Just as the world isn’t black and white, there is no one silver bullet marketing tool that will bring us – in addition to the world peace of course -lots of high-paying customers alone. But there is a marketing strategy that can work well if tailored to the needs and capabilities of your business. And this includes a wide range of social media platforms (which can be different for every business, depending on the target group), paid advertising, PR, search engine optimization and much more, as well as Google Business Profile optimization.
I’d like to go through a bit of what a company profile can do for a business and how it complements the tasks undertaken by other marketing channels. This is where a profile can help you:
1. Increased online presence
When I tell someone to have an active online presence, in most cases social media activity is the first thing that comes to mind. Yes, it’s good to be present on the platform where your target audience is most active, but standing out in any social media platform always requires intense and varied content. It’s also important to pay a little attention to content that is more static or something that doesn’t need fresh updates every single day – this is where search engine optimization comes in, a constantly expanding blog with topics that are evergreen and can still attract customers in 2-3 years. And somewhere in between is the Google Business Profile, where you have the freedom to update it frequently or decide not to update, generate content and just rely on user generated content, for example uploading photos of when they’ve been to our business or giving feedback that might help others make a decision.
When customers are searching for relevant services, optimized profiles will appear prominently in search results, ensuring your business is definitely noticed. Since the majority of consumers rely on online searches to discover local businesses (more often than “can you recommend someone who…?” type questions in local FB groups!), a well-optimized profile can bring in valuable enquiries.
DID YOU KNOW? with extra attention, you can also display social media platforms on your business profile, so if someone likes you, they can easily decide to follow you there too and find out about the latest events and offers even if you forgot to post it on your GBP.
2. Local search engine optimization
When I say search engine optimization, the most common thing that comes to mind is website SEO and maintenance. And rightly so. And it’s totally enough, as long as it’s a product or service that’s available to anyone, anywhere in the country or online. However, if you are targeting a smaller geographic area, it is also worth creating a separate local sub-page on your website and optimizing it. But even this alone will not be enough. However, if you also shake up your Google Business Profile, put it on the map, add relevant keywords, contact details and updated content, your chances of being ranked higher in local search results will improve.
If your website and company profile are equally ranked for most of the important keywords, your business has a better chance of being one of the 3 businesses recommended by Google under the map display.
3. Trust and credibility
When you are just an average person not a business owner, you are the “user” and I’m sure when you are looking for a new product or service, you will most certainly also look at how others have found said service to work. You might ask in a FB group, you might ask friends and chances are you’ll read all the reviews online. However, there are some products and especially services that are difficult to get feedback on. For example, if your website doesn’t allow you to give feedback, you’re probably trying to get reviews on Facebook, which works in many cases, but there are some services that people are reluctant to comment on publicly, so that their Facebook friends can see it, for example, which gynecologist they have been to and were satisfied with the service, or how grateful they are to the piano teacher who has made your child feel confident, because if you post a public comment on FB, the grandmothers will come and say that you have to make your child the second Mozart.
In such cases, Google Business Profile is the perfect way to collect reviews – not everyone can immediately see what they’ve commented on.
If you get
a lot of feedback, clients will think you’re a professional – you can showcase
your expertise that way, not just with long posts full of case studies. There’s
no better confidence-builder than positive feedback!
DID YOU KNOW? with extra attention, you can also display social media platforms on your business profile, so if someone likes you, they can easily decide to follow you there too and find out about the latest events and offers even if you forgot to post it on your GBP.
- if you're one of the half that hasn't registered, now's the time, register now!
- And if you're one of the half who have already registered, it's time to improve your Google Business Profile interface so that it's not just a profile, but actually helps you reach more customers
4. Interaction with customers
There’s nothing better than when customers dare to ask questions and you can respond, maybe adapt your products and services accordingly, maybe create a good FAQ interface to prevent a lot of repetitive questions. However, sometimes people don’t ask questions, they just silently assume, because it would be too much trouble to email or send a few sentences on Messenger, because they don’t really feel like chatting, they are just hungry for information. In such cases, you can take advantage of the option on Google Business Profile to type in a question and you answer when you can.
The questions and answers section allows you to answer them one by one, quickly and easily. You can use them later on your website, even answering them in more detail (sometimes turning them into blog posts, because they can ask good questions that call for a full post).
In addition to the questions and answers section, there’s also the option to share posts with those interested. Not just simple blog posts, but also promotions and periodic offers (you can even set how long the promotion lasts).
And the most important way you can interact with customers is by responding to customer reviews. Not only to the negative ones, but also to the positive ones, to thank them for their feedback and not to reflect on them in a clichéd way.
These good interactive elements create opportunities to build relationships, increase customer loyalty and encourage return customers.
5. Integration with other marketing channels
Fortunately, marketing channels don’t work like beverage distribution, so if you want to sell Pepsi as a restaurant, you have to give up Sprite because you can’t sign a contract with two companies. You can link your profile to your website, social media profiles and create a unified brand presence. In fact, the more directions you link to your website from, the better. The more places you appear with consistent brand colors and keywords, the more memorable you’ll be to your audience.
If you’re looking to add an extra point to your marketing strategy, you might want to consider Google Business Profile. It may not bring you all the potential customers (although for restaurants, pubs, bakeries, a well-optimized profile with customer feedback can be a very impressive boost), but it can be a perfect complement to your other marketing activities. The more legs you stand on, the more sources of customers you have, the more likely your business is to succeed!
