How to use Google Posts to Increase Foot Traffic This Labor Day
Labor Day is right around the corner, and 57% of Americans plan to make labor day related purchases. Because of this, Labor Day is the perfect time to give Google Posts a try in order to inform consumers of any deals, discounts or events your business may be having. Let’s take a look at all the ways incorporating Google Posts this Labor Day can increase your foot traffic and improve your local SEO efforts.
What are Google Posts?
Google Posts are 100 – 300 word posts accompanied by a photo or video featured on your Google My Business (GMB) Listing in the Knowledge Panel. Google Posts come with a call-to-action (CTA) button that helps to entice users to take action of your post. These posts stay live for a maximum of 7-days in order to encourage businesses to keep posts fresh and up-to-date.
How Google Posts Can Increase Foot Traffic:
Google posts are a great way to target your ideal local audience. Google owns 88.08% of the U.S. search engine market share and 90.46% worldwide. With more than a third of mobile searches showing local intent, Google Posts is one of the best ways to reach your target audience with the content they want to see.
Because Labor Day promotions may differ by location, Google Posts are the perfect way to share location-specific content. Instead of trying to target the right audience, let them find you and engage with your business through local search. 50% of mobile local searches result in an in-store visit on the same day. By using Google Posts to create enticing same-day offers, you can increase the likelihood of users visiting your store that day.
When it comes to learning about a product or service, 70% of internet users prefer content over traditional advertising. That’s what makes Google posts such a great tool. Google Posts allows you to create ad-like posts without the stigma that comes with an ad.
Using Google Posts to inform customers of your Labor Day sales, promotions or events like concerts, festivals or even BBQ’s is a great way to attract new and returning customers. By promoting Labor Day specials through Google Posts not only will you increase foot traffic during the holiday, but you’ll increase traffic and clicks on your listing. Increased clicks on your GMB listing can help you to rank higher. This is done through behavioral signals or click-through rates from your GMB listing. Google Posts have higher click-through rates because they include a call to action (CTA).
[tweet_box design=”default” float=”none”]When it comes to learning about a product or service, 70% of internet users prefer content over traditional advertising.[/tweet_box]
Types of CTA buttons you can include on your Google Posts:
- Book an Appointment
- Order Online
- Buy
- Learn More
- Sign Up
- Get Offer
By creating posts with a button, consumers will be more likely to take action. Whether it’s learning more about your event, booking an appointment, or something else, Google Posts are a great way to increase engagement with your customers starting this Labor Day.
Ok this is great… but how do I use Google Posts?
Google Posts in 7 steps:
- Head to your Google My Business Dashboard.
- Select the location you would like to manage.
- Click “Create Post”
- Select the post type.
- Add your photo or video, text, offer, and button.
- Click preview to see the post before you publish.
- Hit Publish in the top right corner of the preview page if you are happy with your post.
5 Need-to-know details about Google Posts:
- Only the first 100 characters are displayed in the knowledge graph. Make sure you put the most important content here. If you can’t fit it all in 100 characters try including it in your photo.
- 750 x 750 px is the best size for images. Crop your photos to size in order to avoid images getting cut off.
- Your first 2.5 posts are shown in the search results (before scrolling, which shows up to 10 posts). Additional posts can be seen in the “Posts” tab where the view is switched from a left to right scroll to an up and down scroll.
- You can’t schedule posts, and they only stay live for up to 7 days. (Exception: Events will stay live until the event ends.)
- GIFs are not currently supported but you can always create a video instead.
If you’ve been waiting for the right time to start incorporating Google Posts into your marketing plan, now’s the time. Start with a simple Labor Day promotion and see how it helps to improve your foot traffic and revenue. Take what you learn from this trial run and apply to future Google Posts. In addition to promoting Labor Day specials, make sure you update your listings for special holiday hours as well.
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