Google My Business – Your Essential Local Marketing Tool

Life may be returning to normal, but it is indeed, a “new normal”, especially in the marketing world. An almost instantaneous move online for both businesses and consumers alike has forced a dynamic shift in both the breadth and depth of digital marketing strategy for almost every business in existence. And while recapturing the market for your business sounds like a daunting task as we slowly move out of lockdown and into the post-coronavirus world, in reality, it doesn’t have to be.

A big part of the new normal consumer is one that’s increasingly conscious about shopping locally and supporting their local economy. Lucky for them, and for you, there’s already a great system in place to help match local businesses with local customers. It’s called Google My Business.

What is Google My Business?

When services are searched for online, Google automatically offers local matches first, with a map and mini-profile that includes the business name, opening hours, location, services, photos, reviews, and more. In terms of generating online visibility for your business and its extremely impressive ability to convert potential consumers to loyal customers, Google My Business is an incredibly powerful tool – and a free one at that, one that every business needs to be taking advantage of it. Parallel to that, it goes without saying that learning how to utilize Google My Business (or finding the right digital marketing agency to do it for you) is an essential aspect to attracting and retaining local customers, especially in today’s business world.

Utilizing And Optimizing Google My Business

Setting up a Google My Business Profile is quite straightforward and an easy way to gain visibility and added credibility to local consumers. All you need is to create a Google account, then add a business profile to it by typing in your business name, contact information, location, hours, and services, description, and photos. You’ll be required to verify your business with a code mailed to your company address, and then you’re done!

That’s only the first step, though. To really benefit from having a Google My Business profile, you’ll need to tailor it to your specific customers’ preferences and your target market, as well as keep it updated with any changes your business undergoes. Some general aspects you’ll want to consider are:

• Keep your information simple and up-to-date. Your name, hours, location, and contact information need to be exactly the same as that on your website. As this can change regularly with summer hours, holidays, and ever-changing safety and sanitation requirements these days, updating this on a constant basis is essential.
• Write your business description in a clear, concise way. Make sure to use key words and describe additional features offered that especially appeal to your target audience. If you’re not sure what these are, a digital marketing agency like Peppermint has the tools to help you.
• Use only high-quality, professional imagery. You’ll need to upload a profile and cover photo that will represent everything you do and everything you are as a business. Not a small task for two images, but an important one nonetheless. These, along with other photos of your business or services you add to your profile will set the tone for the quality and professionalism your business offers.
• Choose a good business category. It’s essential to choose business categories that balance what you do with who you want to attract. You have the option to choose more than one, but keep in mind that minimal is best, so choose wisely!
• Monitor customer reviews. Your goal is to obtain customer reviews so you can build brand loyalty, so it’s important to encourage and request them. Just as importantly, though (maybe more importantly), you’ll need to check for and reply to all customer reviews, good and bad, on a regular basis.
• Keep it fresh. Google loves fresh content so keep your page up to date with fresh posts, images and videos. The more interest and clicks you get the greater visibility Google will give you!

Keeping the Perfect Balance

Balancing business services and products with new government regulations and ever-changing shifts in consumer needs and wants can be time consuming and difficult. That’s why many companies, large and small alike, turn to digital marketing agencies to help take the weight off. Dedicated to keeping your online presence strong so you can keep your loyal customers happy while attracting new ones both on and offline, digital marketing agencies, like Peppermint, have the training and experience to navigate and implement successful strategies that help your business thrive in today’s economy.

Peppermint is a creative and digital marketing agency based in Estepona (Marbella). Our expert team has years of experience in strategy and planning, social media marketing, digital marketing, and more. We are dedicated to keeping your business information up-to-date, relevant, and attractive to your local community and beyond to help you find success with today’s consumers and in today’s market.

If you need assistance with your Google My Business page or any other digital marketing requirements, get in touch!