You’ve probably already claimed your Google My Business page, right? If you’re not familiar, GMB is now the standard for companies that want to claim their official listing on Google. It’s a sort of “virtual storefront,” providing businesses greater visibility and control over their optics on the world’s most popular search engine. . What a lot of people don’t know, however, is that Google has recently made some improvements to the service, and if you’re not taking advantage of the new features, here are a few reasons why you should put it at the top of your to-do list.
Your competitors aren’t really using it yet. Believe it or not, although most people have encountered Google My Business and have perhaps claimed their listing, many don’t know exactly how the service works, and even fewer businesses are actually using all the marketing features that GMB offers. This means that if you act now, you’ll actually be ahead of the curve on this, and when it comes to anything involving Google, being at the front of the pack is always a good thing.
Bring in customers with welcome offers. Everyone loves a discount, and with GMB, you can present tempting offers that can help generate new business. In the GMB app, just click on “Turn Followers into Customers” and then “Create Welcome Offer” to set up an offer that visitors won’t want to miss.
Turn reviews into powerful content. Finding the time to create posts for your Google My Business page can be difficult, so why not let your customers speak for you? You can now create auto-generated posts by publishing highlighted reviews, which can even be customized to look exactly how you want.
Let customers reach out to you. Turning on the customer messaging option in the GMB app opens up a whole new and more direct way for customers to get in touch with you for important information regarding your business. This option allows you to add a ‘request a quote’ button to your GMB listing, which means visitors can contact you for pricing information on any kinds of services or products. You can reply to quote requests directly within the Google My Business app, which helps increase the potential for a sale by cutting down response time.
Tailor the user experience. Business owners can now add logos and preferred cover photos to their GMB listings. In addition, location-based tag clouds (called “place topics”) and auto-suggested answers to questions can help visitors find information they’re looking for based on your area and type of business. Keep in mind, however, that the auto-suggested content is generated by reviews users have left, so it’s more important than ever to provide a quality service so that people will want to give a glowing review.
Generating leads with Google My Business is getting easier and more effective by the day. It’s worth your time to fill out your profile completely and start reaping the benefits of this powerful set of tools.
Cogo Interactive is an award-winning digital marketing agency specializing in online marketing strategy, web design, SEO and social media marketing. We work with clients in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC and across the nation.
