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Nowadays, people take virtual tours of places and businesses before they get there. Google Maps is an all-in-one tool that shows major and minor venues within a geographical location. By using the tool, you get to let people know about your business presence in a region. And in an era where most people spend their time on their mobile devices, Google Maps will generate the desired foot traffic you need.
The best part, setting up Google Maps is entirely free. But if you want to take it a step further, you need to consider Google Maps Ads. And there are lots of things that go into setting up one for your business.
Here comes the big question, what are Google Maps Ads? Well, you’ll discover all that in the next section.
If someone performs a location search on the Google Maps platform, promoted Google business listings will be displayed for them. Well, these results are typically known as Google Maps Ads (or local search ads). Often, Google will display location-based results or results based on the business rating. These typically happen when you perform searches for businesses within a region.
Just like pay-per-click (PPC) ads, Google Maps ads appear at the top of Google Maps searches. And the results are independent of your proximity to the businesses. Ultimately, Google Maps Ads are a sure way to draw customers to your business.
Google Maps Ads help you promote your business. It also helps you to provide contact information and direction to your customers. Simply put, local search ads help:
Nowadays, you get to easily set up your business location on the Google Maps platform. This way, customers get to easily discover your business location, and also see extra information about your business. This information could be your business phone number and contact details.
Here are other reliable alternatives for promoting your business.
Promoted pins help you get noticed on the Google Maps app. Promoted pins typically pop out on Google Maps even when the user hasn’t made any search query. With promoted pins, you get to attract people who are not actively searching for your product or service offering. People who are within your business vicinity can easily see your ad, and physically walk into your business premises. Promoted pins help boost your business visibility, and also increase the foot traffic of your store.
Discounts, promotions, and offering incentives are easy ways of drawing customers into your business. Everyone is looking for a good deal, and if you can offer them good deals, then you’ve got new customers.
Google Maps Ads help you stand out from the competition. If someone is within your business premises, promoted pins will possibly pop out, and the person gets to walk into your store. And if your business is located in a traffic-dense area, then you’d probably draw some heavy foot traffic into your business.
If your business relies more on foot traffic, then Google Maps Ads will be the best fit for you. You may consider sticking with search ads. Although search ads are okay, they’re only triggered when the user makes a related search query on the Google search engine. With Google Maps Ads, the person has to be within your business vicinity for the ad to be triggered.
Imagine setting up Google Maps Ads for a restaurant business in a traffic-dense area. Well, that would be lots of foot traffic drawn to your business.
Furthermore, Google Maps Ads encourage users to take action. When someone sees the ad, the person will be prompted to search for the business direction. And that translates to more traffic for the business.
Here are some features of the Google Maps Ads.
Users are targeted based on their location. As an advertiser, you get to target people from a geographic region. It could be people from a specific state or city.
There are various formats for Google Maps Ads. These formats could be video ads, images, or text. The location maker and pin drop are the most common forms of Google Maps Ads.
The call-to-action buttons on the Google Maps Ads help prompt users to take your desired action. These actions could be contacting your business or visiting your website.
There’s the option of customizing your ads using things like reviews, promotions, and store hours.
Google Ads comes with analytics and reporting tools. This way, you get to explore metrics like conversions, impressions, or clicks.
Here are easy steps to help you kickstart your Google Maps Ads campaign.
Visit ads.google.com, and click on the “Start now” button. After that, follow the instructions displayed on your screen to create your Google Ads account.
After creating a Google Ads account, you’d have to click on the “New Campaign” button. After that, you’d have to select “Local campaign” as your campaign type.
To create an ad group, select the location you’d want your Google Maps Ads to appear. After that, choose your targeting option and set your campaign budget.
You can opt for a new ad, or use an existing ad. Choose your most preferred ad format – and that could be a location extension or a pin drop.
After creating your ad, and setting up your ad group, you’d have to review your budget and campaign settings. After that, launch your campaign.
Keep a close eye on performance metrics like impressions and clicks. You need to keep adjusting and optimizing your campaign until you start generating your desired result.
Here are easy steps to help you audit your Google Maps Ads.
Take a look at your bidding strategy, location targeting, budget allocation, and ad scheduling. Everything should be optimized in such a way as to help you generate results. Simply put, your campaign settings should align with your advertising goals.
Your ad formatting should be clear and concise with your business objectives. To review your ad format, you need to take a close look at your ad copy, call-to-action (CTA), and images. Every element of your ad has to resonate with your audience and prompt them to take your desired action.
Analyze performance metrics like impressions, cost per click (CPC), conversions, and clickthrough rate (CTR). Identify areas that need to be worked on, and work on them.
Your business information on Google Maps needs to be accurate. This information could be your business address, phone number, operation hours, and website.
Keep a close eye on your competitors. Analyze their messaging, ad format, and location data. Look out for areas of improvement, and effect those changes in your ads.
Perform A/B testing on various elements of your ad. These ad elements could be your messaging, ad formats, bidding strategy, or targeting. Monitor your campaigns, and make some changes (if any).
Speaking of monitoring your campaigns, you’d need a tool like the PPC Signal. Here’s why you should consider using the tool.
The PPC Signal compares your campaign behaviors. That is, it compares the dimension values of your desired metrics over time. This way, the user gets to gain insights about the campaigns and come up with an informed conclusion. For instance, the tool helps a user to compare the clicks generated on both desktops and mobile devices.
Aside from comparing dimension values, the PPC Signal does metrics comparison. Here, the behavioral patterns of dimensions are compared over time. It could be the behavioral pattern between the click and impression increase. This way, the user gets to quickly detect early campaign behaviors.
Finally, the PPC Signal helps you identify what’s working, and what’s not. This will, in turn, help the user improve their campaign targeting.
Yes, Google Maps Ads are a sure way of attracting potential customers to your business. With Google Maps Ads, you get to attract people within your geographic region into your business.
If you’re considering using Google Search Network, then the CPC is $2 or $4. However, the average CPC on Display Network is below $1. Some keywords cost above $50 per click.
If you opt for agencies or experts, then the cost will be within the $1,500 to $2,000 range. However, if you’ve got large accounts, you should be looking at $5,000 and above.
Here are the components of Google Ads quality score.
Audits help you ascertain the relevance, accuracy, and compliance of Google Maps Ads to Google policies. People who are within your geographical location can identify where your business is physically sited with Google Maps Ads.
As a marketer, you need to always keep a close eye on your campaigns. However, that will pose an issue if you’re not using tools like PPC Signal. With the PPC Signal, you get to have relevant insights about your campaign. The tool also helps you to identify, and fix any anomaly (if there are any).
The PPC Signal tool uses metrics and dimensions to effect small changes in your campaign. And that’s what makes it different from all other monitoring tools in the market. Other alternative tools use predefined domain rules. Recommendation about a campaign is given using these domain rules.
Now you know everything that goes into auditing your Google Maps Ads, what tool(s) will you use to audit your Google Maps Ads?
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