Apple Showcase Posting | Yext Hitchhikers Platform

With the release of the Business Connect APIs, businesses can now add ephemeral promotions and announcements to their Apple Maps listings called Showcases. Any Yext customer in a supported country with a Listings subscription can create Apple Showcases using Yext’s social posting tool.

Note: Apple Showcase social posting is not supported by all countries. The list of supported countries can be found below.

Showcase posts will appear in the “From the Business” section on Apple Maps:

components of showcase post

Supported Countries

  1. Argentina
  2. Australia
  3. Austria
  4. Belize
  5. Bolivia
  6. Brazil
  7. Canada
  8. Chile
  9. Columbia
  10. Costa Rica
  11. Czech Republic
  12. Ecuador
  13. El Salvador
  14. France
  15. French Guiana
  16. Germany
  17. Guatemala
  18. Guyana
  19. Honduras
  20. India
  21. Ireland
  22. Italy
  23. Japan
  24. Mexico
  25. Netherlands
  26. New Zealand
  27. Nicaragua
  28. Panama
  29. Paraguay
  30. Peru
  31. Spain
  32. Suriname
  33. Turkey
  34. United Kingdom
  35. United States
  36. Uruguay
  37. Venezuela
  38. Vietnam

Setup

In order to post on Apple, you will need to link your Apple Business Account to Yext. For full setup steps on how to link your account, visit the How to Link Apple Business Connect Account with Yext guide.

Posting

For general details on how to create posts with Yext, visit the Create a Social Post help article.

book
Note
Photos are required in Apple showcase posts. All photos must adhere to Apple’s photo and text standards in order to post successfully.

Fields Supported

Apple supports the following fields on Showcase posts:

Field Limitations Description
Headline Maximum 38 characters Title of the Showcase
Content Maximum 100 characters Content of the Showcase
Photo
  • JPEG, PNG, or HEIC
  • No transparency
  • Minimum: 492 x 492 px
  • Maximum: 4864 x 4864 px
  • Aspect Ratio: 1:1
  • Photo to be displayed alongside the Showcase.
    Call-to-Action See details below Call-To-Action displayed in conjunction with the Showcase.
    Start Date Because Showcases require manual approval by Apple, the start date must be scheduled at least 3 days from the date of creating the post in Yext Date and time when the Showcase should be posted.
    End Date Maximum 1 year after start date Date and time when the Showcase should expire.

    Call-to-Actions

    When creating an Apple Showcase, there are two different types of Call-To-Actions that can be provided:

    • Call-To-Actions that interact with some core metadata data from the listing, such as the phone number or website. Other examples include call-to-actions that trigger a native Apple Maps feature, such as getting directions or leaving a rating. For example:
    Field Limitations
    Add Photos When tapped, allows user to submit a photo of the location to Apple Maps.
    Add to Favorites When tapped, allows user to add a location to their favorite locations.
    Add to Guide When tapped, allows user to add a location to a guide.
    Call Now When tapped, allows user to call the primary phone number of the location.
    Save as Contact When tapped, allows user to add the location as a new contact.
    Get Directions When tapped, allows user to get directions to the location.
    Message Us When tapped, allows user to message a location.
    Rate Us When tapped, allows user to rate the location.
    Share This Place When tapped, allows user to share an Apple Maps link to the location.
    More Info When tapped, leads user to the primary website of the location.

    • The other type of Call-To-Actions is one that leads to an Apple Action Link . When creating an Apple Showcase post, users will be able to choose from the action links they have created in the platform:

    Apple Action Links field

    For example, if you had the following action link:

    Sub-Field Value
    Category Order (Restaurant)
    App Store URL https://apps.apple.com/us/app/turtlehead-tacos-order/id547302952
    Quick Link http://order.turtleheadtacos.com
    App Name Turtlehead Tacos

    When you go to create an Apple Showcase post in Yext, you would see this action link as an option as follows:

    CTA field

    Not all Action Links are supported as Showcase Call-To-Actions. The full list of supported Showcase Call To Actions is as follows, where empty rows on the right indicate a Call-To-Action that does not require an Action Link:

    Showcase Call-To-Action Corresponding Action Link Category in Yext
    Add Photos
    Add to Favorites
    Add to Guide
    Book Now Book Travel
    Buy Gift Card Gift Card
    Call Now
    Check Availability Availability
    Check Flight Status Flight Status
    Check In Now Check in
    Find Parking Parking
    Get Directions
    Get Tickets Tickets
    Join Waitlist Waitlist
    Make an Appointment Schedule
    Message Us
    More Info
    Order Delivery Delivery (Restaurant or Retail)
    Order Now Order (Restaurant or Retail)
    Order Pickup Pickup (Restaurant or Retail)
    Rate Us
    Reserve a Room Book
    Reserve Now Reserve (Restaurant or Parking)
    Save as Contact
    See Our Menu Menu
    See Pricing Pricing
    See Showtimes Showtimes
    Share This Place

    Note: Action Links used for Showcase Posting must use first-party apps. Apple does not allow third-party apps for Showcase Posting.

    When creating an Apple Showcase post for multiple locations at once, users will see the lowest common denominator of Call-To-Actions that are available to those locations. For example, let’s say the following Call-To-Actions were available for each of the following Locations:

    Location 1 Location 2 Location 3
    Call Now Call Now Call Now
    Get Directions Get Directions Get Directions
    See Pricing More Info See Pricing
    Book Now See Pricing Order Now

    This results in the following available CTAs when creating an Apple Showcase post:

    Only Location 1 Selected Location 1, 2, 3 Selected
    Call Now Call Now
    Get Directions Get Directions
    See Pricing See Pricing
    Book Travel n/a

    API Support

    Apple Showcase posting via the Social Posting API is not currently available.

    Post Requirements: Timeline Details

    Apple posts require a 72-hour review period for Apple’s support team to approve them. As a result, Apple posts cannot be posted immediately and must be scheduled for a date more than 72 hours from the time the post is created.

    Posts will only display on Apple for 30 days. After this time, they will automatically be removed from the listing and will be marked with an ‘Expired’ state on the Posts page in Yext.

    Note:The date range of two Apple Showcase posts for the same location can not overlap. In other words, only one post can be live per location at any given time.

    Multi-publisher posts

    You can still make multi-publisher posts alongside Apple, but posts on other publishers will be restricted to the scheduling limitations of Apple. To make immediate posts on other publishers, posts need to be created separately from Apple.

    Embedded Fields

    Embedded fields are not supported in Apple Showcase posts.

    Managing Posts

    Rejected Posts

    As mentioned above, posts require a 72-hour review period for Apple’s support team to approve them. Posts that have been rejected by Apple will appear as ‘Failed’ in the Yext posting interface alongside an error reason with more details on why it was rejected.

    Editing Posts

    Apple does not support edits to social posts. If you need to update the content of a post, you will need to delete the post and create a new one.

    Deleting Posts

    You can delete scheduled posts as well as live posts in Yext. To delete a social post, click on the 3 dots, and click Delete in the drop-down menu. Once a post is deleted it will be removed from the platform.

    Delete Social Post

    Post Comments

    Apple does not support comments on Apple Showcase posts.

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