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What Are Posts on Google My Business and Why Do You Need Them?

What Are Posts on Google My Business and Why Do You Need Them

Boost your social media strategy with Google My Business (GMB). GMB is a free, easy-to-use advertising tool that, if leveraged properly, can help drive traffic to your store in person and online. 

Here, we uncover what Google My Business is, what types of posts work best, and how to implement a rich posting strategy that will grow your digital presence.

What Is Google My Business?

First launched in 2016, GMB offers a posting feature that allows you to share valuable information with your potential customers. Its capabilities allow business owners, like you, to promote their business in a creative way. What’s more, you can use Google My Business to manage your reputation and respond to customer reviews. 

From discounts, to product promotions, to company news, and everything in between — using Google My Business increases brand awareness and improves the customer experience, driving customers through the sales funnel.

The Benefits of Posting on Google My Business

Give your customers the transparency they want by staying active on Google My Business.  Through regular posting, you make it easy for customers to find important business updates and interact with your brand — both of which foster a loyal customer base. Posting on GMB allows you to: 

  • Establish a direct line of communication between your business and customers
  • Improve the customer experience 
  • Maximize visibility by pushing product promotions 
  • Engage with and form relationships with your customers

Types of Google My Business Posts

What Are Posts on Google My Business and Why Do You Need Them?

The first step in coming up with a comprehensive Google My Business posting strategy is selecting the right post format. This depends on the information you want to present to your audience. GMB offers six different post types to choose from.

Company News and Updates

Highlight company news and show customers what makes your business unique. Regularly posting company updates is a great way to display company culture and brand personality — helping you gain traction on Google My Business and enticing customers to engage with your business. 

  • Give a shout-out to a regular customer or hardworking employee 
  • Post a photo or video of a new product or service 
  • Announce restocks of customer favorites 

These posts expire within seven days. It’s important to consistently post new updates. Include photos or videos to make your post more engaging. Include an action button to redirect viewers to the right place should they want to learn more.

Upcoming Events

Promote upcoming events that are taking place within your business through your listing in local search and in Google Maps. Event posts are a great way to spark the interest of your customers and keep them updated on what’s happening within your company. Event posts require a specified event timeframe so that people know when it’s taking place — if you don’t select a timeframe, GMB defaults to a 24-hour post expiration. 

Special Offers

What Are Posts on Google My Business and Why Do You Need Them?

Highlight limited-time promotions and offers. Upload photos and videos of the product or service you’re promoting to boost engagement. Set up a coupon code within these posts that customers can use in-store and online. Select a timeframe on these posts to let people know when the offer is ending — the post will automatically disappear after the promotion is over.

Product Promotions

If you’re looking to broadcast a new product offering, this post is for you. Create a buzz around the product with a compelling, high-quality photo or video. Include a detailed description and price range. Promotion posts will appear in the “Product” tab and expire after seven days on your page.

COVID-19 Updates

Post updates and changes to your business policies due to COVID-19. These can include: 

  • Hours of operation updates
  • Changes in business operations
  • Updates to locations and hygiene protocols
  • Support requests

Hours Updates

Should you update your hours on your Google My Business page, customers who visit your profile will see a message and post that emphasizes this update. This will populate on the “Updates” tab of your profile. After you’ve created the update, you can also edit these posts to provide further details regarding the change. 

How to Optimize Your Google My Business Posts

To help you take full advantage of all that Google My Business Posting has to offer, make sure you are optimizing all of your posts. The more strategic the post, the higher engagement it will receive. 

Use High-Quality Photos and Videos

Boost customer engagement with compelling visuals. Including high-quality photos and videos in your GMB posts is a smart way to drive sales — especially since many people use visuals to drive their purchasing habits. Not only will a high-quality graphic capture the attention of the consumer, but it will also help you stand out from your competition. 

Keep Posts Consistent and Timely

What Are Posts on Google My Business and Why Do You Need Them?

With any social media platform, posting consistently is the key to gaining traction. Because GMB posts expire in seven days, it’s important to keep a consistent posting schedule. Since people continuously check this platform throughout the day, you want to ensure your information is as updated as possible.

Keep your content timely. If you’re posting about upcoming company events, promotions, or sales, it’s imperative to let your customers know ahead of time so that they have enough notice to take advantage of your offer. 

In addition to maintaining these posting habits, check this platform frequently. Always respond to messages and reviews in a timely manner to guarantee great customer service. 

Optimize Your Call to Action

Create a strong, clear call to action on your Google My Business post. Keep your call to action relevant to the post, but enticing enough that it will drive customers to click. For example, if you own a furniture store and are offering a storewide discount code on GMB, a call to action such as “Get 25% off now” could be enough to motivate the reader to click through and make a purchase. Include an action button that leads to an optimized, relevant landing page to provide a seamless experience. 

Optimize Your Google My Business Posting With ThumbStopper

At Thumbstopper®, we help retailers, like you, leverage high-quality content for your businesses’ social media page — so you can trade busy work for business value. Convert followers into customers with a comprehensive social media presence that includes Google My Business. 

We’re currently working on adding Google My Business posting capabilities to our platform so that you can maximize your social media presence and benefit from greater brand awareness. Contact us today to learn more.

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Key Points:

 

  • Companies should understand the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure their websites are accessible.
  • Brands that concentrate on accessibility on social media demonstrate care for their customers and build a positive brand reputation.
  • Brands should always consider inclusive design, such as plain, straightforward language, in their social media posts.

 

 

Accessibility may not be a term you usually associate with the internet and social media. You might picture wheelchair ramps, directional signs in braille, or sign language interpreters at live performances. The landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 dictates the legal necessity of these and similar accommodations in public spaces. As we’ve come to rely on the internet for everything from entertainment to buying groceries, it’s become clear that the internet is now also a public space. It must be accessible to everyone. And like other applications of ADA, businesses that do not comply are liable for damages caused by inaccessibility.

 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an international set of standards to provide instruction on meeting accessibility needs. It’s important for companies to understand how this applies to their websites, especially if they engage in e-commerce. In terms of social media, the requirements are less concrete. But prioritizing accessibility on your company’s social media is essential to your reputation, even if the legal requirements are uncertain. We’ll look at why it’s important to your customers, how it affects the perception of your brand, and how to make these changes efficiently.

Social Media for All

The cornerstone of accessibility is inclusive design: products or experiences that are accessible for everyone regardless of disability. The most important place where this shows up is on company websites where most users expect to also find links to the brand’s social media profiles. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of websites are not accessible, despite the fact that the application of ADA to the internet is over 20 years old. Making websites accessible is a complex process without the use of specialized software like Accessibe or EqualWeb.

Unlike websites, making sure your social media is accessible is a straightforward, ongoing process. Every social platform has been quick to release optional accessibility features. These features are important to many users even if they don’t rely on them to use social media.

Making your social presence accessible tells users that your brand cares about people, not just profits. It’s the same idea as the push for the representation of different body sizes in fashion or more expansive skin tone ranges in beauty products. Brands that meet the needs of underrepresented groups endear themselves to others as well. And while optimizing your brand website for accessibility might be a larger project you aren’t ready to tackle yet, starting with your social media pages is a great way to show customers that you’re listening to their concerns. 

 

Making Content Accessible

Shifting to accessible content means incorporating inclusive design into your creative process. The practice varies by type of media. For platforms that have graphics or videos with captions, it means not only adjusting each component but also being mindful of how they interact with each other.

For example, YouTube’s automatically generated closed captions and subtitles are often inaccurate. It's one of many examples where the caption generation software has issues picking up strong accents and mumbled words. This could be remedied with handcrafted video transcription services. If that’s not in the budget, the video creator could add their script or transcription to the video description.

None of the technology for accessibility is perfect yet. Teaching computers to digest complex information for human understanding is difficult, and the variations in disabilities further complicate it. The majority of adjustments creators need to make revolve around helping assistive technology better understand their content. Let’s look at how to make different kinds of content accessible. 

Text

  • Use plain language that’s easy to understand 
  • Avoid text in all caps
  • Capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag, like #SocialMediaMarketing, a practice called camel-case

Videos

  • Provide descriptive captions. Instead of just displaying the words people on-screen say, explain background noises and other sounds that are relevant to the scene.
  • Add your own subtitles or enable auto-subtitles on the video platform of your choice
  • Use captioning for live videos when possible

Graphics

Distribute Accessible Content

Many users find their new favorite brand through social media. When disabled people (who make up 26% of the population according to the CDC) can’t access your brand’s social posts, you miss the opportunity to connect with a demographic that’s eager to engage in online communities. On a hyper-local level, that kind of connection goes even further.

That’s why ThumbStopper exists to help brands distribute their social content to their retailer network. Retailers can connect with their local audience - with your accessible, branded content - in a more personal way. And since content goes to their page automatically once they sign up, retailers can effortlessly promote your brand online while focusing on running their business. 

Ready to see how ThumbStopper can help your brand improve its reach? Check out our brand reach calculator or book a demo.

 

 

accessibility
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Key Points:

 

  • Companies should understand the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure their websites are accessible.
  • Brands that concentrate on accessibility on social media demonstrate care for their customers and build a positive brand reputation.
  • Brands should always consider inclusive design, such as plain, straightforward language, in their social media posts.

 

 

Accessibility may not be a term you usually associate with the internet and social media. You might picture wheelchair ramps, directional signs in braille, or sign language interpreters at live performances. The landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 dictates the legal necessity of these and similar accommodations in public spaces. As we’ve come to rely on the internet for everything from entertainment to buying groceries, it’s become clear that the internet is now also a public space. It must be accessible to everyone. And like other applications of ADA, businesses that do not comply are liable for damages caused by inaccessibility.

 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an international set of standards to provide instruction on meeting accessibility needs. It’s important for companies to understand how this applies to their websites, especially if they engage in e-commerce. In terms of social media, the requirements are less concrete. But prioritizing accessibility on your company’s social media is essential to your reputation, even if the legal requirements are uncertain. We’ll look at why it’s important to your customers, how it affects the perception of your brand, and how to make these changes efficiently.

Social Media for All

The cornerstone of accessibility is inclusive design: products or experiences that are accessible for everyone regardless of disability. The most important place where this shows up is on company websites where most users expect to also find links to the brand’s social media profiles. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of websites are not accessible, despite the fact that the application of ADA to the internet is over 20 years old. Making websites accessible is a complex process without the use of specialized software like Accessibe or EqualWeb.

Unlike websites, making sure your social media is accessible is a straightforward, ongoing process. Every social platform has been quick to release optional accessibility features. These features are important to many users even if they don’t rely on them to use social media.

Making your social presence accessible tells users that your brand cares about people, not just profits. It’s the same idea as the push for the representation of different body sizes in fashion or more expansive skin tone ranges in beauty products. Brands that meet the needs of underrepresented groups endear themselves to others as well. And while optimizing your brand website for accessibility might be a larger project you aren’t ready to tackle yet, starting with your social media pages is a great way to show customers that you’re listening to their concerns. 

 

Making Content Accessible

Shifting to accessible content means incorporating inclusive design into your creative process. The practice varies by type of media. For platforms that have graphics or videos with captions, it means not only adjusting each component but also being mindful of how they interact with each other.

For example, YouTube’s automatically generated closed captions and subtitles are often inaccurate. It’s one of many examples where the caption generation software has issues picking up strong accents and mumbled words. This could be remedied with handcrafted video transcription services. If that’s not in the budget, the video creator could add their script or transcription to the video description.

None of the technology for accessibility is perfect yet. Teaching computers to digest complex information for human understanding is difficult, and the variations in disabilities further complicate it. The majority of adjustments creators need to make revolve around helping assistive technology better understand their content. Let’s look at how to make different kinds of content accessible. 

Text

  • Use plain language that’s easy to understand 
  • Avoid text in all caps
  • Capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag, like #SocialMediaMarketing, a practice called camel-case

Videos

  • Provide descriptive captions. Instead of just displaying the words people on-screen say, explain background noises and other sounds that are relevant to the scene.
  • Add your own subtitles or enable auto-subtitles on the video platform of your choice
  • Use captioning for live videos when possible

Graphics

Distribute Accessible Content

Many users find their new favorite brand through social media. When disabled people (who make up 26% of the population according to the CDC) can’t access your brand’s social posts, you miss the opportunity to connect with a demographic that’s eager to engage in online communities. On a hyper-local level, that kind of connection goes even further.

That’s why ThumbStopper exists to help brands distribute their social content to their retailer network. Retailers can connect with their local audience – with your accessible, branded content – in a more personal way. And since content goes to their page automatically once they sign up, retailers can effortlessly promote your brand online while focusing on running their business. 

Ready to see how ThumbStopper can help your brand improve its reach? Check out our brand reach calculator or book a demo.

 

 

accessibility
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