How to do Paid Advertising in Google My Business
Updated: Feb 2, 2022
As a small business owner, you need to research all avenues for advertising, getting new leads, and securing new clients.
It helps if the avenues that you turn to are successful at garnering leads without being too popular amongst your competitors.
One avenue is through paid advertising on Google My Business. This is different from advertising through Google Ads (which is another advertising option for SMBs, but usually not worth it for smaller budgets).
Here’s what you need to know about paid advertising in GMB.
What is Google My Business?
Google My Business, or GMB for short, is a platform that local businesses can set up in order to boost the visibility of their business in online, local settings.
By setting up a GMB account for your business, your business has the potential to show up in local search results so that more people are directed to your webpage and ultimately your products or services.
GMB is essentially a business profile and dashboard, which allows businesses the opportunity to broadcast their business address, phone number, website, photos, critical contact information, information about their store hours and operations, and much more.
Business owners can also allow their staff access to their GMB profile to represent the business on their behalf, respond to staff, and post regular updates like to a social media account.
Opening a GMB account is free and if you have a business with a physical storefront, then you should open it.
It requires minimal management; you will only have to verify your address and maintain reviews.
Can I Run Ads on Google My Business?
You can run ads on GMB and this is a different service than Google Ads (and we will compare these two below).
The fact is that Google has recently allowed businesses to host a sponsor's ad or listing even in the local channel.
To do this, you have to link your GMB with your Google Ads campaigns.
This makes your ads eligible for showing up in local results.
So what does this look like?
Whenever anyone searches an area for a particular service, an ad will show up as part of the top search results.
It has listed the “Ad” decal so that you know that it has pulled up not due to popularity but because they paid for that listing.
Essentially, when doing paid advertising through GMB, you are advertising through Google Maps rather than the Google search engine.
Google refers to this as Smart campaigns (as opposed to Google Ads).
Google Ads vs. Ads on Google My Business
Smart campaigns help business owners reach more customers through online advertising.
This service is different from Google Ads because it uses local search settings and Google Maps as its primary form of advertising.
If you’re new to this, then it can be confusing. Google has multiple services and each of them offers similar things. Here’s where they differ:
Google My Business: A business online profile that allows you to list your business through a verified local address (note that businesses can verify in other ways and does not need a physical address). Verified businesses are more likely to show up on Google Maps and through a placard on the right-hand side of Google searches.
Google Ads: Paid advertising (done through a bidding system) that shows up in Google search results when anyone searches for the related keywords. The bidding system will choose the best ad based on keyword search and price, and the ads show up as the first two and last two listings in each search.
Smart campaigns: Paid advertising through Google Maps or the local search. This paid advertising method allows local businesses to show up as the first choice, listed as an ad, when someone performs a local search using their keywords.
To keep it simple, we recommend:
Setting up a GMB profile (it’s free!)
Trying advertising using smart campaigns, especially if your services are based on local offerings
Avoiding Google Ads unless you have a larger budget
How to Set Up Paid Advertising in GMB
You can set up paid advertising, or a smart campaign, quite easily in GMB. However, you will need a GMB first.
If you don’t have this, get this set up and complete the verification. You could start the smart campaign set up, but your ad won’t link to your location settings.
Smart campaigns are still run through Google Ads, but you’ll be opting to promote locally.
Here’s how to get started:
Sign up with Google Ads using the same account as your GMB profile.
You will sign up for a New Google Ads account
3. You can promote a website or your Business Profile
4. If you have a business, then you can find it by clicking on “sign up for Google My Business.”
Linking your GMB to your Google Ads allows your ads to appear with location details (also known as location extensions).
If you have a GMB account, you can also link to these ads through your Google profile. Just turn on Business features and business personalization.
If you already have a GMB account, then log into your Google Ads account and click on Ads & extensions on the left-hand side. At the top of the page, click on “Extensions.”
Then, click the blue plus button and choose the Location extension.
You can find an existing My Business account through a website domain or Link an account you know.
You can search by country, via URL, and match your business.
You can only find accounts you manage through Link to accounts you know.
Follow the steps here using Google Ads’ video walkthrough.
Benefits of Smart Campaigns Using GMB
Google has offered small business owners another, even more, viable option for local advertising.
Smart campaigns are smart for small business owners who want to do some local advertising in their competitive market without breaking the bank.
Similar to how their Google Ads are set up, smart campaign users only pay for the results that they get. You can set a monthly budget and Google won’t go over that amount.
Ads are only shown to local customers too, so you know that those who come across your ad will be (for the most part) as relevant as you can get.
You get a ton more exposure when you use smart campaigns. The bottom line is that your dollar goes a lot further!
You can reach more potential customers through one simple platform (rather than advertising on another platform like Facebook) and you only pay for what you use.
Creating an ad only takes minutes.
Rationale
You can run ads called Smart Campaigns, in Google My Business.
Smart campaigns help business owners reach more customers through online advertising while also providing their location details.
This service is different from Google Ads because it uses local search settings and Google Maps as its primary form of advertising.
Be sure to link your GMB profile with your Smart Campaign/Google Ads account so the location details show up.
The ad will still operate through Google Ads, but you won’t be entered into the same bidding system as Google Ads are.
With a Smart Campaign, you can reach more potential customers through one simple platform and you only pay for what you use.
Create your Smart Campaign ad today!
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