“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For...”
…But a Local Search Might Help Me Find It! For restaurants, retailers, and personal services, converting a smartphone search to an in-person visit has never been more important. Did you know that over a BILLION people (yes, with a B) use Google Maps? And that location-related searches have been growing 50 percent faster than mobile searches overall in the past year? A whopping 84 percent of consumers are conducting local searches, leading 75 percent of those consumers to visit a brick-and-mortar location within a day, and 28 percent of those searches will eventually result in a purchase.
Those are some crazy statistics right? So how do you take advantage of all this search traffic? Lucky for us, Google has our back! The company recently launched new Google Maps ad formats and features that are specifically designed to drive more foot traffic to your physical location. “Ads on Google can feature your business locations and lead users to call or visit your locations. When people search for nearby businesses on Google.com or Google Maps (for example, “coffee near me”), they may see local search ads that feature your business locations.”
The “Local Search” campaign includes features like promoted logo Pins, in-store promotions, customizable business pages, and local inventory search, allowing you to easily capture potential customers who are already searching for you!
Promoted pins are branded pins that make your business stand out to nearby customers who may be driving or walking by.
In addition to highlighting you on the map, the ad provides customizable details about your business, and offers the ability to create in-store promotions and even potentially showcase your current inventory!
You may be wondering how this is different from traditional Google Search ads? In traditional search ads, a user has to specifically search for certain terms before your ad can be displayed. However, on Maps ads, the user just needs to be nearby for the ad to be triggered. For businesses that rely on foot traffic, this type of campaign can drive an impressive conversion rate that you may not have seen with traditional PPC search ads.
As most people will be seeing these ads while on their smartphones, there is strong call-to-action engagement with the ads. Google encourages users to interact with the ads with “tap to call” and “tap for directions” buttons, increasing the chances that a user will find themselves in your restaurant or store.
There are a few downsides however. The simplicity of the campaign set-up and the broad reach of the Maps platform means there are less robust demographic targeting capabilities. So, if your business has more of a niche consumer base, Google ad or SEM campaigns that offer more control over your targeting may be a better option.
Pull out your smartphone, open Google Maps and you can see which nearby businesses are running Local Ads right now! You can also learn more about Google Local Search Campaigns HERE.
Interested in learning more about how the changing digital landscape can help your business grow? Request a consultation and we’ll get back to you ASAP!
