There’s a good reason Google Merchant Center is one of the hottest trends right now.
It’s an e-commerce platform created by Google where you can list your inventory for absolutely free! Although it’s been around for a while, it hasn’t been available to every service. But now, Google Merchant Center is available for tires.
This valuable e-commerce platform links with your Google Business Profile.
And since tire season is just around the corner, you might want to think about doing carousel ads. If you do a Google search, you’ll see actual pictures of tires and the business name in a row, at the top or bottom of your screen. Those come from the Google Merchant Center.
Now, the carousel ads are not free, you have to pay. You’ll see big companies who are listing all their inventory there, as well as updates to pricing. But these carousel ads, also known as shopping or service ads, are available to medium and smaller-sized shops as well.
Budget determined by inventory
Here’s how it works. It’s based on audience searches and your inventory. Your budget is determined by your inventory, what you have available to sell.
So you have two options – you can list your inventory on Google Merchant Center and it works with your Google Business Profile. That’s free.
Then, you can pay to have that inventory listed on the carousel. This paid option is going to get you in front of a lot more customers. You might want to start building awareness about 60 days out from selling season, so maybe in August.
You’ll also get a lot more business insights to be able to measure the impact of every sale, and that’s going to drive sales. You’ll find out how many people looking to buy products every day.
The visual aspect of this is huge. It’s been something that Google has been missing. You can show a picture of your inventory, along with your name, along with pricing. So it’s providing a visual aspect to a traditional Google search.
Many smaller and medium-sized shops don’t realize this is an option and are missing out! You have a huge opportunity to get in front of consumers who are searching for tires that you may have in stock. Nine times out of 10, small and medium-sized shops are just not getting in front of those consumers.
Big box stores
Right now, all the big box stores are controlling those shopping ads. Smaller shops might think it’s too expensive, but Google is trying to change that mentality. If you have what a customer is searching for, they want to make it easy for it to be found.
You determine your budget. Maybe you can afford $500 or $1,000 – you determine what you want to showcase.
So once you upload your inventory to Google Merchant Center in your Google Business Profile – it may take a while, since you have to do it manually – the next step is to do the paid shopping ads that are found on the top or bottom of Google search.
If you’ve got multiple products of the same brand, you can list that. You can list every single bit of your inventory, down to just the brand that you’re currently offering. Ultimately, you have the same advantages as the big box stores, but you have to put in the effort.
Casey Walter is an International Digital Marketing Consultant. She educates and builds brands through modern marketing practices, while leverage social media marketing services to amplify clients’ brand communications and connect them with consumers in order to drive business.
