The holidays are rapidly approaching, and 40% of U.S. customers have started their holiday shopping. This year, promoting local companies is at the forefront of consumers’ minds. In fact, 60% of US consumers who intend to shop for the holidays say they will go out of their way to purchase from small businesses in their area.
We’re excited to be unveiling new local solutions, including a holiday guide, as well as a local holiday guide and new ways for you to stand out on Google so that your customers can easily find you online. We’ve unveiled fresh local options and a local holiday guide to assist you to differentiate yourself on Google and connect consumers with your stores.
Engage with customers using your Business Profile
Starting this week, you may directly claim and verify your Business Profile on Google Search or the Google Maps app. When you search for your company by name, you’ll see a button to claim and verify the associated Business Profile. You may modify information about your business, such as the address and hours of operation, as well as photos and more after it has been verified.
Update your company profile and communicate directly with consumers through search and maps. We’ll also be adding new methods to make the most of your Business Profile. You may now message clients right from Search, and merchants in the United States and Canada can use call history to see which inbound customer calls originated from their Google Business Profile.
View your call history from your Business Profile.
In order to streamline our services, we recommend that small businesses manage their profiles directly on Search or Maps from now on. To avoid confusion, “Google My Business” is being renamed “Google Profile.” And in 2022, we will no longer offer the Google My Business app so more merchants can use the upgraded experience found on both Search and Maps. In the upcoming months, Google My Business will be tailored more towards larger businesses with multiple locations and renaming it “Business Profile Manager.” Look out for further details about these changes from us soon.
Show your local inventory
Before they get to your store, holiday shoppers want to know what’s available. More than half of all U.S. holiday consumers will check online to ensure an item is in stock before heading to the store, according to a recent survey. There are several methods for ensuring that your company appears when people do a search for the items you provide.
You can now see which stores near you have a specific product in stock by using the new “in stock” filter on Search. If you’re a retailer in the U.S. or Canada, make sure your products show up by signing up for Pointy from Google—it’s free and easy to do right from your Business Profile on Search. Pointy allows you to automatically upload all of your in-store product inventory by connecting directly to your current point of sale system. If you have a local inventory feed available, you can submit it through Google Merchant Center. You can also choose to manually add products to your Business Profile on Search one at a time if you want greater control over what’s showcased.
The new “in stock” filter on Search allows users to view only the nearby businesses that have a certain product in their shelves.
Promote your nearby store locations
Seasonal promotions and in-store product goals? No problem! You can promote your location to people searches on Google Maps, Search, Display or YouTube using Local campaigns. Get discovered by potential customers who are near you and help them find what they’re looking for at your store, restaurant or dealership.
Now, with the help of Performance Planner, you can more easily budget your Local campaign for the upcoming holidays. This tool allows you to create a plan for your local advertising investment, and see how changes to that plan might impact your outcomes and performance.
Local campaigns Performance Planner can help determine how much to invest this holiday season and beyond.
You should continue using Local campaigns throughout the holidays to reach consumers because this is a crucial time of year for your business. When the moment is right for your company, you may also test Performance Max campaigns before next year’s campaign upgrades. To help you attract more foot traffic to your physical locations and promote your brand across all Google Ads platforms, Performance Max allows you to advertise your company across all Google Ads channels to increase foot traffic – which includes new inventory and formats that aren’t available in Local campaigns.
