Local Ads: how to generate more traffic in-store?

Adapting to a constantly changing environment

For several years now, we have been witnessing an exponential growth of e‑commerce. This has a direct impact on foot traffic in stores and the visitation rate of franchises.

This change in consumer habits reflects a reality that every franchise network must face: the digitalization of the customer purchase journey.

So we asked ourselves the question:

How to fight against this exponential increase and how to generate more traffic in points of sale? And especially, what is the most effective way to gain visibility?

According to the latest studies we have conducted, 85% of consumers inform themselves on the internet before making a physical purchase. You can choose to intervene as early as tomorrow in this cycle by using local Google Ads campaigns to generate more traffic to the point of sale.

In this article, we will see together why use local Google Ads campaigns and how to use them for your franchise network.

• What is a Google Ads local campaign?
• Why use Google Ads local campaigns?
• How to improve your local visibility via Google Ads?
• Get started now!

What is a Google Ads local campaign? 

Local Google Ads campaigns allow à your business to communicate à your potential customers all the necessary information so they can visit your points of sale.

The objective of these paid campaigns is to generate traffic in vos points of sale physical. They are part of d’une digital strategy Drive-to-Store.

À Unlike the difference of organic results, i.e., natural, local campaigns appear in the top position in search results, and allow attracting engaged prospects in their purchase journey.

These campaigns work thanks to business listings (Google Business Profile) and broadcast automatically your ads on the search network, the Display network, Google Maps, YouTube and Gmail on mobile, using Google's algorithm to optimize your performance. Radius targeting around the point of sale allows you to target users close to you using their location.

Why use Google Ads local campaigns? 

More than 80% of consumers research online before visiting a physical store

(Ifop, 2022)

In just a few clicks, users can obtain all the information they need to choose, or not, to visit one of your establishments: opening hours, address, phone number, customer reviews…

 👉 Appearing in the top results is therefore crucial for a business.

In a few figures:  

• 86% of consumers use Google Maps to find the location of a business (Hubspot, 2022).
• 70% consumers visit a store after finding information online (FEVAD, 2021).
• 66% queries come from a mobile device - smartphone, tablet (Semrush, 2021).

It is therefore important to optimize your online presence to differentiate yourself from your competitors and generate in-store traffic. And one of the best ways to improve the local visibility of your points of sale is to use local Google Ads campaigns.

Here are the 4 main reasons to use Google Ads local campaigns:

1. Targeting: because of the “machine learning” by Google, the algorithm displays the right message to the right person, at the right place and at the right time. By targeting precise keywords and a precise location, local campaigns allow you to reach a very qualified audience.
2. Customer experience: the information is easily accessible (store name, description, opening hours…). The number and quality of reviews also help reassure consumers and encourage them to take action.
3. Proximityé : knowing qu’une business sells à proximity ce qu’il searches online increases the probability that the consumer moves to point of sale, especially in the case of an urgent purchase. But it also increases online purchases via the brand’s e‑commerce options, reassuring them about the possibility of making returns or exchanges.
4. Automation: the campaigns are largely automated and only require little time, which allows you to focus on your core business.

In short, local Google Ads campaigns are high‑performing solutions to generate qualified local traffic to points of sale! However, they require time and certain expertise during the preparation of resources (visuals, video, keywords, titles and descriptions.)

How to improve your local visibility via Google Ads? 

First, how to design your Local Ads Google campaigns?

To start a Google Local Ads campaign, you have several strategies that we will briefly outline.

1. Outsource all your Google Ads campaigns to a specialized agency
2. Build your campaigns with the help of Google Ads campaign experts
3. Create your own Google Ads campaigns

Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages: 

• For the first option, by entrusting your campaign to experts, you will not lose time on design. However, an all‑inclusive service has a cost. 
• Regarding the second option, you keep control over the design of your campaign while having the help of experts.
• Finally, for the last option, you have total control and you can move forward by doing your own tests. However, if you don’t have any experience, you will spend more time creating the different resources (keywords, titles, descriptions, visuals and video) and will spend more on tests.

You want to learn more about designing local Google Ads campaigns? Check out our article on the subject! Check out our article “The benefits of local Google campaigns”

Key points of your campaigns : targeting, audience and content

In 2021, 56% of European web traffic is on mobile phone (Hubspot - 2021). On average, 1 user out of 2 uses Google searches as a source of inspiration to buy a new product (Statista - 2021). 

Positioning oneself in this type of searches therefore seems quite relevant if the goal is then to générer traffic to the point of sale. By intervening in this loop, you can attract potential customers during d'événements, offers or promos in your stores.

The key will be to have relevant local Google Ads campaigns in order to différencier from your local competitors, but également from your online competitors. This requires good targeting!

Targeting occurs at multiple levels: 

• The choice of keywords : the keywords used in your campaigns must be relevant for your local audiences, especially when it ’s about highlighting seasonal promotions, such as œufs de Pâques.
  
• The radius around the Google Business Profile listing : set the radius around the point of sale where you want to reach potential customers.

Be careful, if your franchise is located in an urban area, recommend that your franchisees respect a certain radius (determined upstream by the network head) in order not to compete with each other, and spend more marketing budget.

• Les visuels : préparez différentes variantes de visuels, aux différents formats indiqués. Google optimise la campagne en fonction des résultats enregistrés.

In summary, get started now!

The goal of Google Ads local campaigns will be to allow you to generate traffic to your physical points of sale.

Google Ads local campaigns in 3 key points: 

• Promoting local offers and events to a geographically qualified audience
• Detailed information about the establishment and location.
• Multichannel distribution: Search, Display, Maps, and YouTube

Compte tenu de leur portée et de leur profitabilité, les campagnes locales Google Ads sont un must de la stratégie marketing de réseaux d’enseigne. Les Local Ads seront l’un de vos meilleurs outils afin de lutter face aux enseignes spécialisées en e-commerce.

Vous souhaitez en savoir plus sur comment mettre en place des campagnes locales Google Ads pour un réseau de franchise ? Contactez-nous ! ⬇️

Contact us 🚀

You can start a campaign right now with the advice we've given you, while refining it as you go. 

Sources: Statista, Hubspot, Google Ads