Today, finding places on Google is incredibly fast and convenient. The search engine spits out all of the information you need without making you sift through the website itself. This is why Google is the top tool for discovering almost any local business in a given area (for example, your dealership!).
Google has released a lot of updates for Local Search and one of the biggest game changers is Google Posts. Google Posts help users see website content right on Google’s search result page, rather than requiring a user to navigate through to the website.
What are Google Posts?
Google Posts let you instantly create and share announcements, offers, services, products, or event details directly with anybody who searches for your dealership, without requiring them to visit your website. It’s a great way to drive awareness of your best offers, biggest events, or most compelling promotions.
A Google Post can display copy of up to 300 words, include a photo, clickable call to action and a date range for events.
Posts are placed right below the “about” section in Google My Business, as shown here:
By clicking the post, the user can read further about the promotion:
Why Should I Care?
Over 85% of people turn to online research before visiting a dealership. Your Google listing is the ideal place to showcase what is unique about your dealership. Even when customers know exactly what they’re looking for they still want to get to know all the special offers available, particularly if there are multiple dealerships in their market that offer the same product!
With Google Posts, you can:
- Increase visibility for events and offers
- Engage your audience and improve customer experience with timely information
- Take up valuable real estate on Google Search and Maps
- Drive traffic to a chosen piece of content on your website
Up to 10 posts can appear in a scroll-through carousel within the knowledge panes for one business. However, having only one post is far more effective as less of the imagery is cropped by Google and the click-through rate is higher.
As for types of posts, there are four available to us:
- What’s New posts
- Event posts
- Offer posts
- Product posts
There is so much opportunity with Google Posts but we must warn that there is one major downside to them – all posts expire after seven days. The solution? The sole exception to this rule is event posts. By using this feature, we are able to set exactly how long each event is displayed on Google:
What’s the Convertus Way?
At Convertus, we value personalization. That’s why we publish all Google Posts as events, as that gives us the most wiggle room. For each event post, we create the visual, title, call to action, timing, and description. In addition, we track the impressions and clicks for each post.
We strongly encourage you to let us know if you have any future promotions and events. If no dealer-specific offers are available, we usually run monthly OEM promotions not to waste precious real estate on Google Search and Maps.
Google Posts are a great additional promotional tool. They’re a great, eye-catching way to promote your offers, timely content, and seasonal promotions right on Google. By using Google posts, you make it easier for potential customers to act by providing a one-click path to your offers. Essentially, Google is helping you to stand out, allowing more freedom in how you connect with your customers. Why not take advantage of it?
If you’re interested in getting Google Posts up and running in no time, contact our Customer Success team at 1.888.354.6441 or support@convertus.com and let’s start the conversation!