Customer Interaction on Google Business Profile in South Africa

In the previous article, we discussed how you could customise your Google Business Profile in South Africa. A Google Business Profile allows you to have real-time interactions with your customers. These real-time, personalised interactions can make your business more trustworthy and credible. In this article, let's discuss how you can interact with your potential customers on Google Business Profile in South Africa.

Interacting with Customers on Google Business Profile in South Africa

We have talked about Google Business Profile extensively in our previous articles. However, to sum up, a Google Business Profile lists your business in the Google database. This allows a business to be on Google Maps, publicly display business details, acquire customer interactions, and run Google Ads. It is basically a social profile of your business on Google. And when we say 'social', there will be real interactions.

There are two types of interactions.

Businesses Interacting on their Google Business Profile in South Africa

We have covered this in our previous article. A business can post updates or announce product offers and discounts. It is pretty similar to posting a status on Facebook.

To do so, click on 'Add Update' once you are on your Google Business Profile. To access your business profile, simply go to this link, which should open a page that looks something like this.

Here, you can post three types of updates.

Add Update

Add Update allows a business to post updates, just like how you would post a status on Facebook. Let your customers in early on a brand new product range you are working on. Or how about informing your customers about an upcoming event or a sale? Or let's just talk about how your business is doing on a fine Monday morning.

Add Offer

Got a promotion running? Your Google Business Profile in South Africa allows you to display offers and promotions in South Africa. The 'Add Offer' section allows you to describe your offers—such as promotions and discounts—along with photos or videos. The section will also allow you to display the offer duration.

Add Event

Event-hosting businesses can particularly benefit from this section. The 'Add Event' section allows a business in South Africa to display an event along with images, videos, or both. Besides that, you can also add venue details, event duration, and particular details of your event.

The Add Update posts allow you to personify your business. However, remember to be concise and professional with your writing. These posts allow you to deliver fresh content or updates along with photos and videos. Whenever there's an update you think the customers would love to know about, go ahead and post it!

Customers Interacting on your Google Business Profile in South Africa

Real customer interactions on your Google Business Profile in South Africa give your business credibility, authenticity, and a sense of safety. Positive interactions and a quick resolution to negative interactions can provide your business with a much-deserved boost in visibility and credibility. So make sure to be quick to respond to any positive or negative comments or questions.

There are three distinct ways a customer can interact with your Google Business Profile in South Africa.

Messages

A customer can message your business if they have any questions. These messages may include a request for a quote or asking for information about your services or products. For that, however, a business will have to set up a Google Messages account. Alternatively, if a business has set up the system, you may request a quote. However, the majority of these message features are available via smartphones only.

Reviews

One way for a business to get credible on Google is to receive reviews from your customers. Customers living generally positive reviews can boost your business reputation, and thus, visibility. Of course, there will be days when you might get low ratings as well. The key here is how you handle such situations. A good business would consider responding appropriately to all the reviews in a professional manner. This shows how much your business values a customer's feedback.

Questions & Answers (Q&As)

The Question and Answers section is a great way to get to know a business. A customer can ask a question to your business that will be visible to everyone. As a business, let your customers know about your business, service, and products with elaborate answers. Generally, anyone can question and anyone can answer. However, as a business, make it a priority to answer these questions for accuracy and clarification.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed the various ways a business or its customers can interact with each other via Google Business Profile in South Africa. A good business in South Africa will promptly and positively respond to interactions, providing necessary information or resolving queries. This good business practice can boost your reputation and visibility on the Google SERP as well.

On a side note, we are currently developing a Google Business Profile Course on Skill Space. Stay tuned to the Skill Space website if you are interested. Also, we currently have the Takealot Seller Course available for free. If you are planning to sell on Takealot, this is the right opportunity for you to take the course.

Meanwhile, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us via the message tab and we will do our best to resolve your queries.