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The Untapped Potential: Why Most Retail Businesses Underutilise Google My Business

Are you missing one of the best free opportunities to drive footfall to your business? I would say most of you are, especially after a week of reviewing many retail businesses’ marketing efforts when it comes to GMB. Read on to understand why you need to be posting to GMB every day and what it can do for your businesses bottom line.

In today’s digital age, establishing an online presence is crucial for the success of any retail business. While many retailers have recognised the importance of platforms like Google My Business (GMB) to showcase their brand, services, and products, a significant portion still underutilise its potential. In this post, I shed light on why most retail businesses fail to leverage GMB effectively and highlight the importance of consistent daily posting to drive footfall.

Inconsistent Posting: One of the primary reasons why retail businesses do not maximise the potential of GMB is due to irregular posting habits. Many retailers create a GMB profile but fail to maintain an active presence. Inconsistency in posting updates, promotions, and engaging content can lead to missed opportunities for customer engagement and reduced footfall.

Lack of Optimisation: While creating a GMB profile is a great first step, it’s equally important to optimise it effectively. Most retail businesses overlook important aspects such as adding accurate business information, selecting relevant categories, and optimising their description and images. A well-optimised GMB profile significantly increases the chances of attracting potential customers and driving footfall to your store or unit.

Ignoring Customer Reviews: Customer reviews play a vital role in shaping a retailer’s reputation and influencing consumer decision-making. However, many retail businesses fail to actively monitor and respond to reviews on their GMB profile. By neglecting this aspect, they miss out on valuable opportunities to address customer concerns, demonstrate excellent customer service, and build trust with potential visitors.

Neglecting GMB Posts: GMB’s post feature allows retailers to share updates, promotions, events, and product highlights directly with their target audience. Unfortunately, many retail businesses do not utilise this feature to its full potential. By neglecting regular posting, retailers miss out on opportunities to engage with their existing and potential customers, keep them informed about the latest offerings, and entice them to visit the store.

Failing to Leverage Insights: GMB offers valuable insights into customer behavior, including how they find and interact with your business listing. These insights can provide crucial data for retailers to make informed decisions about their marketing strategies, store operations, and customer preferences. However, many retailers do not take advantage of these insights, losing the opportunity to enhance footfall through data-driven optimisations.

The Importance of Daily Posting as a Retailer: To enhance footfall and maintain an engaged customer base, retailers should adopt a strategy of daily posting on their GMB profile. Posting every day helps to:

Stay Top of Mind: Regular posting keeps your brand visible and relevant in the minds of your target audience, increasing the likelihood of them choosing your store over competitors.

Drive Engagement: Daily posts provide opportunities to showcase new products, share special offers, and engage with customers through polls, questions, and interactive content. This engagement fosters a sense of community and encourages customers to visit your store.

Boost Local SEO: Consistent posting sends positive signals to search engines, improving your local search rankings. This means more visibility when potential customers search for retail businesses in your area, ultimately increasing footfall.

Create Anticipation: Posting daily updates on upcoming events, promotions, or new product releases creates a sense of anticipation among customers. They become more likely to visit your store to avail themselves of the latest offerings.

To fully leverage the power of Google My Business, retail businesses must go beyond merely having a presence on the platform. By addressing the common shortcomings discussed in this post and adopting a strategy of daily posting, retailers can drive footfall, build customer loyalty, and outshine their competition. Embracing the potential of GMB will lead to a thriving retail business.

Sara Carter Training stands as one of the leading experts in driving footfall to your business through Google My Business, empowering you with the strategies and techniques to maximise your online visibility, engage with customers, and attract a steady stream of visitors to your physical establishment. If you would like to know more contact Sara today.