If you’re a realistic business, you probably already know the ups and downs of turning digital marketing into real foot traffic. Today we’re looking at one of the simplest and most direct ways to stay in touch with your customers: Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) posts.
Google does 5 billion searches each month for “restaurant” alone. It’s one of the first places your customers look when they need to find your hours, location, peak times and the latest news. And, just as importantly, Google is also where new and potential customers go to get a feel for your environment, customer service, and offerings.
Unlike content from other major social platforms, your Google Business Profile posts are designed to: people who are already looking for you. You are not competing with baby animals or scary headlines. You don’t need to draw attention or cut your heart wires. You just need to state the facts (preferably with excellent visuals and flawless copy.)
But after optimizing your Google My Business profile with the latest details, what’s the next step? Is it worth the time and effort to incorporate your Google Business Profile into your social media calendar and social customer service strategy? Short answer: probably.
The average answer is: GMB is pretty much the opposite of starting a YouTube channel, for example. The rewards are high, but the time, know-how and associated costs are all low.
Read on for the long answer.
In this post, we’ll look at best practices for creating the best Google My Business posts to communicate directly with your customers; this means improving their experience and your bottom line at the same time.
How to post to Google Business Profile?
Google My Business posts are short, simple updates to engage people who are actively looking for information about your business (or businesses like yours).
One of the reasons GMB posts are so important is because Google prioritizes quality data in search results, so making sure you’re giving your customers what they want can improve your search rankings. For example, if you run an ice cream shop in Seattle, you’re more likely to appear in search results when someone searches for “Ice cream shop Seattle.”
Let’s go through the steps to submit a post to your Google Business Profile.
1. Install and optimize your GMB profile (if you haven’t already)
Once you have your Google Business Profile up and running, you can create posts by signing into Google My Business, downloading the Google My Business mobile app, or using Moyens I/O to integrate your GMB strategy with your other social media marketing channels (we offer more). details on that soon).
2. Choose the best post type for your goals
In the menu, click postsClick and choose your post type.
As a minimum, every GMB post includes an image, text, and a clear call to action. Some also include time constraints. Depending on your goals – is your summer patio open? Are you hosting a fan signing?—decide on one of these options:
- What’s up: Announcements and general information about your business.
- Events: List your live or online events (your post should include a start and end date and time).
- Offers: Announce limited-time coupons, deals, promotions or discounts (again, you need to add a start and end date, and you can also add a coupon code).
- Product:%s: These posts help you highlight one or more of the products available in your Product tab (which you’ll need to set up separately).
Note: From spring 2020, GMB also offers a COVID-19 update tab where you can update your opening hours; adjusted service options (ie curbside pickup? Takeout only? Free delivery?); and other relevant social distancing measures.
3. Create your post
GMB posts don’t have to be flashy: your audience is most likely actively searching for the information you offer. But some methods are better than others, so here are our top tips to keep in mind.
text
While posts have a 1500 character limit, aim to keep things short and direct here. The first 7 or 8 words will appear at the top of the screen and users need to click to read more, so deliver your message as quickly as possible. Avoid going beyond 150-300 characters unless you have a very valid reason.
Pro tip: Hashtags are redundant and irrelevant in GMB, but a few brand emojis can be a nice touch.
images
The photos and videos you upload for your posts should be professional or as close as you can manage.
An attractive portrait of your award-winning croissant or a moody golden hour angle on your hanging wall can be the deciding factor for a new customer trying to choose between you and the place down the street. Show off your absolute best to convert searchers into customers. (Keep scrolling for Google My Business post image size guidelines.)
call to action
Google offers a number of CTA buttons. The options are varied and depend on your shipment type, but all standards are represented: Learn More, Order Online, Buy Now, etc.
You’ll want to make absolutely sure that you’re linking to an effective (ie seamless and crawlable) landing page. If you don’t link to your own page, make sure it’s a site you trust so you don’t risk going against Google’s content policy.
Pro Tip: Consider using UTM parameters for your links so you can measure how much of your site traffic is coming from Google compared to your other marketing efforts.
Date range
If you are listing an event or offer, you must specify the times and dates it applies.
Pro Tip: According to Google, if a post does not have a specific date range, all posts are archived after 7 days.
4. Publish
click Preview Make sure to copy, edit and tweak to see how your post will look, then go ahead and Publish. Your post will appear in three places:
- On mobile: Updates o Your Company’s Business Profile Tabs labeled Overview (in both Search and Maps)
- On the table: In the “Owned” section of the Business Profile (in both Search and Maps)
Google My Business websites (i.e. low effort websites that Google will help you build if you don’t have a website of your own)
5. Don’t forget to check your analytics
Not surprisingly, Google has a lot of interesting insights for you to check out once you have some posts ready and running. Take a look at your post views and see how your customers interact with your profile. Then give them more than they love.
Pro tip: Consider quantity as well as quality. According to consumers, businesses that respond to reviews are 1.7 times more trustworthy than those that don’t. So make sure your digital customer support strategy monitors your Google My Business reviews along with your other social listening habits.
Can Moyens I/O post on Google My Business?
Yes, Moyens I/O can post What’s New announcements on Google My Business. The process is simple:
- Verify your Google My Business profile.
- Install Google My Business in Moyens I/O’s Application Directory.
- You will now have a Google My Business tab in your Moyens I/O dashboard.
- Authorize Moyens I/O to access your GMB account for every post (posts, questions, and reviews).
- In the Posts feed, click to add a New Post.
- Fill in the fields (text, image, CTA button and link).
- click Publish Now.
We have a handy video tutorial for a quick look at how to use Moyens I/O to post to Google My Business:
Google My Business post image dimensions
When it comes to posting images on your Google My Business posts, you’ll want to keep these guidelines in mind:
- Image size:
- Minimum: 400 wide x 300 pixels high, 10 kb
- Maximum: 10,000 x 10,000 pixels, 25 MB
- Video size: file sizes (AVI, MP4, MOV, etc.) can be up to 100MB
5 great Google My Business post examples
1. Event promotional posts
While in-person events are not yet out of style, this is a perfect example of how a local bookstore can keep everyone informed about what’s going on at its two locations.
2. Update posts
The Nouveau Palais is not usually a takeaway, so implementing an online ordering system and promoting opening times to customers was a smart move during quarantine. And even in better times, it’s a great look to post some compelling pictures of your offers and keep your opening hours up to date.
3. Promotional posts
If you have a coupon or promotion that you want your customers to hear about, post it here too.
4. Human posts
Google is not Instagram. You are not necessarily here to win hearts and minds. Messages are highly functional. But I have to say, this post from a neighborhood institution in Montreal was pretty poignant, perhaps in a way that couldn’t match a post on a platform where everything was tested as As Touching As Possible.
5. Or, if all else fails, post great visuals.
The great thing about photos (and videos shared by boutique Etat de Style below) is that Google uses them for so many purposes: you can add them to your photos, Google image search results, etc. So have a sunny day and bribe your photographer friend to come. over.
Best time to post on Google My Business
While Google doesn’t offer statistical guidance on the best time to post on Google My Business, we have some tips to help you find your own best practices based on your unique audience.
Post on when your audience will see it
Your audience’s habits, time zones, commute schedules, etc. Take some time to think about it. This applies to online and real-world habits. For example, if you run a pizza shop with regular weekend rushes, post your deals on Thursday or Wednesday, for example, before people start calling you.
Test the same posts at different times and review analytics
With GMB, your evergreen content – for example, mentioning how you got access to that rare imported brand of imported oat milk – can be reshared every week and seen as posts disappear on their own after 7 days. Figuring out when to post means you can experiment week by week to see which time works best.
Use Moyens I/O to communicate with your customers through Google My Business and all your other social channels. Create, schedule and publish posts on every network, get demographics, performance reports and more. Try it for free today.
