Did you know that, according to the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, there are over 30 million small businesses in the US? Additionally, these small businesses make up 99.9% of all businesses in the US.

With so many small businesses existing in the US, it’s important to put your business on the map.

Not just figuratively, but also literally. You need your customers to be able to find you both online and when they’re looking for a store near them that offers your services or products.

This is why Google Maps marketing is so important. If you don’t have a strong Google Maps marketing strategy, then you’re missing out on the opportunity to connect with customers.

You’re also losing a lot of your business to competitors who have strong Google Maps marketing campaigns.

Fortunately, you can get started with marketing with Google maps now. All you have to do is follow this guide. In it, you’ll learn everything you need to about Google Maps marketing.

That way, you can finally reach more customers and get them to walk through your brick-and-mortar door. You’ll be more successful than ever. Read on to learn more.

What Is Google Maps Marketing?

Before you become the best at Google maps marketing, you need to know what Google Maps marketing is. Basically, this is using Google Maps to optimize your business presence there. When you do this, you’re more likely to show up higher in a Google Maps search.

What happens when you show up higher? If you’ve ever looked up a business near you online, you know exactly what happens.

You go through a few results, take a look at their ratings and pictures people might have posted. You check to see how close they are to you. But you only go through the first few results.

When you have your own business on Google Maps, it’s your customers who are doing this.

So if you want more customers to buy from you online, engage with you, or walk into your brick-and-mortar store, you need to optimize your business’s Google Maps presence.

How Effective It Is

When you focus on local maps marketing, the results can be incredibly effective. Already, almost 88% of mobile searches are done on Google every day. When customers do a Local Google search, 76% of the people completing searches visit a store that same day.

If your business appears at the top of the search, in the first three, this means that your business has made it into the Local 3 Pack.

The Local 3 Pack is what shows up first, and these results are prioritized in a different section that is separate from the other results.

As a result, if your business is there, you will get way more business than other competing businesses that appear later. This is why combining Google Maps and marketing can be so effective.

How Google Maps Marketing Works

There are different ways that Google Maps marketing works. First of all, there are listings that come up based on physical location. Because so many people now do searches on their phones, Google can actually tell where they are when they complete Google Maps searches.

Location-Based Search

You’ve likely done this type of search yourself. Here’s what it looks like, using the search term “coffee shop.” When you type “coffee shop” into Google, even if you don’t have Google Maps pulled out when you’re completing the search, several things will come up.

First, at the top, there will be the PPC ads. For example, Starbucks might have paid to come up first.

But then, after these ads, there are Maps results. These might show additional results that are local, such as Patricia’s Pastries and Coffee.

The results that appear in the map when Google Maps is creating results based on location are the ones that are closest to you when you’ve put in your search term.

A will come up first; this is the closest. Then there’s B, the second-closest, and then there’s C, the third-closest.

Even if searchers are looking for a business without meaning to search for one nearby, the feature Google Suggest (which powers the suggestions that come up) will suggest “near me” to be added at the end.

As a result, many searchers will end up doing a location-based search, finding businesses that way.

Google Maps Results That Are Ranked

There is a second way that Google Maps results appear, and this is where optimizing makes a huge difference. If a user does a search but they aren’t connected to 3G, or they choose an area elsewhere (for example, in a different country), there’s a different kind of search.

It helps to use an example here as well. Let’s say that you’re based in New York City, and you’re looking at hotels to make a reservation for your upcoming trip to Paris.

You wouldn’t search for “hotels near me.” Instead, you’d pull up Google Maps, and then pull up a map of the area of Paris you’re thinking of staying in. Then, you’d type “hotels” into the search engine within Google Maps.

When you complete a search this way, Google doesn’t pull up results based on location.

Instead, it pulls them up based on the rankings that each search result has. The businesses that have the highest star ratings and most reviews are usually the ones that show up first.

This is where marketing can be incredibly powerful. By optimizing your Google Maps listing, and using the right strategies, you can show up at the top and get more customers.

How to Use Google Maps Marketing to Succeed

To use Google Maps marketing to succeed, there are several things you have to do. First of all, if you don’t have one already, you have to create a Google My Business account. This makes it possible for you to be found on a Google Maps search.

When you have a Google My Business account, it shows users different information about your business, including customer ratings, opening hours, and your address.

To optimize your Google My Business account, there are several things you need to do, including getting the right reviews.

Type In Your Address That’s USPS-Approved

When you put in your business’s address, don’t just type in your address. Make sure it’s the same address you use for receiving deliveries with: what is used by USPS or another postal service that operates in your area. This will include information such as:

• Room/ suite/ subdivision information
• The address itself
• The zip code (full nine-digit version)

In addition to having this information down correctly, you need to make sure that there aren’t any typos or extra spaces. Any mistakes you make can get in the way of you optimizing your business for Google Maps, so double-check.

Speaking of checking...you also need to make sure that the checkbox for displaying your business’s address is checked. If you provide Google with this information, it will help with your rankings.

As long as there aren’t any confidentiality issues, you should feel comfortable doing this.

Be Specific About Where You Service

If you’re a service that delivers to your customers or provides services to customers in their own homes, then you need to be specific about where you service when setting up your Google My Business account. You can provide a geographical radius to do this.

You can also specify cities or towns nearby that you service.

Have Google Verify Your Google My Business Listing

Next, you need to have Google verify your Google My Business listing. This usually takes two weeks or so. Once you’ve put it in your Google My Business address, Google will send you a postcard with a PIN that’s unique so they can confirm the verification.

Sometimes, you might be able to do this process over the phone. Once you’ve received your PIN, you can enter it online to get your business listing verified.

Check the Categories That Are Relevant to Your Business

One of the biggest mistakes business owners make when optimizing their business for Google Maps is selecting only one category that’s relevant to their business when setting up their Google My Business account.

Don’t make this costly mistake!

You still need to choose a category that will be your primary category. However, you can select other categories, too. This will not only help your profile be more accurate, but it will also help it be more optimized.

Optimize Your Business Introduction

Many businesses simply put in their address information, without putting in the effort of creating a business introduction. But this can be a great way to introduce yourself to prospective customers! Think of it as part of your branding.

When crafting your introduction, ensure that it represents your business, what you offer, and how you can help your customers.

Use and Optimize Photos

Including photos will make your business seem more friendly and professional. This is already likely to get you more customers. Additionally, you should optimize these photos, including details in the metadata that will make them more Google-friendly.

These include the latitude and longitude of your physical address, geographic location tags, business-relevant keywords, comments regarding relevant services, and additional information about categories.

Get the Best Reviews

One of the most effective ways of optimizing your Google Maps is by getting Google Maps marketing reviews. If Google sees that you have a lot of positive reviews, they’re going to push your business to the top of search results.

You need to have gathered at least five reviews on Google if you want your business to be displayed when someone makes a search on Google Maps and gets ranked results.

If you get any negative reviews, there’s not much you can do about this except reply to your customers. However, over time, positive reviews should be able to counteract the effects of negative reviews.

While you can wait for customers to go out of their way to leave you positive reviews, there are some ways you can almost guarantee that you get reviews. This is with the right Google Maps marketing tools.

TrueReview

For example, you can use a service like TrueReview. This service will help you send a review request via SMS or Email, segment your customers by using surveys and get both feedback and positive reviews.

By using TrueReview, you will be able to both optimize your Google Maps account and find out more about your customers.

As a result, you’ll get more customers and learn about them, which will make your business more successful over time.

One of the benefits of this type of service is that it integrates with many different business marketing solutions.

These include GoCanvas, Setmore, Square, Google Contacts, HubSpot, Acuity Scheduling, Service Titan, and more.

Additionally, you can improve the reviews of your business on more than just Google Maps. You can also get better reviews with Yelp, Facebook, and other review-based websites in your industry.

Need More Information?

Now that we’ve reviewed how you can business Google Maps marketing for your business, you might need more information. Maybe you want to learn more about how to market your business on other platforms.

Or maybe you want to learn more about customer segmentation.

Whatever information you need, we can help. At TrueReview, we’re experts when it comes to digital marketing for small businesses. We also offer review growing services. To learn more about how we can help you, contact us now.