When people search for local businesses on Google, they’re shown the info that Google has on the business, like website, phone number, and address – and, for brands set up on Google’s Business Messages, these searchers will be able to message the brand directly.
Google calls its Business Messages a way for brands to “meet customers where they are.” And it’s undeniable that customers are on Google: the search giant performed nearly 9 out of 10 online searches worldwide in the past decade.
What Google Business Messages Bring for Brands
75% of consumers prefer to engage with brands through messaging channels instead of traditional channels.
Even in the best of times, brands should maximise their ability to answer customer questions. But being responsive to customers’ questions, wherever they’re asking them, is especially important during times of uncertainty.
For example, a customer may want to confirm that a store’s hours posted online are accurate before they visit the store – so having Business Messages set up, and spending half a minute answering “We’re open, come on in!” is a quick and easy way to move customers from online searches to offline store visits.
This means that instead of calling or emailing your brand’s locations, customers want to use chat, and whether you have a readily-available chat option or not may be the deciding factor for if they end up coming to your location. A majority of customers even take it as a given that they should be able to message brands:
In short: 9 out of 10 customers are searching with Google, and they expect to be able to message brands directly. Setting your brand up with Google’s Business Messages is an important way to ensure your customers have easy access to a direct line of communication with you.
Learn more about Google Business Messages in our podcast episode with Google’s Rob Lawson. Listen on Apple Podcasts
What If I Manage Multiple Locations?
For brands with many locations, it can quickly become a hassle to set up and manage Business Messages for every single Google listing. PinMeTo is the first tool in its category to offer a way for multi-location brands to manage Google Business Messages for all of their locations in one place – along with a suite of other capabilities like listings management, social media posting, and reputation management.
Reviewed March 1, 2024
