On 22 June 2017, Google announced it is offering businesses a free way to advertise events, offers and product updates with posts to Google My Business. This presents an opportunity to small businesses with limited marketing budgets a chance to get more attention via search.
What Can I Post?
If you have a Google My Business account you can now post events, news, special offers and product updates directly to Google search. In one click, customers or leads can sign up for your newsletter, register for an event or even purchase directly from your e-commerce store.
There are a series customisable call-to-action buttons you can add to your post including:
Learn More
Reserve
Sign-up
Buy
Get Offer
To create a seamless customer experience, it would be best practice to link to a customised landing page that corresponds with the offer on your Google post.
How Do I Make A Post?
Go to your Google My Business Account and select ‘Posts’.
Image source: Search Engine Land
You can write up to 300 words of text. Google makes some helpful suggestions on their blog on ‘How To Make Great Business Posts‘.
The principles of making a good Google My Business post are the same as other advertising:
Use good eye-catching photography. The minimum file size is 720px by 720px, .jpg or .png format.
Write a punchy attention-grabbing headline. You have 58 characters so you’ll have to sum up your promo in four to five words.
Make a clear and compelling offer. You have up to 1,500 characters but Google recommends 150-300 as optimal.
Include a call-to-action to tell the reader how to take the next steps.
Edit out any superfluous details.
Where Does My Post Appear?
Your post will appear in search engine results pages and on Google maps on both desktop and mobile devices.
Image Source: Google small business blog
How Long Do Posts Feature on Google?
Search Engine Land advises posts feature on Google for a week. Users are then sent an email to say their post is expiring, and they are invited to make a new post.
Results
It’s only been a short while since Google launched posts to Google My Business so it’s too early to gauge the results. However, if your business is currently listed on page four search engine results, it’s not likely this new feature will sky rocket you to position one, page one. But it is another avenue to direct traffic to your site. There are insights and analytics tools to see how many views and button clicks your post received.
Need help with advertising? Talk to us today to discuss how we can help.
Michelle Le Cornu is the founder and director of Brainbox Marketing. Her goal is to make life easier for busy marketing managers and business owners by providing smart and reliable marketing services.
