For the UFC project or the WWE project, we have multiple locations and venues with several events happening every week or month. Previously, when changes occurred at any of the venues, we had to manually run updates across all social media platforms, Google Search, Apple Maps, and Google Maps. But right now, we are using Yext Digital Presence Platform, which updates the data for venue details across all platforms whenever we change it in Yext Knowledge Graph platform. Essentially, for our project, we are using it as a centralized platform because we receive data from multiple sources. We are getting event data from various sources and location data from other sources, collecting it, and sending it to Yext Digital Presence Platform. It serves as a central repository for us, improving our search engine optimization and ensuring data consistency across all platforms.
External reviews
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Centralized event data has automated venue updates and still needs faster real-time analytics
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
One thing I appreciate about Yext Digital Presence Platform is that it automates the updates across all platforms, including social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Previously, whenever any location changes occurred for any of the events, we spent a lot of time manually updating those changes, which sometimes resulted in incorrect data being displayed to fans. This could harm user trust. Now, with Yext Digital Presence Platform, the data is updated automatically, so fans see the correct information for the UFC event.
Additionally, the reporting aspect is enhanced; collecting data from various sources and creating reports is now much simpler. We create different entities such as Fighter, Fight, Event, and Location entities and establish relationships between them. This centralized unit collects source data, making dashboard creation much easier.
What needs improvement?
One thing that could be improved is the real-time updates. Currently, when we send changes to Yext Knowledge Graph, the updates are reflected in the analytics tool with some delay, around thirty minutes to an hour. This lag can be an issue, and having the ability to see real-time updates would be beneficial.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been working with Yext Digital Presence Platform for the last one year, having done the implementation six months back, and we are currently using it.
How are customer service and support?
Customer service and technical support are quite supportive; whenever we reach out, we receive full assistance.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before adopting Yext Digital Presence Platform, we did not use any other product for digital experience management; we managed everything manually across all platforms.
How was the initial setup?
I was involved in the initial setup process, which proved to be quite complex. Setting up Yext Knowledge Graph, the core layer of Yext Digital Presence Platform, took about two to two and a half months, as our team lacked experience with graph database structures and was only familiar with structured databases. We upskilled during this period and received full support from Yext's support team.
What about the implementation team?
We managed the setup in-house.
What was our ROI?
We have seen a strong return on investment with Yext Digital Presence Platform. Since Yext Digital Presence Platform collects reviews from fans attending events, we gain insights into user sentiment and adjust future events based on their feedback. This leads to improved user experiences and overall project and company performance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am not certain about the pricing and setup costs, but I know it is quite expensive. My finance or infrastructure team manages the setup, and given that we maintain multiple venues and locations in our UFC project, the cost is significant. However, organizations that do not manage multiple venues may find it less expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I am not sure about the evaluation of other options, as the decision to choose Yext Digital Presence Platform was made by the company leadership, not by me.
What other advice do I have?
We have not yet tried the intelligent search feature, but it is in our plan since we completed the implementation six months back, and we are still exploring all the features of Yext Digital Presence Platform.
The impact of Yext Digital Presence Platform's review management tools on customer engagement is significant. As I mentioned, our projects include WWE and UFC events, where fans attend and provide reviews afterward. Yext Digital Presence Platform collects those reviews and user sentiment, and sends it to the actual company, UFC, enabling us to understand user experience and improve future events based on their feedback.
We are currently using the schema markup tools for SEO performance because when users search for event information on platforms such as Google, they can receive multiple, inconsistent results. Some events may show different data across various digital platforms, causing confusion. By using this tool, we ensure data consistency across all platforms, so fans see accurate information and are not misled.
In evaluating the analytics offered by Yext Digital Presence Platform, it is not just a database. It stores data in a graph format, allowing us to create multiple entities such as Fighter, Fight, Event, and Venue entities, with attributes and relationships between them. For example, if an event occurs at a location, the Fighter entity is directly connected to the Event entity since fighters participate in events. This structure is much easier to understand than typical database structures because we store data in JSON format with key-value pairs, which facilitates comprehension.
The main benefit of using Yext Digital Presence Platform is that we no longer have to update data manually across multiple entities or social media platforms, as the process is now automated. This saves a lot of time and effort for our team. Additionally, previous data segregation across various sources made integration complex and challenging. Now, Yext Digital Presence Platform acts as a central platform that collects data from multiple sources and provides dashboard creation functionality without the need for external tools such as Power BI or Tableau.
At this moment, I do not see any missing features because we are still in the initial stages of using Yext Digital Presence Platform, having only been on it for a year. We are exploring all its functionalities, so I cannot suggest anything right now.
Regarding Yext Digital Presence Platform's data management capabilities benefiting our online presence, I can share an example where a UFC event venue changed twenty-four hours before the event, creating pressure on the team to manually update details across various search engines and platforms. That caused chaos across the organization since users were actively searching for event and location details at that time. Now, whenever we change any location details in our database, we send the data to Yext Knowledge Graph, and those updates occur automatically across multiple platforms, relieving us of manual work and saving time, which enhances trust and benefits the company overall.
Tech support deserves an eight out of ten rating because there can sometimes be a delay in response.
One piece of advice I can share is the benefit of having features that enhance real-time updates from Yext Digital Presence Platform's analytics platform. Having immediate visibility on updates made in Yext Knowledge Graph would be beneficial, as there are currently delays in dashboard refreshes.
For now, I cannot suggest any improvements, as we are still exploring Yext Digital Presence Platform's features after one year. I rate this product a seven out of ten overall.
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Site Doesn’t Work as Advertised, Support Stuck in Repetitive Troubleshooting
The guidance from both the internal “knowledge center” and the customer service rep just repeats the same instructions. It’s also clear those instructions aren’t up to date, because when I follow the steps, I end up in no man’s land with no clear way forward.