Is Local Digital Marketing growing? Google Announces a 4-fold increase in "open now near me searches"

Last Tuesday, October 26, Alphabet, Google's parent company, announced its Q3 2021 results. Apart from the fact that the revenues of the different entities of the group are increasing, one particular point caught my attention, the figures related to local digital marketing.

During this week of cop26, I also wanted to mention that, recently, Google Maps is offering, in the USA, a new feature, the ability to choose, in addition to the fastest route, the most “eco-friendly” one. The announcement effect is interesting in the middle of this climate conference. Let's hope that users will follow this development which is not without interest.

The local presence is increasingly prominent within the purchasing processes

The point that touches me the most in this quarterly conference presented by Alphabet is of course the one related to Local Digital Marketing and there, the figures are quite impressive. They reinforce the message that we strive to pass on to our clients and, although post-covid reopenings are not happening in the same way in all countries, overall, Google's results related to proximity searches are very encouraging for brands.

It's up to them now to get up to speed to meet the expectations of consumers who are demanding an increasingly omnichannel experience. The consumer, at the end of 2021, is more flexible than ever and is looking to simplify their life. Retailers must therefore offer them a maximum number of purchasing options to attract them and make them want to fill their basket, whether it's virtual or real.

4 times more searches "open now near me"

The first interesting figure is the evolution of what Google calls “near me searches”, i.e. searches made by consumers to find products/services/points of sale near their location. According to Google, from a global point of view, there was, between the 3rd quarter of 2020 and the 3rd quarter of 2021, a fourfold increase in the number of these “near me” searches. We must of course take a step back from these figures because they are global and refer to:

• An increase in the number of consumers using Google tools to conduct local searches. 
• An increase in the number of searches performed by existing users. 

Alphabet does not provide detailed figures on these aspects from a local point of view. At Mobilosoft, depending on the industries, we can see fairly variable growth. Still, it is a fact that the search volume has been constantly increasing for many years.  

Source: Seekingalpha, Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Q3 CEO Sundar Pichai on 2021 Results - Earnings Call Transcript, October 26th 2021

Google is investing in highlighting increasingly precise information

Thanks to our clients' reports, we were able to understand that, over the past 3 years, local queries have changed enormously:

• Three years ago, 70% of searches were related to a brand + a location, consumers were looking for their favorite brand. 
• Today, these searches represent only 30% of the volume. Specifically, searches are increasingly oriented towards products, services or even types of brands

This evolution of local search habits is echoed in the investments that Google is making at the local level, a train that some advertisers have already boarded, as mentioned by Jim Friedland, Director of Investor Relations at Google: 

• “advertisers are increasing their paid campaigns in parallel with their free listings”. 
• “we have launched new formats (paid and free) to enable them to do so”.
• “they increased their return on Ad Spent by 30% compared to the same period before covid”.

And further reinforced by Philipp Schindler, SVP & Chief Business Officer at Google as well: 

• “a strong growth in local searches shows that consumers are looking more for physical points of sale before going there”.
• "By adding product feeds to their campaigns, advertisers achieve on average 60% more conversions at a lower price.".

Towards an omnichannel strategy with a predominant role for physical points of sale

Sachant que chaque enseigne a la possibilité de mettre en place diverses pages pour leurs points de vente (Facebook, Google Business Profile, Store Locator), il convient donc de comprendre que celles-ci ont un rôle primordial. Ces pages et leur contenu sont référencées d’un point de vue local par Google, donc les produits et services qui y sont ajoutés également. 

Let's take a brand that sells Nike sneakers and has 1000 points of sale in Europe, if it references the different Nike models sold on the store pages of its 1000 points of sale, the brand gains as many local mentions as it has stores and pages. Then, it will be able to redirect consumers either to the store page on the Store Locator, or to the e-commerce site, depending on their expectations. Such a strategy therefore has an omnichannel impact: it promotes both online and in-store sales.  

An advantage for retail networks?

The link is made quickly, while some marketplaces like Amazon are opening physical points of sale to promote an omnichannel experience, brands with a deeply rooted network can take advantage of the implementation of a real local strategy, each point of sale becoming a new entry point that references: 

• The brand
• The type of retail chain 
• The products or services offered

How can retailers gain a competitive advantage in the digital world? 

If you want to offer a true omnichannel experience to your consumers, here is the recipe to follow: 

• Créer des pages locales pour vos points de vente sur Google Business Profile, Facebook lieux et sur votre site web (Store Locator). 
• Stimulate and respond to customer reviews to strengthen your local brand positioning. 
• Enrich your pages with your products and/or services on local pages. 
• Include, on local pages, a catalog featuring the most searched products for each store!

And if, in parallel, you offer an e-commerce site, your brand will have an infrastructure that none of your marketplace competitors will ever have. This infrastructure will respond to the evolution of demand which, according to Google figures, is increasingly omnichannel!

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