For those of you who don’t know, Google My Business is a powerful tool that allows retail businesses to connect with local shoppers.
And posts on Google My Business is a promotion tool that helps optimize a store’s business listing and increase foot traffic.
Put simply, it is an easy and free way to promote your business locally.
I’ll explain more below.
What are Google My Business Posts?
Google My Business posts is a feature that allows you to share content about your store on Google Search and Maps. It is similar to any other social media platform like Twitter or Facebook.
As a store owner, you are able to share news, promotions, events, and new products with shoppers. It posts directly to your Google My Business listing – so existing and potential customers can see your content directly in search results.
What are the Benefits of Google My Business Posts?
Posts on Google give retailers the ability to communicate with shoppers so they are better informed when making purchasing decisions. Which means that local businesses are able to:
Engage shoppers with attractive content (photos, videos, GIFS etc.)
Promote any new sales, products, or events
Improve shopper experience with relevant and timely information
Communicate directly with local shoppers
How Does it Work?
For each post, business owners can include text, call-to-action buttons, and/or photos or videos to promote their store. There are four different GMB post types including:
What’s New: Share general information about your retail business. For example, you can give shoppers an inside look at your Halloween displays and merchandise.
Events: Promote any upcoming events that you are holding. Each event requires a start time, end time, and a title. It is also good practice to include a photo/video,an event description, and a call to action button leading to a landing page for your event.
Products: Store owners also have the option of promoting any products or new merchandise. For example, a pet store could promote their new range of dog food. Keep in mind that product posts require a title and photo/video.
Offers: According to Google, 50% of shoppers are looking for promotions and discounts when searching for a business online. So provide shoppers with information on the latest sales and promotional offers. Offers will appear at the top of your business listing on both Google Search and Maps.
These posts require a title, and start/end dates. It’s also good practice to include photos/videos, descriptions, coupon codes, and terms and conditions of the offer. The call-to-action button “View” will automatically appear on all Offer posts.
Some Important Things to Note
GMB posts disappear after 7 days unless you set another shorter time frame. This is why it is important to post consistent and relevant content.
It is a good idea to include GMB in your marketing strategy. Place the same importance on GMB posts as you would on other social platforms like Instagram or Twitter.
Google provides insights on your posts – including how many views each post got. It also tells you how many users clicked on a link in a post
We hope you found this article helpful!
Would you like to learn how to attract local shoppers on Google?
Good news – we are hosting a breakfast seminar exclusively for GTA store owners! We will be discussing how you can attract more local shoppers with POS technology among other important topics. To learn more about the event and to register, click here.
Reviews are an important part of local search. According to Google, 2 out of 3 shoppers say having positive reviews was an important factor when selecting a business or store to purchase from. This means that most people like to do research before ever setting foot into a store.
This means two things:
More good reviews = higher ranking in local search
Higher ranking in local search = more foot traffic = more sales
This is why it’s important to gather reviews and respond to them.
It is generally good practice to ask shoppers to leave a review after they have made a purchase from your store. Touch base after a few day or a week to make sure that they are enjoying/ have enjoyed using your products. Also remember to ask loyal and long-term shoppers who have not made a purchase in a while.
How you ask for reviews is equally as important as when you ask for them – which brings us to the next point.
2. Make it Easy
Shoppers won’t leave reviews if it takes them more than 5 seconds to find your page. The easier the review process is for your store, the more reviews you are likely to gather.
Here are a few ways you can make it simple for your shoppers to leave a review.
Make Review Cards
Create physical “drop us a review” cards with your store’s short URL. Place them near checkout and remind your employees to hand them out to shoppers or put them into their shopping bags after they make a purchase. You will want to go over best practices with your employees.
Employees should hand these out to shoppers who have had a pleasant experience at the store. For example, your staff should look out for the following situations:
if an employee had a positive interaction with a shopper in-store
if a shopper was experiencing a problem and are grateful for your store’s customer service.
It is obviously a good idea to avoid handing them out to unpleasant or rude shoppers.
You can also create a reward system within the store for your staff. Create incentives for your employees; reward the staff member who hands out the most review cards or generates the most reviews.
2) Send a follow-up text or email
Go mobile by sending shoppers a follow-up text or create an email campaign after a few days of their purchase (so that they have time to try your products). Here are a few tips for what to include in your follow-up text or email:
personalize the email or text : you can personalize the message by including the shopper’s name. Not only do personalized messages make shoppers feel important, they are proven to have a higher open rate as well.
keep it short : make sure your message is short, simple, and straight to the point.
Include the short review URL : shoppers are not likely to try find your Google My Business account. Once you claim your short name on Google My Business, you will have access to a short URL that will directs shoppers to leave a review (shown below).
To get access to your short URL for reviews, you must first claim your short name. To find out more information about Google My Business short names and the steps you must take to claim your short name, click here.
3. You will see the “Get more reviews” box on the right side of the page – as shown below. Copy your short URL for reviews to share in your email or text message.
4) Add a Review Link on your Store’s Website
Include a “review” link or button on relevant pages of your store’s website. This might be on your contact page, thank-you page, or even a section on your homepage.
5) Incentivize shoppers
Offering shoppers a reward or incentive for leaving a review is a great way to gather more Google My Business reviews. Effective incentives include a $15 gift card or store credit, loyalty points, store merchandise etc.
6) Include a Review Link in your Email signature
Adding a short and simple call to action in your email signature is another effective way to gather Google My Business reviews. For example, “Your opinion is important to us! Drop us a review at [GMB short URL].”
This strategy is especially important for retailers who regularly email their customers.
Responding to Reviews
Once you’ve set up a process for gathering reviews, your focus needs to shift to responding to them effectively.
Responding to reviews shows potential shoppers that you value good customer service. It also shows shoppers that their opinions will be heard and leaving a review is worth their time.
Google recently introduced a new feature for verified merchants on Google my Business (GMB). Business owners can now create a GMB short name (also called a custom name).
You may be wondering what the purpose of this new feature is.
Google My Business short names make it easier for shoppers to find you online!
I’ll explain more below.
What is a Google My Business Short Name?
It is basically a simple or shorter name that is used to represent your retail business or location. If your retail business has multiple locations, it is a good idea to use your business name with the location (city, neighbourhood, street etc.) of the store as your short name.
The majority of merchants and business categories now have access to the feature. So it is a good idea to claim your preferred short name before it is no longer available.
What are the Benefits of a Google My Business Short Name?
GMB short names make it simple for you to share your business listing with shoppers – so they can easily find you online.
Before Google released this feature, GMB profiles had extremely long URLS – making it difficult to share with shoppers or use as a landing page.
When you create a short name, shoppers can enter your short name URL “g.page/[yourcustomname]” and they will be directed straight to your business profile.
Once you claim your short name, you will also get access to a short URL for requesting reviews.
With a GMB short name, it is now easy to promote your business to gain more reviews, share directions, and get leads.
Best Practices
Before you take the steps to claim your short name, here are some things to keep in mind:
It’s important that your short name is associated with your store’s name.
Make sure that it is simple so that you can easily promote your business and shoppers can remember it.
If you have multiple locations, you must claim a short name for each GMB listing. Again, it’s a good idea to include your location (city, neighbourhood, street etc.) to make your name unique and easy to remember.
It is also a good idea to use your short name URL on marketing materials. This way, you can gain more reviews and local exposure.
How to Claim Your Short Name on Google My Business
4. Enter your short name – it can be up to 32 characters. If your name is unavailable, you will receive an error message. You can try a shortened form of your name or you can try adding your location. Otherwise, try another short word that describes your retail store.
5.Click “Apply”. Once you do so, your short name will show as pending. When it is ready and approved, it will show up on your business listing.
Did you find this article helpful?
Would you like to learn more about how to increase your retail store’s online presence?
Good news- we are hosting a breakfast seminar exclusively for GTA store owners! We will be discussing how you can attract more local shoppers with POS technology among other important topics. To learn more about the event and to register, click here.
If you are not making use of digital marketing tools, you are missing out on a huge chunk of customers!
Shoppers are now searching for retail businesses like yours online. According to Google:
3 out of 4 customers now use a search engine to find a business.
7 out of 10 customers made a purchase from a business they found using a search engine.
This is why digital marketing strategies are essential for retailers who are looking to drive foot traffic and sales.
To learn more about the benefits of digital marketing for retail stores, click here.
Below are three strategies you can leverage to build an online presence and attract more shoppers.
3 Online Marketing Tactics that Increase Foot Traffic
1) Local Directory Listings
Local search results present a huge opportunity for retail stores; according to Google, 80% of people now use a search engine to find local information.
This is why local directory listings are so valuable to retailers as a digital marketing tool – they help optimize your retail business for local search (or local SEO). In simpler terms, they help you be found locally by making your retail store appear in search results.
Directories feature business information such as your address, contact information, store hours along with other useful features such as customer reviews, images, videos, and preferred payment options.
Not only do local directories help you appear higher up in search results – they also help your business stand out among big box stores and online retailers.
As mentioned above, most retail stores haven’t optimised for local search while online competitors can’t compete with your store locally. Meaning – there is a competitive edge you can gain by focusing on local SEO.
To learn more about the basics of SEO, click here.
The following are some online directories that will help you get noticed in local search results:
Google My Business
Yelp
Yahoo Local
Bing Places for Business
MerchantCircle
Yellow Pages
Foursquare
Manta
Angie’s List
Citysearch
2) Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS)
Buy Online, Pick Up In-store or BOPIS (also commonly known as click and collect) takes advantage of consumer shopping habits to drive foot traffic.
BOPIS is increasing in popularity as more and more retailers are adopting the strategy in order to remain competitive in the age of Amazon. And it is a tactic that seems to be working – according to the Business Insider, 68% of US consumers have made multiple click and collect purchases.
To summarize, BOPIS drives foot traffic while offering several advantages to retailers including:
Higher rates of impulse purchases
Decreased shipping costs
Lower return rates
Satisfied shoppers
3) Google Local Inventory Ads
Google Local Inventory Ads are one of the most important digital marketing tools that retailers can leverage to drive foot traffic. This is because LIAs give retailers the unique ability to display a store’s in-stock merchandise – at the exact moment that a relevant local search is made.
When a shopper makes a relevant product search, and that product is available at a local store, they will be shown a local inventory ad with an “in stock” label.
Once that shopper clicks on the ad, they will be taken to the Local Storefront page. Here, they will be given more information about the product and your physical store including other in-stock inventory, current promotions, store location, and hours.
So by implementing Google LIAs in your digital marketing strategy, you will be able to target local shoppers and drive relevant traffic to your store!
We hope you found this article helpful!
Would you like to learn more about how to increase your retail store’s online presence?
Good news- we are hosting a breakfast seminar exclusively for GTA store owners! We will be discussing how you can attract more local shoppers with POS technology among other important topics. To learn more about the event and to register, click here.
Which means that being online is now essential for retail businesses (both small and large) that are looking to grow sales and foot traffic.
In fact, the majority of shoppers are now conducting product research online before making purchases in store. Specifically, shoppers are using Google to search for products, read online reviews, and find local businesses.
This is where SEO comes in. Good SEO helps shoppers find your retail store – both online and offline
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It is the process and a set of best practices you follow to rank as high as possible in search results.
Search engines like Google need to be able to pull the most relevant content to display to users. In order to do so, these search engines use mathematical formulas (also called algorithms) to figure out which websites should be displayed first.
Google’s algorithm determines how valuable content or websites are based on a number of factors. These factors include mobile responsiveness, site speed, keyword usage, link-building, content quality etc.
The goal of SEO is to send signals to Google’s algorithm that show your content is both relevant and valuable. Or in other words, that it is worth ranking high in search results. Obviously, the higher your content ranks, the more likely you are to generate traffic to your website and physical store.
Organic (unpaid) search results also appear more credible to shoppers. Think about it this way – the main goal of Google and other search engines is to provide users with high quality and credible content. Because of this, search engine users now associate higher rankings with more valuable content.
So by implementing SEO in your marketing strategy, your site will rank higher. Having a higher ranking website will then build credibility and authority amongst your target shoppers. Ultimately, this will generate more sales for your retail store.
2) Attract Local Shoppers
There are billions of local searches made each month. According to Google, 80% of people now use a search engine to find local information.
This is why a local SEO strategy is more important than ever for brick and mortar businesses. A strong local SEO strategy comes with many benefits including:
Greater local visibility
More relevant traffic
Increased visibility on Google Maps
A good local reputation
As you can see, ranking in local search results is a big deal! Retail stores with a strong local online presence are more likely to see an increase in foot traffic and sales.
3) Low Marketing Costs
Traditional marketing methods (billboards, TV advertisements.) make it difficult for small brick and mortar businesses to compete with larger retailers. Although an SEO strategy may take time and effort, it allows smaller retailers to compete with these bigger names for a much lower cost.
Organic search has also proven to be more effective than paid search advertising. Not only does it generate more sales for your business – but it does so at a lower cost than PPC or traditional marketing campaigns. Put simply, an SEO strategy will generate a higher return on investment – making it worth the time and effort.
Another advantage is that SEO tactics attract shoppers that are actively searching for your products or business. This is why it results in more relevant and qualified shoppers – or in other words, better business.
SEO Boosts Store Traffic and Sales
By now, you should understand why an SEO strategy is well worth the time and effort. Appearing in top search results will get your retail business in front of a relevant local audience, ultimately leading to more traffic and sales.
We hope you found this article helpful!
We will be posting more SEO tips in the upcoming weeks. Subscribe to our blog to stay updated on the latest retail news, trends, and tips!
It comes as no surprise that Google is the most popular search engine in the world. Combine that with the fact that the majority of shoppers are conducting product research online, and you’ve got yourself an incredibly powerful marketing tool.
That’s why getting your retail business to show up on Google is one of the most important things you can do to drive foot traffic to your store.
This means, that by properly managing reviews, your store is more likely to appear in top search results. Ultimately, this will increase foot traffic to your store and generate more revenue for your business.
To learn more about the importance of Google My Business (GMB) reviews, click here.
Why Respond to Google Reviews?
Responding to reviews is critical to any online business strategy – and it comes with several benefits too! These benefits include:
It builds trust and confidence with target customers
It shows Google that you are active
Encourages other customers to leave a review
How to Reply to Google Reviews
1. Sign in to your Google My Business account here.
2. Click on the three horizontal lines on the top left hand corner.
3. Click on reviews.
4. Find the review you want to reply to and click on the reply button below.
Responding to Positive Reviews
1. Thank the customer and be specific: It’s important that you show shoppers gratitude for their business and for the time they took to leave a review.
It’s also good practice to avoid generic responses. Remember you don’t want to sound like a robot! You can add a personal touch by tailoring your response to specific things spoken about in each review.
For example: “Thank you for your kind words – glad to hear you appreciate our large selection of items!”
2. Share Store Updates: Remember your replies are public and are likely to be seen by future shoppers. So it’s a good idea to highlight any relevant product offerings or new promotions. This also gives shoppers something to look forward to.
For example : “We’re glad you love our healthy food options…we’ve got more products that we will be releasing in September! More information will be revealed on our social media very soon ;)”
3. Invite the Customer to Take an Action: You can provide additional value to customers by suggesting other products or complementary services offered by your store. Another good idea is to ask the customer to return or spread the word about your business.
For example : “Next time you visit, you should really try (product name)!”
Or you could also say “We hope to see you again very soon – and bring a friend along with you!”
Responding to Negative Reviews:
1. Apologize: It can be difficult to stay positive when dealing with difficult or unhappy customers. However, it is extremely important to respond with humility with an aim to fix the issue. By acting in a defensive manner, you may turn away potential customers rather than attract them.
So regardless of what occured, always apologize. You need to send the message that you are sorry that the customer is upset – and that you will do your best to change how they feel.
2. Offer A Solution: Bad reviews often arise due to misunderstandings between a customer and a business. If this is the case, responding to the review is best way to clear up any misunderstanding.
It is important that you publicly share how you plan on solving or addressing the issue. Not only does this show commitment to good customer service, but it also builds trust among potential customers.
Sometimes, in addition to an apology and a solution, offering compensation is also a good idea. For example, you could offer a refund, a gift card, or a discount.
3. Take the Conversation Offline: Once you apologize and offer an appropriate remedy, it is a good idea to propose taking the conversation offline.
You can tell the shopper that customer service will reach out through e-mail or phone (whatever works best for the customer). A one-on-one conversation will often clear up any confusion and you will be able to understand the problem at a deeper level.
We hope you found this article helpful!
Would you like to learn how to attract local shoppers on Google?
Good news- we are hosting a breakfast seminar exclusively for GTA store owners! We will be discussing how you can attract more local shoppers with POS technology among other important topics. To learn more about the event and to register, click here.
