By Dane Saville, Brand & PR Manager, Reunion Marketing
As Google continues to evolve its lineup of products, advertisers must commit and take time to understand the capabilities fully. One of Google’s latest accomplishments is the development and deployment of the omnipresent – Google Local Campaigns. Google has such confidence in its efficacy that Local Campaigns were highlighted in the Dealer Guidebook 2.5 edition.
Local Campaigns, as defined by Google are, “designed to help businesses provide their potential customers the information that they need to decide when and how to visit their stores. Local campaigns streamline the process for you, making it easy to promote your stores across Google’s largest properties including the Google Search Network, Maps, YouTube, and the Google Display Network.”
The best part is, once you enable Local Campaigns and provide the required collateral, Google uses machine learning to assemble hyper-local ads that best resonate with the consumer. Optimizing ads for the person who conducted the search drives foot traffic and local actions or phone calls.
To start a local campaign, you’ll need to have the following:
● Verified GMB Linked to Google Ads
● Minimum of 1 YouTube Video Link
● Images (1200×1200 & 1200×628)
Now that you understand what you need, let’s dive a little deeper into what distinguishes them.
Local Ads on Google Display Network & Youtube
Google Display Network (GDN) is the largest display network in the world with access to 90%+ of the global internet population. Local ads on the Display Network reach local users while they browse online and use apps. This encourages them to continue their shopping journey by seeing pertinent information like your store hours or getting direction requests from their location.
Similarly, YouTube offers another highly utilized platform to encourage local interactions with your dealership. With an unparalleled mobile reach, YouTube garners a billion users worldwide with >50% of views occurring on a mobile device. Ads with incentives and promotions typically perform the best on this channel.
Local Ads on Google My Business, Google Search Network, & Google Maps
On your dealership’s Google My Business (GMB) profile, users can easily see the latest promoted offers or service specials at your dealership to compel them to do business with you and visit your dealership. Local Campaigns are the only way to enable a promotional ad on a GMB profile. So, for shoppers in your geographic area who’ve conducted a non-branded category search for your vehicle make and/or services, your GMB profile just became that much more of an online storefront!
On Google Search Network, users’ attention will be directed to your advertisement at the top of the pack delivered upon their local search. It’s important to note that your Google My Business profile is the destination for these hyper-localized ads.
Lastly, on Google Maps, users can find the fastest way to get to the dealership because the ad will help highlight your location as the top destination. And fun fact, Local Campaigns is the only way to enable your logo to appear as the map pin! When a user clicks on your logo, they’ll now see an additional promotion that encourages them to visit the Business Profile where they can call, save or get directions to your business.
Performance Expectations
Like all digital advertising, success will vary based on circumstances. With local campaigns, those circumstances could be current inventory, incentives, and even population. You will never have the identical market, budget, and/or creative as other dealerships out there, so Local Campaigns are a great avenue to let individuality take center stage.
Best results in a cohort of 35 dealers testing Local Campaigns had a monthly budget between $300 and $1,000. So, no matter your location, overall advertising budget, or asset library, Google Local Campaigns can deploy a store visit strategy that’s designed to increase your dealership’s foot traffic.
About the Author
The resident whirlwind of words and emotion, Dane Saville spends most of his time crafting the voice of Reunion Marketing but takes intermittent breaks to admire the true face of Reunion — his puppy Gemma.