Maximizing Google My Business for Product Promotion

In the age of digital, shifting from traditional to digital platform is important for Small Business Enterprises (SMEs) in order to catch a wider group of consumers. In fact, consumers are now on mobile and prefer online transaction for their everyday consumption. Consumers are also actively searching for information about the products or services that they want to use. Therefore, it is plausible for SMEs to increase their visibility on a search engine especially Google. With Google My Business, SMEs can place the product knowledge and promotion of their business without needing to have a website. Furthermore, it links to other Google services such as Google Maps and Google Reviews which will be beneficial for SMEs to reach more customers.

To create an account on Google My Business, SMEs only need an email and business address. The email address is used to create an account on Google My Business. The business address—not necessarily an office address as a home address where the business takes place is enough—is for the consumers to easily find the business on Google Maps if they want to make a face-to-face transaction. In addition, with the emergence of third-party instant delivery service which enables SMEs deliver products to consumers within hours after the order is made, the visibility of the SMEs on Google Map can help the delivery service to easily find the business location.

Apart from making SMEs visible on Google Maps, having Google My Business can help SMEs to welcome customers review for other customers reference. In fact, the customers review can help the SMEs promote their business for free. Customers usually believe reviews more than they do business organic promotion. The customers review on Google Reviews will definitely help the SMEs build trust towards brand.

How Google Reviews helps promoting SMEs? First of all, it helps search engine optimization and visibility. By having your product and location information available online especially on Google service, the chance of your business to get searched on Google is higher than having it only on social media. Second, it increases trust and credibility of customers towards product and business. Having a real location that is pinned on Google Maps can convince customers that your business really exists. Third, good reviews can influence potential customers. Reviews on Google for your business from existing customers can attract new customers to try the product.

The next reason for using Google My Business to leverage products is it helps SMEs to interact with customers. Customers who find your business on Google can ask questions to confirm the authenticity of your business and it gives a chance for SMEs to present and promote their products. Another reason is that it can improve click-through rates with business website and social media accounts. With the ubiquitous visibility of e-commerce, SMEs can even place their e-commerce store name on  their Google My Business to reach wider customers. Lastly, the very reason SMEs must utilize Google My Business is simply due to the fact that Google rules the search engine world.

In short, there is no reason for SMEs to be left behind just due to digital shifting in consumer behaviors. There are abundant tools available out there to help them digitalize their business. One not to be missed is the usability of Google My Business.

Contributor: Lily El Ferawati, PhD.

Editor: Lily El Ferawati, PhD.