How to use Google Shopping to get Local Sales

Google changed the game today, making its Google Shopping tool the daddy for retail SMEs and businesses selling locally.

When people search for things these are the pictures that appear at the top of the search results and link through to retailers sites and points of purchase. Google Shopping compares prices, etc., but now it also adds local retailers on a map and highlights who's closest to you.

Searchers can navigate to the Shopping tab, click the 'nearby' filter, and voila. They can also, and this is a far more common way of searching, add the phrase “near me” or “nearby” after whatever it is they're looking for and get localised 'crap on a map'. Brilliant for mobile searches and more and more important in modern times when people are shopping more and more locally and provenance and 'food miles' are more valued by future customers.

This is great, but actually getting your products onto Google Shopping just got super important and it's a bit of a hidden art. Here's how to get your business up and running in a few easy steps, with just an afternoon of playing in Photoshop and fiddling with your product data (depending on how many products you've got, obviously).

Step 1 - Join Google Merchant Centre.

Adding products and the whole process is done here. It's actually a pretty simple interface and this is where you add your products. Managing shopping campaigns is done through Google Ads, because they want your ad dollars, but more on that in due course.

Step 2 - It's all about the visuals, and I really can't stress this enough. Have nice imagery or die trying. Google Shopping is a visual experience, like Pinterest for bargain hunters, and this is what's going to make your artisan bath products, widgets and spares, Danish home office furniture, local history DVDs, value veg boxes, or reproduction whatever stand out from the crowd.

Google Shopping uses the images on your website to 'create' listings, so it's these images that you need to fluff appropriately for the platform. Google has it's own image guidelines which are well worth following - give them what they want, Google knows best. You will have to consider this during photography as well. A basic guide is:

• Use even and clear lighting. For small stuff, you should probably invest in a light tent and a couple of teeny spots. They're buttons on eBay and some traders offer custom kits just for this purpose. A YouTube video later you'll have all the skills you need to use it properly.
• If it's something like clothing show it in situ. People buy clothes more if they see them 'on body'.
• Avoid overly complicated and madly coloured backgrounds. Go for white, plain grey or anything light. Keeping the product up-front and clear makes Google happy.
• Show what you're selling at the right scale - it should be around 90% to 75% of the total image. You're not selling set dressing. Keep the product dominant.
• No major image additions like watermarks, dissolves, blur, fancy frilly borders or whatever. Keep it super simple.

Step 3 - Set up your feeds.

With everything ready to rock it's time to get busy with Google Merchant Centre.

Next, click on Products > Feeds, and then on the blue “+” icon. Add your country and native language so that Google knows which initial demographics are going to see your wares. There's no point me going over all the particulars of how to do this when so many others already have - Google itself has a really good section on this, here. Just make sure all your input fields are full.

Step 4 - Link this account to your Google adword account.

Yes, they want your money. Google Shopping, like liberty, is not free.

At the top right-hand corner in your Mechant centre click on the three vertical dots, then click 'Account linking'. If you've not got an AdWords account, you can make one from here. If you have,  click on 'Link account' and enter AdWords customer ID. If you need to know where this is sign in to your Google Ads account then click the help icon at the top right corner - you'll find your 'Customer ID' at the bottom of the menu. Sorted.

Step 5 - Create a campaign.

In your Merchant Center account you should then be able to click on 'Create Shopping Campaign'.

Give it a campaign name, a location and daily budget. When you press 'Create' you’ll be asked to carry on via your Google AdWords. You can also do this directly in AdWords if you like, just open your Campaigns tab (on the left) and click that blue “+” icon, than pick 'New campaign'.

Again, Google has a really painless how-to on the topic, here, which will save me waxing lyrical.

Step 6 - Place some bids on your Shoping campaign.

In settings, you’re asked to select a bidding strategy and set a campaign budget. Go on. Spend some money. Google has a Bid Simulator Tool that's actually quite a lot of help here, and shows how any changes will impact on your ad performance. This gets pretty involved when you're trying to get the best bang for your buck, but there's some good tips here.

Step 7 - Targeting and scheduling.

More important stuff. Pick the places you want your ad to target, but be sure to only target places you ship to or where you're actually located.

You can change the Target and Exclude settings under 'Under Location', but the default's usually good enough. This going to be especially important for the new map settings to get folks ready to come in-store to pick up that bargain today.

Next set the start and end dates of the campaign. Rocket science it ain't. 

Step 8 - Create Ad Groups.

The final step is to create campaign ad groups. It's these that determine what sort of ads are going to be run and how you’ll organise the bids for them.

There's a couple of types - Showcase Shopping (multiple items as part of a sort of catalogue style ad that showcases your overall business, working on cost per engagement) and Product Shopping ads (for a single product, working on cost per click).

Click 'Save' and you've made your first ad. It's actually surprisingly simple.

It takes a bit of time and fiddling to get the best out of Google Shopping, but it's well worth the effort if you ahev a sutable product type - especially now it's local. The Ads work connect sellers and buyers in a unique and efficient way, right at the top of the search results if your bid is strong enough. It's compaetative, but a good solid place for ad spend dollare, especially now it's rolled out it's new map functionality.

I recommend having a play. Highly. There's a tonne of Google Shopping tutorials out there, especially on YouTube, and rally no need to seek a pro-tool or agency help.

Strategic Marketing Changes SMEs Need to Make Post-COVID

After 6-months of staring at our own wallpaper, working from home or looking at the world from behind a mask, consumer behaviour has changed considerably in a way we could never have predicted. Add to this a world recession plus the UK careering toward obscurity on the world stage c/o Brexit. Factor in a national second wave (any day now) and we've got the perfect storm for change. All bets and gloves are off for UK business. Que training montage.

As marketers, this is new territory. Words like 'unprecedented' and 'marketing disruption' are 'the new normal'. For SMEs, unused to this level of rapid change and without the finances or facilities to react, this could be a blood bath.

If there's any way you can deliver or serve your customers through online channels you need to be acting on this yesterday. Amazon just had a 30%+ boost in sales. Customer intent to shop in a physical store post-pandemic has plummeted 7% in the UK. This comes in a time when the retail high street was already in distress. Empty shops are on the rise as footfall sinks.

It's time to think about how you connect with your consumers. Obviously, e-commerce and digital channels should be your number one investment. It's critical to think about (and highlight) what will make you stand out from an already saturated market and to use every trick in our digital marketer's playbook to get the best bang for our investment. Investment will have to be made and money will have to be spent - but wisely, because not everyone has that right now.

How are you going to stand out against a behemoth of online retailers like Amazon? Sure, you could join them, but could you really stand to pay the basic seller's fee of (fixed rate) of  75p an item, plus referral fees and closing costs? Add to that the bulk of people shop for value as well as convenience, so how are going to undercut everyone else? A lot of people also use AmazonPrime, meaning they want it tomorrow, so you might also have to provide what you're selling in bulk to a local fulfilment centre. In times of financial hardship people also repair or replace with refurbished items. This means you also have the likes of eBay to contend with. It's not going to be easy and there's no one-solution-fits-all approach here.

Get your own WordPress site - there's still no substitute. Get help if needs be, but your call to action could be to get people to ring you if an online shopping system isn't for you. If it is think OpenCart, WooCommerce or Magento (they're all decent for SEO). Use solid images with your staff and customers in them - humanise y'self. Get on Trustpilot and start collecting reviews and case studies.

USPs (unique selling points) are going to be critical. What can you do to stand out from everyone else? On a local level, there might be benefits to being an SME - if you can get seen to show people those benefits. Imagine, for example, the power of being a local store who can showcase their (limited-time) deals and offers in social media (to a dedicated audience), hand-picked and sourced on the doorstep, then literally hop in the company van or use a local courier to drop off what your customer wants the same day? Post-Brexit, local provenance and supporting the regional economy could well be more of a necessity than a green social issue - and being ready to capitalise on that by humanising your company and giving that extra service could be the very thing that sets you apart from the likes of Tesco home delivery and Ocado. What can you do that your big competitors can't? Personalisation? Innovation? Localisation? Specialisation? After-care? Don't be surprised if we see a resurgence in traditional values and messaging.

Imagine being able to advertise locally, free through the likes of Google Business and organic SEO, but also via low-cost ads in the likes of Facebook and on a regional level. Get those remarketing codes into your website now, even if you can't afford an ad campaign immediately, and get it collecting visitors and interested parties - Adwords, LinkedIn, Facebook, whatever's appropriate to your audience. It'll save you money down the line when you inevitably look towards online advertising, even if you're not going to use it right away.

Making smart choices about ad spend will be important. Going granular and laser targeting your customers is going to be critical. Spreading your budget too thinly is a quick way to burn funds - and many SMEs don't want to feel like they're putting all their eggs in one basket. Trust me though, knowing your audience and who wants your service or product, and having the right landing page to give them the specific information they need to make that sale, is the way to go. Again there's a power in local. Small test spends with solid targeting.

Start sharing stories. This should be on a blog platform as part of your site and within your social channels. If you sell something as simple as eggs what makes you special? Maybe you write the name of the chickens on the boxes? That gives people ownership and investment. Maybe your a small off-licence and your staff write their own personal reviews of their favourite wines and whiskeys? Local brands mean local tagging and content. Maybe you're a local greengrocer and you've bought young Sally a moped so she can deliver to people who can't get out? Do your team sing while they work? Hello TikTok. Got a cool office or get out in the field in all weather? Hello Instagram. Empathy goes both ways, and people are trusting the big companies less and less (which is probably a whole other blog post). Small boosted posts in social will get your offers and deals under the right noses at the right times. Be relevant and authentic. Be there to offer a BBQ meat pack or Bouncy Castle just when people are going to need it. Send people to your content and make the most of that Ad referral code to capture anyone who shows an interest beyond your stories. These are basic strategies that most companies can put to use, now.

It's going to be important to look at how the world is going to change. Every car dealership and service centre worth their salt knows legislation is changing and is talking about electric vehicles - by 2030 you won't be able to buy petrol, diesel or even hybrid in the UK. Times are going to change fast, and if the conversation relates to you, you need to have a voice. Watch your market and watch the legislation. Be there to pick up on the good and the bad and use it to identify your own strengths. SMEs will have to be agile - things WILL NOT be going back to normal. Talk to your customers, digitally if not in person, because in times like this going with instincts instead of facts is dangerous (and unnecessary). Right now our customers have never been more sympathetic and insight is part of what separates us from the likes of Amazon.

If you need any help with this, especially if your business is based in Northern Ireland or The Republic, give me a shout on Twitter or LinkedIn. I've been giving advice to local companies, from pubs and bars to farm shops and auto dealers - if you're not already, now's the time to get ready and this isn't going back to the old normal.