309: A marketing channel you might be missing: Google My Business | Bethany Myers

Do you have this fundamental marketing channel set up for your business? 

Google My Business? 

I think it is an underrated channel and one we are all guilty of either not having or not keeping updated. And yes, even if ChatGPT takes over search, your Google My Business profile creates credibility.

If you LOVED this episode, make sure you share this on your Instagram stories and tag us @contentqueenmariah and @contentsocialmediaqueen.

⁠⁠⁠⁠LEARN THE DETAILS OF A CONTENT STRATEGY WITH MY FREE AUDIO GUIDE⁠⁠⁠⁠

KEY EPISODE TAKEAWAYS 👇

✨ What is Google My Business and why you need it 

✨ Online business owner? Doesn’t matter 

✨ How to get Google Reviews 

✨ What you need to do to keep your page updated 

SHOW RESOURCES 👇

If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @contentqueenmariah⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

Other than that, enjoy - chat next week 💕

ABOUT THE GUEST 

I studied creative writing and a 4.0 GPA from the University of Nevada, Reno. I founded Content Social Media Queen in 2016 after I experienced a massive tragedy and grief in my life. My intent with my company is that it would be much more than just another marketing agency. I want it to represent an intimate collaboration where strategy meets soul. My clients aren’t faceless accounts - they are visionaries, dreamers, and doers. And like any great partnership, I am here for the long haul, ensuring their brands not only survive but flourish.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Mariah MacInnes: [00:00:00] This is episode 309, and we're talking about the content channel that you might be missing in your strategy with content marketer. Bethany Myers. Welcome to the Content Queen Podcast. I'm your host Mariah, entrepreneur storyteller, digital nomad, creator of Content bootcamp, and founder of Content Queen.

With over 10 years of experience in marketing, this podcast is here to help you create the perfect content marketing plan by blending. Storytelling and strategy. So let's get into it. Hello, gang. All right. We're doing recorded episodes, so this is my little intro as we get into the filmed recording of the podcast.

Which we'll get to, but I just wanted to introduce Bethany and share a little bit more about this episode. So basically content marketing channel that you might be missing. Google my Business. So when someone Googles your business, your little profile comes up. And maybe we'll get Mitch to do like a little thingy that pops up.

So if you are watching this, you'll see what a [00:01:00] Google profile looks like. This is where you can generate reviews, update people on your business. Really it is for those that Google, but it also helps with your AI presence in chat, GPT, et cetera. And I wanted to get Bethany on to come in and talk about Google my business, because she helps a lot of businesses.

Now, you'll find out in this episode, is it just for brick and mortar stores, or is me being an online business owner benefiting from Google My business? Well, spoiler alert. Yes. So I'm going to read Bethany's bio and then we'll get stuck into the episode just so you can learn a little bit more about her.

So Bethany studied creative writing at the University of Nevada, and she founded Content Social Media Queen in 2016 after experiencing massive loss and tragedy and going through grief herself. Her intent with the company is that she would. Be more than just a marketing agency. And really she would help create intimate collaborations with her clients where strategy meets soul and.[00:02:00] 

Her clients and the people that she works with aren't faceless accounts, they're visionaries, dreamers and doers. And like any great partnership, she's here for the long haul. Ensuring your brand not only 

Bethany: survives, but flourishes. So let's chat with Bethany and hear a little bit more about Google My Business.

Mariah MacInnes: Bethany, welcome to the podcast. I'm really excited to have you on today. But to kick us off, can you tell us a little bit more about who you are, what you do, your business story, all the things. 

Bethany: Absolutely. Yeah. I'm so excited to be here and connect with you. Uh, just to kind of backtrack for a moment, I found you because my business name is called Content Social Media Queen, and I was looking and wondering.

There's gotta be another queen out there. So, you know, when I saw your name, it was really fun that we connected on that just based off of our, our name and how we chose that for our brand. Um, so it's excited, exciting to, uh, be aligned with another content queen. So yeah. With that being said, I, uh, started my business in 2016.

I [00:03:00] chose the name content social media queen, because at the time I was thinking, okay, how do I rank. Online for people that are searching for those search terms like content marketing or social media marketing. So that was kind of the thought behind my business name. Um, and yeah, I've been doing marketing and social media for over 10 years.

I studied, uh, creative writing. I got my bachelor's degree in creative writing, and so that definitely applies, uh, with the type of work that I do. And I service clients in Orange County and. All over the United States and yeah, so I have, I guess I'm kind of rambling, but I have a boutique marketing agency and just help other business owners get from where they are to where they want to be and help them move the needle in their business.

Mariah MacInnes: Yeah. Amazing. And we know, like you and I both know, being in this industry that, uh, people don't really wanna do social media that often. I think it's the number one thing that I always [00:04:00] get, like, oh my God, I can't wait to outsource it. Or, you know, I really wanna, um, not do this anymore. Or it can be quite overwhelming for people when they're first starting out.

So it's, it's good that we have more people in the world to be able to. Take on that, that task. 'cause I know it can be quite overwhelming. So when we were, and I love, love, uh, you know, it's so funny how we come up with names for our business. Mine was literally. Watching a TV show and they used to say like, uh, my friend and I watch it all the time.

I can't remember what it was called now. It was these two girls lived in New York. They were so funny. They were just like, you know, always getting up to antics. And I lived in Melbourne at the time and I felt like I really resonated with some of their antics. And they always used to say yes, queen to each other all the time.

And I was just driving to work when I went to my corporate job and I was starting side hustling. Like, you know, you pick a business name, what is your business name? And I just like pulled up and just grabbed the pen and paper. 'cause I always had a pen and paper when I commute to work. 'cause I'd listen to podcasts and get really good ideas, you know, as you [00:05:00] do.

And I just wrote down Content queen and that's sort of how it started. So it's actually really funny how we kind of come up with our names, you know? It's always a Exactly And everyone's always like, oh, and, and it's actually funny, I dunno if you get the same but like. It's, it's quite a good name to have because then people really do say like, yes, they are actually the definition of the content queen.

So it's like cool to have that, um, kind of label because if, you know, when you live up to it, people really do see it. It's good brand, um, brand recognition. Exactly. That's for sure. 

Bethany: Exactly. Yeah. At the time I remembered a lot of people were saying. Content is king. And I'm like, well, what the heck? Why can't it be queen too?

So, exactly. 

Mariah MacInnes: I love that. I love that. So, um, you specialize in social media, all the things, but one of the ones that really caught my attention was, um, Google my business because I think it's one of those, um, I guess, uh, parts of it's, it's. The definition of it, you'll share a little bit more about Google My Business, but I found it's a quite an untapped [00:06:00] resource for a lot of business owners.

So I would love for you just to break down if people don't know what Google My Business is, 'cause actually, like I'll, I'll talk to people and they're like, oh, what is this? Or um, you know, how do I get it set up? All the things, what is Google my Business? Yeah. And why is it important, regardless of whether they, um, you know, what they do for business.

Why is it important that we actually have a Google My Business account? 

Bethany: Okay, great question. So Google My Business is essentially a free tool. It's a free platform where you can host your business profile, um, you can showcase your hours, your, uh, people can go on and review you. Their, it's a great place for people to essentially understand who you are, what you do, who you service.

And so not having a Google Business profile is. Is probably a little bit detrimental to your business, even if, whether you're a service provider or even pro, you know, sh uh, selling products. [00:07:00] Uh, it's, it's just an important tool that I think a lot of business owners should absolutely have in their repertoire of online presence.

Um, so yeah, you can even post announcements. You can post. Photos, um, it's kind of a hub. It's, it's similar to Yelp where, uh, people can find you. And because it's so highly trafficked, it's really important for you to show up on Google My business. Um, you can show up in local search results and on Google Maps, so.

Mariah MacInnes: I think people don't realize it's kind of how you get found. And obviously if someone doesn't have a physical business, it might not matter for them to be on Google Maps, but even as an online business, like people will always Google you. And if you have that little panel that comes up on the right side with your profile, with reviews, with um, you know, little updates or that it actually shows that you're an active business, I sometimes find like right.

It can be a, a really massive credibility piece because if you have a Google My Business, it's [00:08:00] like you're actively like making sure your business is, is online, it's there. But even for Google reviews, I think a lot of us now go to Google reviews as like a credible source. One of my clients is yes. Six reviews off 2000.

So that is gonna be a huge milestone. They've been in business 20 years. That is 

Bethany: amazing. Yeah, 

Mariah MacInnes: yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But like, you know, and we use that, we actually use a lot of those reviews for content. I'll do like a story every week, which is like review of the week. 'cause they get weekly reviews and it's been a massive credibility piece over on social media because it's actually encouraged people to leave comments.

Of their reviews in the comments 'cause they're seeing a review. You know what I mean? So they're like seeing people and they go, oh my God, I agree this is this, this and this and this. And then I can use that as a strategy to reply to that comment with a video, especially on TikTok. 'cause that's a big strategy.

Oh. So then I like create this flow and effect. But it starts from. Having those Google reviews and actually for myself, I've stopped sending out like feedback forms and actually just send [00:09:00] people to a Google. 'cause I would prefer to have a Google review if I'm gonna ask for anything. Yes, of course I'd love you to fill out this feedback form, but I also would love you to rate me on Google because then when people search us, um, that's what comes up.

So I think a lot of us. Underrate Google my business. Um, and so it's important for us, so one of the sort of, I guess, questions is, you know, people just assume you have to have a physical store to have, and I know obviously you gotta put your address into claim. The space, actually I got in before that was a thing, so my address is just Australia.

Oh, that's amazing. Yeah. But now you have to have a physical address. 

Bethany: Yeah, that was, uh, a really, I'm just resonating with that because I remember it was so easy just to set up your Google business page. But now sometimes some of my clients have to take their iPhone and like physically showcase where they are and show inside their office and outside their office.

So it is a little bit more detailed for some [00:10:00] industries, but it, at the same time, you're still providing more content. For people to find you. So it's, it's not a bad thing, it's just showing consumers even more of who you are, an insider lens. So even though it takes a little bit more work, uh, it is worth it.

So, 

Mariah MacInnes: yeah. Yeah. And what about online businesses? Obviously if we work from home, we don't actually have a physical office. Um, you know, it. Do people that are online that, oh, I don't need a Google My Business profile. I don't have a physical office, da da. What do you say to a lot of clients, even for personal brands, they're like, oh, well I don't really need that.

What, what would you say to people that have that sort of mindset? 

Bethany: Yeah, that's a great question. I think even if you have any sort of online presence at all, let's say you're a business coach and you serve people all over the world, it's still important because you can benefit from showing up online.

Even if someone is just. Searching locally, business coach near me. Well, do you want your competitor showed up to show up or do you wanna show up? So even [00:11:00] if you don't necessarily have a brick and mortar shop, it is important for you to create that online profile because it's just a. Uh, increasing your, your presence online, you'll be able to show up more in search results.

So it's not just for, uh, someone who's providing a service to, to people. It's, um, honestly, anyone can benefit and should set up their Google business profile, building trust and credibility around their name and their brand. Uh, showing up on Google business. Is important if you're trying to do that as well.

Mariah MacInnes: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I think now with like AI and things like that, um, chat, GPT is sort of like if you are not actively like online in various spaces, 'cause their sources now are so vast from LinkedIn to. YouTube, Reddit and all, like, they're the kind of top three. But I think, um, one of the other things that I've noticed [00:12:00] as well with Google is they now have this like knowledge panel, which I think is quite interesting.

So basically it's like if you search someone's personal brand, and I think it does go off them having a. Google my business and obviously active content. Mm-hmm. So if I search my name now I have this like knowledge panel which collates all of my content from various places and shows me as this kind of like thought leader.

Um mm-hmm. And I think even if you've got a personal brand, having that Google my business I think definitely helped me obtain that knowledge panel. And actually there's, I, I'll, I'll put it in the show notes for anyone. I found this really cool video showing you how to claim your knowledge panel because everyone has one.

You just have to find your right one and you send like a selfie to Google with your driver's license and then they collate your knowledge panel. So when you Google, so if you Google Mariah McNess right now by like big knowledge panel comes up. And I do think having that Google My business, of course, and all the digital footprint that I've had from.

Showing up in various places has created, and I think it just [00:13:00] makes me look more professional, more trustworthy, like all the things like we asked, even though lots of people will say like, oh, well I use now social media to gain trust. So many. I still like, I'm a, um, like a, a. Younger millennial in terms of, I was like towards the end of the 1990s, like 1994.

So I did like grow up with Google in some way. Like probably not until I was like, 

Bethany: yeah, 

Mariah MacInnes: in my like late childhood into like teens or pre-teens. So like I still use Google a lot, like it's my first source. Whereas like I know some people use social media, like my partner who's older than me, he uses social media to search things, which blows my mind.

Like I'll ask him a question and you'll like. Google it on Instagram and I'm like, whatcha doing? Like I just use Google. But that's when like, you know, we're searching for things. Um, and, and those like Google my business profiles, those knowledge panels, all those things. I think it just like showcases who you are, what you do, and you have like a level of control.

Obviously if like people post their own pictures or their own reviews, you don't, you can't control [00:14:00] that. But you can generally like put the visuals up, um, and I, and for most of my clients, and that's what I do. And you mentioned that post updates, I try to like repurpose something to it once a week, just so it's like active.

Is that what you recommend people do? It's really easy. Like, you know, you just add the update, you can add pictures, you can add links, et cetera. Do you always recommend clients keep that active? How often should we be sharing things on it? What should we be sharing on there? 

Bethany: Yeah. Just to backtrack for a second to your point, a lot of.

Uh, objections that I get from my clients are that they are scared if they receive a poor review, but I promise that the benefit definitely outweighs that. And you can always go in and like you talked about earlier, comment and reply and directly communicate with that person. Um, and having those online reviews is so important because every single review, I look at it as keywords for your business.

So let's say you're a business coach and they say, I worked with. You know [00:15:00] Jessica, the business coach in Orange County, California. So every word that they're reviewing is technically a key word and building your. Your online presence. So, uh, but yeah, as far as updating your Google Business page, absolutely.

I would suggest it's not necessarily quantity, it's, it's quality over quantity is what I say, but it does also need to be consistent. So even if it's just once a week, you know, even if it's every other week. Ideally, if you want to post every day. But just uploading real images of who you are, what you do.

Let's say you provide tattoos, just showcasing the different types of tattoos you do, and especially your face too. People need transparency. They want to relate to you. They want to see, oh, this is a real person providing something real and unique and something that I would benefit from. So you want to.

Be posting images that are definitely not stock images. And then when you do upload the images, you wanna make sure to include [00:16:00] keywords that you want to rank for. So you would say, uh, arm full length tattoo, Boise, Idaho. And then another one, you know, you would kind of change it for each one. But, uh, and you can utilize AI and chat GBT to help you with the captions, but.

Yeah, I would definitely suggest consistent postings, staying relevant, and that is one of the biggest mistakes is when people just create the profile and set it and forget it and never get back to it, or never come back to it. So it is really important to treat it. As part of your social media or online presence so that you're, you are consistently, um, logging in and updating it.

Mariah MacInnes: Yeah, I really like that about the keywords. That's really good to know because I think, like we think about, it doesn't have to be this elaborate caption like we would on social media. It doesn't even have to be like this real or anything. It can literally just be like, like it's kind of low maintenance in terms of social media, right.

Because it, it doesn't, like the caption can be like. A couple of sentences, but I love that [00:17:00] you're saying like, make it really key to those key words because yeah, you're right. Like that's, people are searching things you wanna come up, um, you wanna rank. So I think that that's a very good tip. But I find obviously it's a kind of more low maintenance.

'cause it doesn't have to be this like curated thing. It's just like a little update that shows up on your Google My business space. And another thing I think people forget about is like if they do have, like if they are closed, maybe over Christmas. Every like online business product base, maybe like you're not doing shipping after a certain date, et cetera.

Like I think it's important either to share that or change your business hours because like how annoying is it when you go to search something and they haven't updated their hours and you go there and they're not open? Like, 

Bethany: what happened to me? Or 

Mariah MacInnes: you go online? 

Bethany: Yes. I actually love this little boba shop near me and I, I've gone on and I've checked and then they're closed, like all these random hours, and it is so frustrating as a consumer.

So absolutely, you make a great point to update your business hours according to holiday or just your. Daily [00:18:00] schedule. So, um, it's important because you might lose a client that way, so, 

Mariah MacInnes: yeah. Yeah. And even actually, I find my own, like if I'm searching for something, like I wanna get my eyebrows done, or, you know, something actually has happened to me when I was, um, traveling.

I wanted to get my, I wanted to do a massage, so I googled massage near me, and then I only clicked on the profiles that had a website because I didn't wanna call because. I mean the generation, we want an online book. We don't wanna call anybody. I'm not calling anybody. I want an online book. So if they had a website linked on their Google, and some people probably did have a website, they just didn't link it to their Google profile.

So I was like, well, that's my trusted source. I'm going through the profiles. If you don't have a website, I'm not even clicking on you if you don't have your business hours either. 'cause then another thing was my partner wanted to get his haircut and we were gonna walk there. So we didn't wanna walk there if no one was there.

So we were just like, okay, if you don't have your hours up, we're not even. Entertaining the idea. 

Bethany: Yeah, 

Mariah MacInnes: so it's [00:19:00] interesting, like think about your customers in that way. Like how can you make it as easy as possible for them to know you're an existing business, know how to contact you. Are able to get to your website really easy, like I feel like these are no-brainer things that like, are actually really low maintenance compared to your Instagrams, your Facebooks, your tiktoks, where like you have to be on the pulse all the time.

Like, yes, you have to update it, but it's not like you have to be on it every second of every day. You just like Google your name, your profile comes up and you could edit from there. Like I think it's, it's kind of a low maintenance space. 

Bethany: You know what I was thinking of really quickly, there is other kind of secondary tools that people use to increase their reviews.

I know that it might be looked at as maybe skewing your reviews, but every single business owner wants to increase their reviews because reviews and stars equate leads. Like the more reviews you have and the more five stars you have, the more it tells Google and you know, AI can crawl everything. The more it.

Sh The more you [00:20:00] show up as a reputable business, uh, the more important it is and the more people are visiting your site. It's good for search engine optimization. So with that being said, some people there are secondary, uh, platforms or tools where like you're saying, instead of sending a generic message, Hey, what did you think about my recent service?

Every time you. Uh, end a service or they purchase the product. They're sent a, uh, an online, um, sorry. They're sent a link to directly to your Google business page, and there's actual automated systems. I forget the name of them. I think there's, um. I would have to look into that, but I just wanted to share that, that that is a kind of a secondary strategy of building your Google business page is really focusing in on building your online reviews and retaining those reviews.

So, 

Mariah MacInnes: mm. Yeah. That was one of my questions. I know. Getting Google reviews, 

Bethany: oh, 

Mariah MacInnes: sorry. Can be No, [00:21:00] no. You've led straight into it. It is perfect. It's a good segue. Um, okay. Yes, getting Google reviews can be quite challenging, especially like, um, I, it's funny, I learned a valuable lesson recently. So the client that's nearly at 2000, I was like, let's do a giveaway, like whoever gets the 2000th review gets a free, like a gift voucher or a meal on us.

'cause they're a, a restaurant and, okay. Yeah. But I Googled in a, in Australia, definitely it's illegal to do that. Um, so you can't do any giveaways associated with reviews. But in saying that, when I was in Southeast Asia, in um, Vietnam specifically, I went to a Harry Potter Cafe themed. It was so cool.

They're like, 

Bethany: oh my gosh, 

Mariah MacInnes: Warner Bros are definitely gonna sue them, but that's okay. Um, but it was like, I mean. Really it's, it was a small cafe in a street. In the city. Yeah. But it was really cool. And basically if you left a Google review, they gave you a, like the deathly hellos necklace. I'm like, I want a necklace for sure.

I want a [00:22:00] necklace. So I left a review. Not sure where that leads on, like the legal, illegal, not sure. I mean, I'm sure every country has different rules and like, not sure. But I really liked that because they were really big on Google reviews and I actually find. In Southeast Asia, Google reviews, like they push them a lot.

Um, even one shop, if you left a Google Review, you got like, um. These, like, they had, it was like an art, like local artist store. And we bought some jumpers and they're like, if you leave a review, you can get like a postcard, you can choose three postcards. And we're like, oh, they, they're really cool prints.

Like we really liked them as prints. They're like, you know, postcards side. But um, 'cause they were done by local artists, like, oh, of course we love. Free stuff, like let's leave a review. 

Bethany: Oh 

Mariah MacInnes: yeah. So like, you know, um, I was keen to know what sort of things have helped your clients get reviews? 'cause I know, like even for me, I'll send an email out to my clients, Hey, do you mind leaving a review?

And then like, I, I send a reminder and I do that because I need to demonstrate to them the, the concept of [00:23:00] asking and chasing for reviews. Yeah. But I understand, like I have a client who's a financial planner and like they, and it's like more business to consumer, whereas I'm working directly with business owners.

So it's like. It can be a little bit harder to remind or push people to leave reviews. So I was keen to know, um, yeah, like what your recommendations were for getting more reviews or encouraging people to leave reviews on those pages. 

Bethany: Yeah, you have a good point, and I'm not 100% up to date on the legalese either.

I know Yelp is typically a lot more strict than Google. Just about a year ago, I put together a campaign for one of my clients. They were a beard care company. And they offered beard care and like oils and all that for men. And we just did an email marketing campaign. And similar to what, what you were talking about, just offering an incentive.

Um, I don't know if we called it a giveaway. It was just. You know, hey, for, to, and, and also just kind of creating the [00:24:00] urgency of today only, um, we're giving this away and, um, it was, you know, like a bundle worth a hundred dollars and we did get 17 new reviews that day. So I'm not sure if that would, if that would flag Google now.

So I would say, you know, just be kind of cautious and careful. So I have kind of transitioned. With my clients to actually doing it more manually. They kind of hire me to essentially become almost an admin for them, and I actually call their clients directly on the phone and we have an Excel spreadsheet and we do everything manually.

So I always find that that is the best case scenario because you're almost kind of doing customer service at the same time. Some people, it's actually a really great practice to do for your business because you may. F intercept someone who would've given you a one star review if they weren't happy with your service.

So you give them a call and say, Hey, you know, how was the most recent? Service or transaction. And some people who may not be [00:25:00] satisfied, then you direct them to the owner and they can, um, take care of that from a customer service standpoint. But let's say they do wanna give you a five star review, um, then we do that manually and then usually they kind of offer a little gift or something on their next service.

So that's what I have learned for my clients is the more personal it is, the better. But there are those other ways that you can do it in a more strategic kind of campaign setting where you're, if you're a huge company and you have thousands of contacts, that might be a better avenue. Um, and instead of doing today only to get all those reviews at once and maybe flag Google Business, you could do it over the course of a few months even and just send it to 10 people at a time.

Mm. So those are some strategies that I have, that I have seen, um, help. And it's not, it's not wrong. You're just asking people who may not have thought to review you, to just essentially sit down and do it. And that's kind of the hardest part is everyone is always busy. [00:26:00] So offering that incentive, I find is usually what.

Kind of pushes them to, um, to actually sit down and find the time. So, 

Mariah MacInnes: yeah, and I think like, you know, obviously with what's allowed and what's not, I think incentive is different to like give away. So I think I feel like, you know, and obviously people are doing it and they don't seem to be getting in trouble.

So like, I think as you're saying, there's lots of people that love your product and service. They're just forgetting. And if you keep, like, either if you don't have like. It depends on your customer. At the end of the day, if it, like for me, I work with a handful of clients, like, you know, I've got, so I have a very direct relationship with them where I could say, Hey, don't forget, can you please leave me a review?

And they're like, oh, yep, yep, yep. Whereas like if you're working with like a, you know, hundreds and hundreds of people and you, and it's more business to consumer and you don't wanna be annoying. It might, you know, you wanna take a different approach or like just prompting people or leaving reminders. I think the un the thing is you're asking someone to do something when they're already busy.

So I think that like, you know, as you say, like [00:27:00] those reminders or those campaigns I think are really important. I've started like sharing those reviews for the week and then like sharing the link to the Google Review. Like, oh, if you haven't already, you know, please leave a review. And you mentioned something earlier about like bad reviews.

This can be really hard because obviously you can't control it. I, the client that has 2000 reviews, obviously naturally, the more people you reach, the more chance you have of someone having a bad experience. Unfortunately, we can't be perfect all the time, especially in the food industry. Like there is gonna be a bad meal like.

And you can't have a perfect meal. But, um, I found like the more you get them, the better you are at replying to them. And it's, and, and the thing is, the good thing is it's not like social media where you have this back and forth. You generally reply and then you don't kind of hear from them again. But actually, I had someone say to me.

If I see a business that has all, I mean, mine all has five stars at this point, but again, I'm a, I'm a bit more of a smaller business than like a big business, but they're like, if I saw a big business that had like [00:28:00] all five star, I'd actually think it's more red flag. Whereas if there is some like. A couple of threes, maybe a one, maybe someone had a bad experience.

It actually doesn't deter me from buying or using that service. It goes, oh, they're human. And obviously they have done something, whereas if it had all five stars, you'd think there would be buying reviews. You know what I mean? So it's, I think it That's 

Bethany: a great 

Mariah MacInnes: point. 

Bethany: That's a great point. Yeah, that's exactly right.

And I think that that makes a lot of sense. Um, another thing, as you were talking, just one thing that came through my mind was. So one of my clients offers pest control. Like they remove all the bugs and ants and all the things that people don't want in their home. So they do service a lot of people. And then, um, it is, it is a bigger customer base that they have.

So I actually kind of worked with them to employ a, like an internal system so that when people were done with the jobs. They would write down, Hey, was this, was this client [00:29:00] satisfied? Like one through 10? They gave them kind of, uh, a survey initially, and then we reached out to them manually. Um, and it was an internal admin assistant at their company.

So, you know, just depending on the business, there's different ways that you can do it. But I didn't wanna forget about. The bigger company that maybe needed the internal admin doing it. Um, and, and then, you know, I helped train them to do that, but every company needs to figure out what system is going to work for them.

Mariah MacInnes: Yeah, and it's interesting, it's a good point that you said actually one of the, the financial planning client, they send out that like kind of, um. PS and then if it's a, it's a low rating, they don't send, prompt them to leave a Google review. Whereas if they do have a five star experience, then they, because obviously you don't wanna like, get feedback from someone and then prompt them to share about it on, um, Google Review.

Right. 

Bethany: Exactly. So that is where I go, okay. You know, how much of this [00:30:00] is, is skewed, but at the same time, I mean, it's, it's. It's a practice that I think every business owner does, and we are simply trying to capture the good experiences that people had. And then if, if there are those one star reviews, people are naturally gonna probably go on there and, and share their experience.

You're not gonna have to solicit that. So those are, yeah, those, and, and it happens, like you said, we're human and. That's, 

Mariah MacInnes: I think it comes down to the reply, like how I find, I get really like turned off if the company's like really defensive because it's, you're just not take like, you know, regardless if they're wrong.

Like, yeah, you have to take some accountability. And I think like the ones that give like. A really, like, you know, I'm sorry, like we are sorry you felt that way, or like, or sorry you felt that way. Not like we're taking responsibility, but this is, you know, and I think like that just shows a level of maturity, whereas like I've seen people get so defensive and I'm like, oh, you've really missed [00:31:00] a point, regardless of like whether you are right or wrong or who, who made the mistake.

Like just. You know, take, take some sort of ownership and just, just like don't, you don't have to be sorry, but just say sorry that they feel that way. You know? And I think like it's just all about your delivery. And I think a lot of people don't have, 'cause it's their business and of course they're defensive and of course it's upsetting.

But at the same time, like I think if we take every review personally, that's when people start to go, oh, these people are just like super defensive. Like it's, it's hard, but it does definitely, like people do get a bit turned off, I think. 

Bethany: Yes. Yeah, I've, I've definitely seen that myself as a consumer and 

Mariah MacInnes: mm-hmm.

Bethany: Those are the ones that Yeah, might, might turn away people. So it is, like you said too, it is really important when you do reply to think of it coming from your business to have it be professional and yeah, validate your, your customer and their experience and then offer something to give them a better experience next time.

So yeah, it's a good [00:32:00] point. 

Mariah MacInnes: Yeah. And I think like it happens a lot in like the social media world as well. Like where, you know, maybe it's an influencer, it's usually an influencer has done something wrong and they go on to apologize and then they like, they just don't get the apology. Right. And like I know we're all human and we're not always gonna get a hundred percent right.

But that's where like it, and it's funny, I had this journal prompt this morning and it was like, where are you being? Where are you reacting rather than responding? And I think when you react, it's, it's just more like people. Yeah. It's just too defensive. It's too, whereas like if you take a minute and respond, I find it's like regardless, like yes, you can complain to your friends and family about how some idiot doesn't know what they're talking about.

And I think that's more than Okay. Um, but I think, and it's funny 'cause this one client that I have that yeah, they, they, they have, they're very well known. They do get. It's negative reviews. It happens. And they've, they get me to do it because it's, it's their baby, it's their business. They've been in it for 20 years.

It's their livelihood. And some [00:33:00] people just don't understand that. Like, you know, the comments you get like 20 years ago this was $10 and it's like, yep. But 20 years ago, electricity was also $10. So like, but how do you know you can't, there's no point fighting with someone on the internet because they just don't understand economics, you know?

Bethany: Exactly. That's why they need to hire you or me. So 

Mariah MacInnes: yeah, they need someone to be that gatekeeper, you know? Yeah. It's that emotional attachment that you have to it. So my, my, one of my last questions for you is obviously now people are using like ai. To find things, right? Like now Chachi PT is buying things on our behalf and researching, and um, a lot of us are kind of stepping away from Google search.

How, how is having that Google My business profile still so important in the, in the, um, wake of AI and people Chachi pitying everything. 

Bethany: That's a great question. I like to kind of refer to your Google business profile as being like a [00:34:00] resume. If, if chat, GBT and AI is trying to understand who you are, where are they gonna pull from?

If they don't have the information, are you going to go to a job interview and not have a resume? So I kind of describe it like that and um. Yeah, I mean, I still am doing continued education because AI is moving so fast, so some of it is even beyond me, but I know that. Uh, Bing is important to also, um, update because it is affiliated with chat, GBT and then Gemini, um, I believe is affiliated with Google.

Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but, uh, so yeah, I think so. If you're missing a piece of the knowledge panel, then AI only knows so much and we'll kind of fill in the blank. So, uh, that's why I think it's really important. One of the things that I've learned, and I don't know if this is necessarily Google business, but I have heard that whether you're hosting it on Google Business or even your [00:35:00] website is creating a custom FAQ page, so instead of just putting it on your website, um, you could optimize your Google business profile with.

Uh, common questions, um, and providing detailed answers so that when AI is looking for information, it can pull from your Google business page. So that's kind of some of my understanding. To be honest, I do still need to do some more continued ed on AI and Google business, but, um, that's kind of my initial response.

I don't know if you have any more. 

Mariah MacInnes: No, that's so like, I mean, you're right. AI is like an ever of, I feel like we learn one thing and then tomorrow it's changed. Yeah, this guy, this business has acquired this one and that, but it's true. Like how, you know, and this is one of my clients talking about the evolution of like buyers and bots.

So how basically next year we're gonna have bots buying on behalf of people, but then we're also [00:36:00] gonna have buyers. So how do we create a user experience or a customer experience where the bot can seamlessly troll your website and make a purchase or, or book something, or whatever it is, without. Any friction.

So I guess it's the same thing with like your Google profile. Like if, if a bot is coming into like, oh, they don't have the answer, I'll go to someone else. So you're, so I like that idea of like the FAQs as well because like if, if people are asking te pity, like I literally just doubt, like I just got a loan, um, and I put all of the, the documentation into, um, chat pier, like are there any red flags in this documentation?

Because I was like, I'm not reading it. I don't have time to read it. 

Bethany: Nothing. 45 pages, right? 

Mariah MacInnes: Yeah. Like can you just tell me, so like, you know, and, and if, and, and, and if we're asking these sorts of things to AI and it's going out there and trying to find things and it finds you as a credible source, but then doesn't find the answer.

And obviously we can't have the answers to everything, right? We're just guessing on what you know or doing our [00:37:00] research in SEO, what people could be searching or what they are searching. But I think that's why you've gotta keep evolving it, right? Because AI is gonna keep. Having to find answers for people.

So I, I, I think that's spot on. Like, I think it's gonna evolve, but if we don't have these, like digital footprints set up it when, and even I've had a client who spent a lot of time on their SEO and Google, and then they'd be like, you'd think, oh, well that's a waste of time now because of ai. But actually in their onboarding form, she's a career counselor.

It said, where did you find me? And they wrote ai. She had three people write ai. So because she spent years working on her SEO, and she has in actually invested more in her website than actually her social media, which I think is very rare these days. Right? She is now winning. You know, she's now ahead of everybody else because she actually took the time to spend time updating her website, her Google my Business, getting reviews, doing all of that, and now she's like, 

Bethany: hmm.

Mariah MacInnes: Well, you [00:38:00] know, I'm getting found on ai. 

Bethany: Yeah, 

Mariah MacInnes: yeah, yeah, 

Bethany: exactly. It doesn't know, but you don't tell it. And uh, yeah, that's another reason to have your Google Business page up is that if it's not existing, then how does it gather information from there? So, yeah. 

Mariah MacInnes: Yeah, it's a good point. Yeah. It's so true.

Amazing. Well, it's, it's got me thinking 'cause I. Probably haven't updated by Google My business profile in a little while. So that's a 2025 slash 26 holiday project is just to go in and make sure it's like, you know, and, and now with the scheduling platforms, if anyone does use scheduling, there is a Google, you can link your Google my, um, profile in there and, you know, you can be posting to it via scheduling.

If you are like, oh, I'll put that on Facebook. I might repurpose that and edit the title or, you know, whatever you do. Um, it just gives us a chance to. Be visible on more spaces and I think like that's more important now than ever. Yes, it's quality for sure, but also I think now it's like [00:39:00] four different platforms, seven touch points and 11 hours of research before someone would make a purchasing decision.

So like, you know, just having Instagram is not enough. You know, you gotta, you gotta definitely try and expand your. Um, repertoire of, and your digital footprint. I think that's what's been able to help a lot of people that I've worked with and even myself is having kind of, you know, you don't wanna be everywhere.

Like, I don't have a, an a Twitter or an X or whatever. Like there's platforms that I don't have. But I think it is important to try and have that digital footprint for those instances. 

Bethany: Yeah. And, and now that you're saying this, it kind of ties back into something we were talking about earlier, but you were saying, you know, making edits and, and updating them ourselves.

And Yes, that is super important. But another great thing is that once your Google business profile is live, and if people are writing you reviews, they can attach a photo to it. So that's even. That's even great too because it's kind of working for you. Um, so that you're not having to upload everything every single time.

Or [00:40:00] even if you know, you may not be consistent, even though you're getting those online reviews and someone may attach a photo, then that does update for you. And that is feeding Google business content. So that is another, you know, just piece to the puzzle. So obviously, yes, we should still be updating it, but it is nice when.

Um, it's being fed information from your customers too without you having to upload that. So that is nice. 

Mariah MacInnes: Yeah, we definitely don't have that on the other platforms, so yeah, that's a really good point. Good point. I love that. Well, thank you so much for sharing all your wisdom. I loved. You know, getting a refresh on Google My Business, and I'm sure anyone that doesn't have a profile is now actively creating one.

And anyone that hasn't updated theirs in a while will definitely be having a look at what they can do. And as you said, it is actually, it's, it's, it's very low maintenance compared to the other, other platforms and other channels, and I find obviously it is connected directly with Google and Google likes when.

You use Google things, so you know that's never a bad thing, it's never a bad decision. But how can people [00:41:00] find you, learn more about what you do and potentially work with you? 

Bethany: Well, I am on Google My Business, so just look up content Social Media Queen, um, or just my website is content social media queen.com.

And then all my handles pretty much match that so I can be found on. Pretty much all the social medias, except to your point, I'm also not on Twitter, so yeah, it's just not a good profile. It's not a good platform for me. So 

Mariah MacInnes: yeah, it's a bit, I remember back in the day I did and I was like, why do I have this?

I, I don't even use it. 

Bethany: Right, exactly. I, it's just ramblings. Then I just might as well keep them in my head, so, 

Mariah MacInnes: yeah. Amazing. Well, thank you so much. I loved chatting with you and connecting 

Bethany: you as well. It was so nice to meet you. Thank you so much for having me. 

Mariah MacInnes: Alright, Google my business if you don't already have your profile, set it up.

If you have one. Think about how you can bring it to life and use it a little bit more. And there was some great lessons for me in there as well. I have some clients that have a really strong [00:42:00] Google my business presence. Loads of reviews and it definitely helps. So if you have some time just to update it.

I literally had a conversation with my, one of the girls that works in my team and she does video editing and has her own. Social media practice and business, and she's like, oh my God, I need to get my Google My Business up. So, you know, this is for all those that don't have it. Okay. And if you're also wondering where we are, we are in, not in The Bus, if you follow us, we are actually renting a room in Share House because our bus is getting renovated, which is extremely exciting.

But it means the podcast will not be from the bus. But the next time the podcast is in the bus, it's gonna look amazing. I'm absolutely so excited. So keep watching episodes. Maybe in the podcast we can do like a little tour or something. 'cause this is now like a, a vlog part. Vlog cast. But it doesn't really matter 'cause if you listen to it in your car, you'll still get the same.

But, uh, that's all for this episode. So be a content queen or [00:43:00] king, and remember that developing your strategy and story, develop your business. Thank you so much for joining us today. And if you loved having guests on, if you love seeing people like Brittany come on the show, please leave a five star review.

If you do that on Spotify, you can leave a little comment under the episode on Apple. You can scroll down to the bottom, leave a cheeky review, write a comment. I would really appreciate it. Just help to get more amazing guests on. So we can deliver great content. If you love this episode and you wanna share it, share it with an entrepreneurial friend.

You can add it to Instagram stories, tag us at content Queen Mariah, or just hit the share button and share the link. And if you have any episodes that you would like me to do, any guests, if you'd like to be a guest as well, I'm always open to guests coming on the show. Um, make sure you reach out to me on social media, tell me the topic, all the things, and I'll talk to you next week.

Bye.

PodcastMariah MacInnesmarketing, marketing advice, how to be authentic online, business ownerComment