For a store owner, self-managing a Google My Business (GMB) account may sound difficult. Whilst there are some who choose to operate Google My Business by themselves, a large majority are probably considering if it's a good idea to assign the work to an agency instead.
If you are a store owner, the following reasons may factor into your decision:
I am too busy to find the time to manage GMB
I do not have enough knowledge about the web to manage GMB by myself
I want to leave an expert in charge whilst also picking up from them the knowhow about management
If any of the above applies to you, an agency would seem like an attractive proposition.
Nevertheless, it remains important to be informed about the disadvantages involved in choosing not to manage Google My Business by yourself.
In this article, for those considering engaging an agency, those who have already engaged an agency, and those who have heard of Google My Business but have not been able to effectively capitalize on its usage, we will explore the 3 main reasons why you should manage GMB yourself.
You can acquire more customers by managing Google My Business yourself
From the outset, Google My Business is a free management tool provided by Google for companies and stores. It is a designed such that business owners can set up their online presence easily and at the same time, allow them to effectively acquire new customers and reach out to current users.
The functions provided by Google My Business depend on the type of your business, but basically, owners are able to edit basic information, register services / menus / products, post the latest informational updates / campaigns / events (posting function), upload photos / videos, reply to reviews, and analyze user accessibility. The number of essential functions to master is surprisingly little!
You can effectively utilize Google My Business almost intuitively, and the official Google My Business Help provides details of each feature should you need it.
Google aims to provide useful information to all users. This way of thinking tends to eliminate low value information and spamming, etc., to the user, and puts the focus on appraising information that is useful to them.
Therefore, in order for a store owner operating Google My Business to produce results, it is important to always ask yourself the question "is what I'm doing benefiting users who run a search on Google?" when undergoing daily operations and service improvements. This awareness will undoubtedly lead to producing good results for both Google and its users, making it possible for you to attract more customers via the platform without having to rely on a third party operator.
It is easy to take measures for the timely dissemination of information to reach out to your customers!
Stores rarely have any direct interfacing with Google My Business once the operation of Google My Business is entrusted to a third party agent.
Fundamentally, the operation of Google My Business involves setting basic information and services on a profile, then adding photos, posts, replying to comments or reviews, and providing updates such as temporary closures or sales promotions on a daily basis.
If agencies are supplied with sufficient information, photos, etc., they will be able to manage your Google My Business on your behalf (the level of support varies depending on the agency), but it is better for the store to send accurate information in a timely manner.
It's a waste not to manage it yourself! Especially for replying to word-of-mouth, you are able to hear the real voices like customers’ opinions, thank customers who were satisfied, and sincerely respond to customers who were not satisfied, and to approach them for revisiting the store, etc.
Since it is a store that actually provides services, interacts with customers, and works on store improvement through trial and error, by obtaining data such as "Where did they know the store?" "Why did they choose it?" "Why did they visit again?” "Are they satisfied?", you can improve the measures of Google My Business, the services itself and verify the effects all at once.
In addition, you can also work on collecting word-of-mouth information by using in-store POP and talking to customers which are hard for agencies to reach and manage.
It's normal that you want to leave the entire operation of Google My Business because you are too busy to spend time on it, but if you entrust it all, your concern will be diminished. As the number of users of Google Maps increases, let's take an interest in Google My Business and make full use of the opportunity to make communications with customers!
It is important to avoid damage from unscrupulous agencies
Leaving the operation of Google My Business to an agency is an outstanding advantage for stores that are too busy to operate or are unfamiliar with it.
Various agency services are emerging along with the needs, but the fact is that there are many so-called unscrupulous agencies that make high bills or take fraudulent measures.
For example, there are various cases such as taking measures that violate Google's terms, services whose contents are opaque, or even though they are not unscrupulous agents, they are too unskillful to produce results.
In particular, if they take erroneous measures that violate Google's terms, even if the search ranking is temporarily improved or results are achieved, your business information (business profile) will be suspended without your notice. It may lead to a permanent account termination in the worst case.
Also, cancellation may not be smooth due to the contract period depending on the agency, or only the agency has the access authority of Google My Business, so after cancellation, you may have trouble if you try to operate Google My Business by yourself.
Based on the above points, you did recognize that the business profile is the face of your own business, it is recommended not to leave the whole operation of Google My Business to an agency. Even if you entrust an agency, we recommend that you take the initiative in getting involved while checking the scope of the response, and to ensure the kind of measures they will take is safe.
Since there are other agencies that you can gain knowledge about manipulating Google My Business or assign only part of them to be operated on your behalf, so it is one way to get reliable support while operating Google My Business yourself.
This time we have studied the reason why you should operate Google My Business by yourself without leaving them to agencies. It is because you can aim for getting more customers by yourself, it is easy to take measures by timely dispatch of information and contact with customers, and you can avoid damage from the unscrupulous agencies.
You can learn each operation method and basic knowledge from the official Google My Business help to operate Google My Business by yourself. If you have any questions or concerns, you can also use the Google My Business Help Community (Google official service that allows Google My Business users to ask questions, share information, and have discussions).
Using an agency is not all that bad! It is important to use the appropriate service according to your budget and how busy your store is.
By pursuing operations that match the styles of your store, it is possible to maximize the effect at almost no cost, so be sure not to leave your whole Google My Business to agencies!
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