Leveraging the Power of Google Business Page

How many times a day do you Google something?

We’re constantly turning to Google for help—for directions, a correct spelling or definition, the weather, bus and train schedules, baseball scores and restaurant reviews. It’s hard to imagine life without this versatile tool. 

Yet many business owners still haven’t created a Google My Business page 

Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool for businesses to manage their Google presence–Search, Maps, Ads, etc. GMB can help your customers find you, increase your reach and drive traffic.  

With GMB you can:

• Manage information: Contact information, address, products and services. Businesses that verify their information with GMB are twice as likely to be considered reputable by consumers. 
• Interact with customers: Customer reviews, photos that show off what you do. Businesses that add photos receive 42% more requests for directions on Google Maps, and 35% more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t.
• Understand and expand your presence: You’ll receive a monthly report that details activity. Find insights on how customers searched for your business, and where those customers are coming from. 

Useful GMB page features

• Posts and Events. Share offers, updates, event information and other details with your customers. I post blogs to this section—title, a few paragraphs, a Read more and a link back to the blog on your website. My monthly report shows a surprising number of views and interactions with these posts. 
• What’s New:  COVID-19 updates. For one of my clients, we’re staying the course on our Covid protocols, and we want our clients to be reassured that we’re taking their safety seriously. 
• Offers: Having a sale or promotion? This is the place to share this information.
• Products: List products and services. Keep in mind that there are always character limits. Use your keywords and be strategic. Make sure you’ve communicated your value proposition, what makes you unique.

Creating your GMB page: Verify via U.S. Mail

• As with all Google tools, you’ll need to create your login using a gmail account. Don’t have one? Go to Google Gmail and create a new account with a login and password.
• You also will need to verify your GMB page. Most businesses are verified by mail with a verification postcard from Google. Yes. That really is the U.S. Postal Service. Google believes you need a street address to be a valid business—it’s also a Google Map dependency. A PO Box won’t work. Send this off to Google and watch for your code in the mail. Log back in to your GMB page and insert this code to complete the GMB process. 

But that really shouldn’t be the end of your GMB activity

Update your page with changes to your business, with new blog posts and events. Treat your GMB page like your other social media sites. Post your blogs to this page, add photos. Don’t let it stagnate.  

Need help making the most of Google tools? Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing specialists. 

Apple Rolls Out New App Privacy Controls

Data privacy is back in the news, and this time it’s Apple that’s stepping up to protect our data. They’re scheduled to roll out their new Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) this spring. IDFA is assigned by Apple to a user's device, and it means that every app has to ask us upfront whether it’s okay to share our data with third parties. Note that this is Apple users only—not Android.

So what does this mean for you?

I’m not a big app user, and I don’t ever download games. However, I just took a look at my phone. I’ve got apps for my banks and some stocks, Uber, Lyft, the New Yorker and The NYTimes. For the subway in Buenos Aires from my trip there a few years ago. You get the idea--these apps add up. For our expanding app accumulations, we’ll now be able to decide whether/not we want anyone tracking our online behavior and using it to market products to us. 

This is your chance to quash data tracking in all Apple apps

Why, after all, would we want anyone tracking our behavior to sell us more stuff? With the new IDFA, we’ll get a prompt asking for our consent to track us--known as app tracking transparency (ATT). These prompts that will be displayed in all iOS (Apple) apps are expected to see many users switching off data tracking altogether. If you’re doing online advertising, this could have serious consequences. 

Digital advertisers are wary about the effects of this change

“Privacy means peace of mind, it means security, and it means you are in the driver’s seat when it comes to your own data,” said Apple Senior VP Craig Federighi. “Our goal is to create technology that keeps people’s information safe and protected.”

Under settings dubbed the “Privacy Nutrition Label,” users will be able to see which apps have requested permission to track their data and can either grant permission or deny it. App makers will have to honestly explain how they plan to use the data.

• When you use a new app, a notification will explain what the tracking will be used for, and then it will ask if you want to opt into tracking. 
• You can toggle IDFA data sharing on an app-by-app basis. 
•  You can turn off app tracking altogether and no apps can ask you to be tracked.

Apple's IDFA change has been highly controversial

Facebook actively opposed the change, arguing that it will negatively impact small businesses by driving up the cost and decreasing the effectiveness of their digital/PPC advertising. Apple is also contending with a group of Chinese companies that has banded together to launch an alternative data-tracking tool for their apps. These apps will essentially bypass IDFA, likely in violation of Apple's terms. That could put Apple in a tough position on the broader rollout of the new prompt. Worth watching.

Time to talk marketing strategy? Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketingspecialists.