Google Local Inventory Ads give your business that extra edge that could give you both offline and online presence. These Ads target customers out in the market searching for a product that you have in your physical store.
With the help of Google LIAs, the customer comes to your store and purchases that product and you have your conversion. Sounds awesome, but not every business is able to take advantage of these ads. This is due to the fact that LIAs have an intricate setup process. Secondly, these need to be updated on a daily basis in order to show up in searches.
ALSO READ: Beginner’s Guide to Google Merchant Center
In this article, we will shed light on strategies that can help you make more effective Google Local Inventory Ads.
10 Tips to Create High-Conversion Google Local Inventory Ads
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Spend More For Nearby Shoppers
Spending more means increasing bids for nearby shoppers during store hours on Google Local Inventory Ads. This results in them getting ads when they are close to your store i.e., in a 15 to 20-mile radius or even closer.
These ads help in bringing customers to your physical store at a time of their preference and buying your products.
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Make Use Of The BOPIS Option
BOPIS stands for Buy Online Pickup In-Store/Store Pickup Option. According to a study, around 70 percent of US customers use it. This option on your Google Local Inventory Ads makes the customer aware that your store is nearby and hence persuades them to visit and buy.
Who knows they might like something else as well. Businesses should make sure that the inventory they have displayed in the ad is present in the store.
Product unavailability sends out the wrong impression to the customer.
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Check The Products Displayed On Local Inventory Ads and Product Listing Ads
There is no harm in displaying Product Listing Ads (PLA) alongside your Google Local Inventory Ads. However, you should not mix up the two, as PLAs intend to show products that will be shown online and sold online.
The LIAs on the other hand wants the customer to walk into the store and buy the product that is shown online.
That is why it is very necessary to give your LIA inventory a look time and again for the presence of products in your physical store.
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Update Your LIA Products Daily
This is extremely important as you can’t risk losing customers for the lack of product you displayed in the ad. It is highly recommended to check and update your Google Local Inventory Ads inventory once a day daily and more frequently if possible.
Being up to date lets you know about the product that is in vogue and helps you with planning product promotion as well. This may sound like a cumbersome job if you have a lot of stores. But if not looked into, this will have serious repercussions for your business.
Also Read-8 Tips for Sellers and Dealerships to Ace Google Car Search
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Plan LIAs To Adapt To Different Screen Sizes
It pays to adapt to mobile screen sizes as the majority of people like to search with their phones. However, it is the desktop size that gives out the full information, and in order to gain traction from mobile users, you will need to showcase clear and informative images.
Always, remember to test your Google Local Inventory Ads before launching them.
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Remarket
Remarketing to past customers is a great way to drive traffic to your physical store. You can use Google’s ‘Customer Match’ tool to re-engage with customers who have made a purchase from you or have left midway and pitch them the Google Local Inventory Ad.
The Customer Match tool helps in optimizing your campaign suited to your customers.
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Keep Testing
This strategy comes in handy for businesses having a lot of stores. If you are unsure how Google Local Inventory Ads would work for you, test at a small scale for a few stores. If your store traffic goes up then you are in the right direction.
And if it doesn’t you should try and change your tactic.
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Bet On Products That Will Not Run Out
If you are uncertain about the inventory of all your products and feel that you won’t be able to provide Google with accurate numbers. Reduce the feed to products you are confident about and share them on Google Local Inventory Ads.
Showing your actual in-store inventory is better than losing a customer(s).
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Gather Insights
Analytics help you gather information about what worked, what did not, and why. Having insights helps you alter your Google Local Inventory Ads strategy to bring in more foot count.
Having a regular eye on the data the LIAs provide, helps you strategize better and let you know what product needs to be focused upon.
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Keep An Eye On Trends
Trends here mean the mean footfall in different seasons/months. For example, in summer people like to go out and move around. So, this is the time when you will see most footfalls in your store. While in winters people like to stay indoors owing to the cold.
It would be best to boost your Google Local Inventory Ads in the summers when there is a high chance of customers visiting your stores.
Also Read-The Future of Dealerships- Car Shopping to go wholly online
FAQs-
Q1. What are google local inventory ads?
Google local inventory ads show your products and store information to nearby shoppers searching with Google. These are shown online and intend to sell inventory in-store. You can buy the product shown in these ads, but you’ll have to go and pick it up from the store.
Q2. How do I create a local inventory ad?
You can create a Google Local Inventory Ad if you have a Google Business Account and a Google Merchant Center Account. If you don’t have these then we would suggest you configure these accounts. After which you can enable Google Local Inventory Ads in the Google Merchant Center.
Q3. Are local inventory ads free?
Yes, Google’s Local Inventory Ads are free. However, if you want to boost your listings to reach more people then you will have to pay.
Q4. What are Google VLA ads?
Google Vehicle Listing Ads is an ad format through which car dealerships can advertise and promote their vehicle inventory to potential customers. On Google VLA ads customers are shown an image of the vehicle with important details like model, price, mileage, and the name of the advertiser. Google Vehicle Listing Ads help in bringing quality leads and improving customer experience.
Suggested Read:9 Essential Tips on Running Successful Google Vehicle Listing Ads
Q5. How do you set up LIAs?
To set up Google Local Inventory Ads you will first need to have accounts on Google Business and Google Merchant Center. After you are done configuring, follow these steps to set up LIAs.
- Go to your Google Merchant Center account.
- From the menu select Growth.
- From the sub-menu select Manage programs.
- In Manage Programs you simply click on ‘Get started on the local inventory ads or the free local product listings program card and fill in your preferences.
Note that setting Google LIAs is not a one-time thing. You will have to check them on a daily basis or more frequently depending on your inventory.
