Google Maps is more than just a tool for getting directions, transportation details, or location information. It’s also become a useful place for businesses to promote and market their products and services. If you’re looking for tips on how to utilize Google Maps advertising, you’ve come to the right place.
In today’s post, we’ll look at Google Maps advertising and marketing, the value of it, and why local businesses should utilize it.
What Is Google Maps Advertising?
More than a billion people use Google Maps. High chances are you, and your target customers are among them. Google Maps is mostly used to get around and look for local companies.
For instance, say you’re out of town for the weekend, and you want to get some coffee. Your next course of action is to go to the Google Maps app on your phone, type in “coffee shop,” and see what coffee shops are near you.
As a customer, you find the convenience of using Google Maps to search for what you need extremely useful quickly. As a business owner, you’re pleased to learn that Google Maps have brought in a customer for you.
In a nutshell, that’s how Google Maps advertising works. It makes your local business visible to potential customers.
Local 3-Pack
Type in any product or service in Google Maps, and you’ll immediately see three listings at the top of the page. This feature is also known as the Local 3-Pack. It’s a vital component in Google Maps advertising and marketing.
Ultimately, local businesses should aim to be included in the Local 3-Pack.
There is a set of Google Maps optimization strategies to achieve this feat.
Good news for small businesses, to be named as one of the Local 3-Pack, you don’t have to compete with more prominent, national brands and companies.
If you follow the right strategies and techniques in optimization, you have high chances of appearing in a local, related search for your product or service.
Google Maps Advertising Matters
If your business is operating locally, then there’s no doubt about it – you should have a Google Maps advertising strategy in place.
Advertising with Google Maps helps you reach and target potential customers near your physical store and directly lead them to you to make a purchase.
You may be thinking about online shopping, such as Amazon and e-commerce sites, are taking over or have taken over completely. However, reports have revealed that brick-and-mortar stores are where 90% of global sales are taking place, not online.
Some more useful statistics to learn:
- Up to 1/3 of mobile searches are location-related.
- 85% of online users consistently do a local search.
- Location or area-related searches continues to grow. It increased by 65% in 2018.
- In the US, three out of four people who searched for a product or service on their phone visited the store on the same day; 28% of those people ended up making a purchase.
These figures solidify one fact: People are consistently searching locally. And when it’s a local search, there are high chances that the customers are looking to visit an actual store or business with the intent to buy.
This intent is what you, as a business owner and marketer, would want to take advantage of.
Customers searching locally already know precisely what they are looking for. All they need to know are the businesses c nearby that offer the service or product they need.
In some cases, people are not even aware of a particular business name when they look for it online. They often find businesses on Google Maps. This is the very reason why you want your business to stand out – and that’s where Google Maps optimization comes in.
Google Maps Advertising Factors
Here are the three ranking factors in Google Maps advertising and marketing you should pay attention to:
Proximity
Proximity is solely based on the user’s location. You’re looking to offer your product and service to users with the closest and most accurate distance from your physical business location.
Rank
There are cases when people fail to turn on their location information when they search online. In other cases, the product or service they are looking for doesn’t necessarily need to be local to them.
This is when a rank system set up by Google comes in. This requires a more in-depth explanation, so please watch out for a future post on this topic.
Well-Optimized Google My Business Listing
A local business will need a collection of positive customer reviews, a well-optimized Google My Business listing, and a verification of the address of your business to get an opportunity to be included in the Local 3-Pack.
We’ll also write a more extensive article about this aspect of Google Maps advertising, so stay tuned.