At Sendible, our mission is to help agencies amplify their clients’ stories to make them successful. So, when we notice that a powerful, client-attracting platform such as Google Business is underused, naturally, we jump at the opportunity to help you learn how to get the most out of it
It's been some time since GMB posts were first introduced and we allowed brands, agencies and solopreneurs to schedule posts to Google Business pages using our social media management tool.
If you haven’t yet heard of Google Business and why it could prove essential to your clients, you've landed in the right place.
Google Business Profile is a powerful, free tool for any organization that has a physical location or serves a specific local area, which perfectly describes most charities.
In a similar way that Yelp and TripAdvisor allow businesses to be listed with accurate information, a Google Business Profile has the added benefit of being tied to Google’s search engine and your Google account.
If you don’t yet have a Google Business account, you can set one up here. Google has created a really simple setup that’s easy to follow for even the least tech-savvy businesses.
And one of the most exciting features that has come from the Google Business team is the Posts feature.
Google Business Posts are a feature offered within Google Business that enables businesses to publish content directly to Google’s search results.
Yes, you read that right!
When you publish a Google Business post, that post will appear within your listing next to Google’s search results whenever someone is searching for your business.
Originally referred to as Google Posts or Candidate Cards, it was launched by Google as an experimental feature in January 2016 as a way for US presidential candidates to add their own content and messages directly on the search results page. The candidates were able to post up to 14,400 characters of text and 10 images per post.
In March 2016, Google Posts were made available for use by a tiny number of small businesses. A year later, in March 2017, Google extended this product to movies, museums, sports teams, and leagues in the US and Brazil.
Finally, in June 2017, Google built this feature into the Google Business platform, making it available to all businesses. Since then, additional features have been added to both, the GMB posts themselves and listing options.
If you’re looking to attract more web traffic and customers for your clients, then Google Business posts are a great way to do that! If you’re running an agency, and you don’t currently manage your clients’ presence on Google, the Posts feature is a massive opportunity for you to deliver value
Google Business Profile (GBP) is an indispensable tool for any business operating across multiple physical locations, such as real estate agencies with various branch offices. It offers unique advantages for managing and optimising your presence at scale.
Here's how GBP specifically helps multilocation businesses:
Benefit: When a potential client searches for "[service] near me" or "[service] in [specific neighborhood/city]," each of your individual office listings can appear prominently in Google Search results and on Google Maps. This ensures that clients searching for real estate services in a particular area are directed to your closest and most relevant branch, rather than just a general company head office.
Multilocation relevance: Each location can capture hyper-local traffic, making your entire network more discoverable across diverse geographical areas.
Benefit: GBP allows you to maintain a unified brand image, consistent contact information, and service descriptions across all your branches. Even with local nuances, core branding remains the same, fostering trust.
Multilocation Relevance: Ensures a cohesive brand experience, whether a client encounters your office in New York, Los Angeles, or Miami. Centralised management (via a "location group" in GBP) simplifies updates to critical information like holiday hours or new services.
Benefit: A complete and optimised GBP listing for each branch projects professionalism and builds immediate trust. Clients can quickly verify addresses, phone numbers, opening hours, and see photos specific to that office.
Multilocation relevance: Each location can accumulate its own set of reviews, showcasing local positive sentiment and strengthening the overall brand reputation across the entire network.
Benefit: The "Posts" feature allows each individual office to share specific updates relevant to its local market. This could include new listings in that immediate area, open houses at local properties, local market trends, or community events unique to that branch's neighbourhood.
Multilocation relevance: Tailor promotions and news to specific geographic markets without affecting other branches, leading to more relevant and higher-converting local engagement.
Benefit: Clients can leave reviews directly on the specific office they interacted with. This provides granular feedback and allows each branch to build its own reputation.
Multilocation relevance: Centralised management tools allow head office or marketing teams to monitor and respond to reviews for all locations efficiently, ensuring consistent customer service and reputation management across the entire chain.
Benefit: From any of your GBP listings, clients can call a specific office directly, get turn-by-turn directions to that branch, or visit its dedicated landing page on your website with a single click.
Multilocation relevance: Streamlines the client journey from discovery to physical interaction or specific online action, ensuring convenience and minimising drop-offs across all your sites.
Benefit: GBP provides valuable insights into how customers find and interact with each of your listings. You can see how many people found you through direct searches vs. discovery searches, how many requested directions, calls, or website visits.
Multilocation Relevance: This granular data allows marketing teams to compare the performance of different locations, identify areas for improvement in specific markets, and refine local SEO strategies for individual branches.
You can create and publish Google Posts for free natively.
1. Sign into your Google Business account.
2. On the navigation menu choose the type of Google Post. You can choose between: "Add Photo", "Add Update", "Edit Services", and "Edit Product".
3. Select the type of post you'd like to create, and you should see a screen that looks like this:
When creating your Google Posts, you can:
Once published, posts will show up in both Google Search and Maps!
It used to be the case that Google Posts would expire within seven days of posting. The only exception to this rule was when posts were based on upcoming events. This limitation made it incredibly hard to plan an active presence on GMB without a social media scheduling tool.
Once your post expires, you’ll receive a notification letting you know just how much attention your post has received and prompt you to post the next one.
However, it seems that many of the posts we've published in the last few months are still visible on our public profile. Google may have changed their strategy here to increase the usage of the feature.
Posting natively is all well and good if you have one or two clients, but as an agency, how can you schedule Google Business Posts at scale?
You need a reliable scheduling tool to help you and your team easily oversee and schedule updates to your clients’ Google Business listings.
That’s where Sendible’s scheduling tools come in handy! Here's one of our customers who appreciates us and our GMB integration. 👇
image credit: Sendible review on G2
To connect your first Google Business account to Sendible, sign in and go to +Profiles.
Follow the steps to connect your Google Business account. You’ll be prompted to grant Sendible with the right permissions, click Allow to continue.
Select your Google Business account followed by the location you wish to manage, then click Save Settings.
If you’d like to connect another location, repeat the above steps until you’ve connected each location to Sendible.
Now that you’ve connected your Google Business accounts, you can go ahead and schedule your first post! To do this, launch the Compose Box and select one or more of your Google Business locations to post to.
When you select a Google Business location to post to, you’ll notice that an option appears below your post allowing you to choose the CTA you’d like to use.
If your post includes a link, this option will enable you to automatically create a button on your Google Business Post when it gets published, directing visitors to your link.
Just like when you post to Google Business natively, you can select from one of the following options, which informs how the link is published on Google:
If you’ve included a link in the body and would prefer to post a full-sized image, click “Replace Link Preview with Image” and you’ll be able to swap your link preview for a full-sized image of your choice when posting.
Our support team has prepared useful articles to guide you:
By posting updates to your clients’ Google Business pages, when customers find your client’s business on Google Search and Maps, the posts you create can let them know about:
Upcoming events - whether they're in-store or online
Offers and sales - including seasonal promotions
Product updates - such as a new fashion line or a new menu item
Announcements - such as “Open until 11 pm this Sunday” or “Extended happy hours on Fridays!”
According to Google, your posts on Google Business “should be brief, useful, inspire action, and photos should be well-lit and in-focus”. Here’s an example of a post that’s effective:
image source: Google
Here’s what makes this post work so well:
The photo is clear, well-lit and well-framed
The headline and copy inspires the reader to take action
The post is brief and includes only the necessary details
There is a clear call-to-action
Google has provided a few more examples of well-crafted Google Business Posts. For more inspiration, I recommend you to take a look at their help centre to see what other good Posts look like.
Here are five tips to help you write engaging posts on Google:
Select a suitable post type: Is your post about an event? An offer or time-sensitive deal? Do you have news to share? Consider what you want your post to do — whether to encourage customers to visit your store, sell something, or announce a new feature.
Take good photos: Take a high-resolution photo reinforcing your message so your post will stand out. Photos should be: Simple, direct, and in-focus. Well-lit, with bright, vibrant colours. At a minimum resolution of 720px wide by 540px tall, in .JPG or .PNG format.
Use a title that inspires action: Describe your event in 4-5 words. You have 58 characters for your title.
Keep your copy clear and concise: Be clear about the offer/event. You have up to 1,500 characters for the details of your post, but the ideal length is between 150-300 characters.
Use a call-to-action: Include instructions such as “Buy,” “Book online,” “Learn more,” “Call,” or “Visit."
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What to do |
Example |
| Be precise: What are the 3 things your customer needs to know? What do you want them to remember, for how much, and when? | “Happy Hour! Half-price milkshakes from 5-6 PM every Friday.” |
| Be personal: Show what your business values. | “We love families at Mike’s and to show our appreciation, kids eat free this weekend!” |
| Tell your customers what they can do. Are you selling a product? Tell them how they can buy. | “Tickets range from $60-$160, and are available for purchase at the front desk starting at 12 PM EST today.” |
| Highlight what makes your business, product, or offer unique. Large selection? Free shipping? | "Free shipping on orders over $50.” |
| Be timely — use a key selling point or popular item as the hook for your post. | “Spring is here. All flip flops now 30% off.” |
| Be sure to include any redemption instructions, unique codes, or restrictions on offers or sales. | "$10 off purchase of $50 or more. 50% off select women’s clothing." |
| Use abbreviations for days and months, and don’t use periods, to allow more space for your post. Also, abbreviate hours. | Jan, Feb, Mar... Mon, Tue, Wed... 9 AM, 5 PM, 12 PM, 12 AM |
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What NOT to do |
Example |
| Don’t use commercial slang. | “BOGO: 50% off men’s sneakers.” |
| Don’t use excessive exclamation marks or all caps. | “Crazy SALE today!!!” |
| Don’t include more than one theme or offer in one communication. | “Half price coffee and tea from 3-6 PM on Fridays, and buy six, get one doughnut free on weekdays.” |
| Don’t craft a deal with too many exclusions. | “10% off new seasonal sandwiches. Not valid on lunch specials.” |
Google Business Posts have been surprisingly underutilised by businesses and agencies, mainly due to the fact that they would previously disappear within seven days and it was impossible to schedule posts.
Sendible’s integration with Google Business makes it extremely easy for agencies to schedule, publish and oversee Google Posts for multiple clients at once.
If you’re already our customer, this feature is available on all plans and all you need to get started is a verified GMB location.
And if you’re new to Sendible, you can start a free trial today!