Top Benefits of Google My Business for Dealers

Resources

In 2021, online brand optimization is no longer just an advantage. While the country experienced a surge in online sales, markets across the commercial sphere learned about the importance of maintaining a sharp online presence. Digital visibility strategies like SEO and ad targeting are essential, but Google My Business is the differentiator for the majority of mobile users.

Tapping into the mobile consumer pool can bring your brand to the top, and getting up your GMB strategy is more intuitive than ever. 

Read on to learn about how to utilize Google My Business for dealers and build your profile from the ground up.

Begin with the Basics

Before you can start gaining traction on GMB, you need to make sure that your company’s public information is included in your profile.

The very first step is to create a Google Account for your business, if you have not already. You can either apply an account to a sole business, or a chain if you’re managing multiple locations.

Then, you need to fill out the basic information section of your profile. This step depends on some core pieces of identifying information such as addresses, phone numbers, and your corresponding website URL.

Once you’ve established your account on Google My Business, you will need to determine how your business will appear online via GMB searches. You can control the level of visibility of multiple aspects of your profile, including (but not limited to):

  • Curb-side service address
  • Location information for no-contact businesses
  • Options for serving clients outside of your physical business location
  • Delivery capabilities and max radius
  • Service areas

Most of your online profile will depend on your company’s NAP, or name, address, and phone number. Keeping these three elements consistent across all instances of your online presence will prevent confusion and cultivate brand awareness for potential consumers.

Establishing the correct business category, location type, and public proprietary data is important for attracting the right consumers to your frontpage. Creating a Google My Business profile is the ideal stepping stone for growing or established businesses who want to reach the rapidly expanding online consumer base.

Google My Business for Dealers

Start Posting

When it comes to tackling any digital media plan, it can seem overwhelming when you’re looking at an entire week, month, or year of content production. But, getting started with your first few posts can be the most essential step. 

Content marketing is one of the most influential pillars of digital branding, and it’s playing a major role in the growth of physical and ecommerce businesses in 2021. 

Using the post feature to expand your content strategy gives your profile a wider net for appealing to consumers who may find your brand in a standard search. Google My Business Posts are not quite the same as social media posts, but they can generate interest and engagement all the same.

Simplified, Google My Business posts can be one of the best free advertising methods available for growing or established companies. Integrating interesting pieces of media into your posts will improve the audience experience, allowing you to advertise more concrete aspects of your business at the same time. 

Posts are a great way to showcase highlights of your business including:

  • Products
  • Sales
  • Specials
  • Events
  • Offers
  • Discounts
  • New collections
  • Updates
  • Announcements

In addition to adhering to SEO best practices and compliance standards, your content should focus on solving or addressing an existing problem your customers might have. Informational content that is interesting, concise, and in line with your brand can drive conversions by more than 500%.

If you’re unsure what to post or talk about, think about some of the specific problems or concerns that your product or service is able to solve. How can you solve the issue, and what is the process using what your brand has to offer? Writing about relatable experiences or helping your customers walk through something they’re experiencing is a proven way to generate brand interest.

Google My Business for Dealers

Utilize Video for Increased Engagement

Did you know that video media is the most popular type of content on the web today? More than 75% of adults watch YouTube at home using their mobile device, and the Google-owned platform has a reported two billion monthly users. This makes video, by far, the most widely preferred format when it comes to direct marketing and advertising

Additionally, using the right text in collaboration with your video pieces can drive your content to the top of your customers’ respective searches – as long as you’re using relevancy as your guide. 

The most relevant content is what Google’s algorithm is set up to prioritize. That means that posting often is only working in your favor if you’re using keywords, alt tags, and captions that adhere to your product sphere and target audience. 

There are a few ways to utilize your video content, including:

  • Highlighting new products
  • Announcing sales
  • Showing product or service unveiling previews
  • Generating consumer interest
  • Increasing user engagement
  • Improving click-through rate

However you choose to use your video posts, advertisements, and demos – this is an essential component of maximizing the efficiency of your dealership’s Google My Business page.

Prioritize Google Map Direction Requests

One of the most effective ways to bring more consumers to your dealership is to capitalize on the Google Maps direction features. 

Google Maps alone has more than 154 million users, making it the most popular app in the navigation industry. Connecting your business with this widely-used global platform could be 

one of the easiest ways to increase local visibility, improve your site’s traction, and bring an influx of customers to your store’s physical location. 

Adding this feature to your Google My Business account is as simple as selecting the “Get on Google” option in your GMB account and following the prompts.

Being able to easily locate your business, as well as your contact information and other useful details, can lead to a 5x increase in customer acquisition and retention rates.

Google My Business for Dealers

Target Local Consumers

As with most business types, marketing to your local community can generate the best return on investment – especially for brick-and-mortar storefronts. Bring more people from the nearby area to your car lot by taking a few key measures to reach out to those within a narrow radius of your storefront(s).

In many cases, retail product offerings are relevant to a specific environment, area, or culture that can be tied to a physical location. If you offer seasonal items or services, or want to connect with a particular group of consumers for another niche purpose, honing in on your targeting tactics can strengthen your ROI. 

In short, local customers are almost always going to be less expensive than a buyer who is far away. Why is that? For many brands, shipping alone is enough to want to tighten your customer net. 

So, utilizing the many features in GMB allows you to focus on those who are more likely to buy, at a lower acquisition cost. 

Google My Business is one of the most widely used search tools on the web today, and for good reason. Learning how to leverage this invaluable tool could make the difference between breaking even and breaking into a new sales tier in the next year

Taking a few steps to complete your profile, personalize it for your brand and client base, and dive into the benefits of SEO integration can buy the inexpensive and efficient solution your brand needs.

Google My Business for Dealers

Auto retailers, resellers, and even enthusiasts looking to monetize their hobby can utilize Google My Business to grow, at a fraction of the cost of paid agencies and alternative marketing solutions. If you aren’t planning on utilizing paid advertising, your costs are reduced to zero.

Whether you sell exclusively online or operate a brick-and-mortar dealership, visibility is the key to success in 2021. Attract the customers that your brand was made for, and increase your sales without increasing your expenses at an exorbitant rate. 

GMB is a data-heavy platform, but it doesn’t neglect the visual elements that are necessary for maximizing the user’s time on the page. These two elements are essential for driving online interest in the current digital landscape.

Being able to locate and interact with your brand on Google’s familiar interface is one way to reach out to the growing number of consumers who use a mobile device everyday. Research, shopping, financing, and return sales could all start at the threshold of Google My Business and Google Maps connectivity. 

Troubleshooting for Google My Business is relatively easy for dealerships, with duplicate listing posting the highest threat to your company’s online visibility. Eliminating redundancies and fine-tuning your targeting strategy will help you to reduce costs while focusing your efforts on Google’s most effective filters and features.

Bring more prospective buyers to your lot, and improve your referral rate, by making this one small change in your growing business plan.

EVOX Images leads the industry in automotive imaging and offers the largest library of virtual reality and augmented reality assets available for commercial use. Contact our team or call us at 310-605-1400 to learn more about our innovative imaging solutions.

1 thought on “Top Benefits of Google My Business for Dealers”

Comments are closed.