August 7, 2024 By seersha

Google My Business (GMB) New Features and Updates 2024

Since its very inception, Google My Business has been evolving to provide more features to businesses to engage better with customers and enhance their online presence. The new August 2024 update has more than a few exciting features, strengthening the way communications, advertisements, and engagement take place. Here is an overview of what is new and how these updates will benefit your business.

1.Messaging Feature Update

Maybe the most striking change brought about is the enhancement to messaging. Now businesses can, from a desktop, quickly respond to customer messages. In a way, this is pretty big for those who are finding mobile interfaces to be quite limiting or prefer running communications from a more robust environment on their desktops.

Key Features:

Desktop Response Capability: No more toggling between devices to keep up with customer messages. The ability to respond from the desktop confirms the maintenance of a seamless workflow.

Chat and Read Receipts: This feature allows users to enable chat and read receipts. This lets you see when customers have read your messages, so you can follow up better and be more informed about your communication strategies.

Benefits:

Improved Efficiency: Handling customer interactions from your desktop can drastically improve your response time and efficiency. It will keep you typing away on full-sized keyboards for improved typing and better organizational purposes.

Improved Customer Engagement: Knowing if a customer has read your message, you will have a sense of interest and urgency, thereby improving the quality of interaction and customer satisfaction.

2.Google Ads Integration

This integration comes as an addition to GMB to make the process of creating and managing Google Ads easy. Businesses can now easily generate Google Ads from within their GMB dashboard, with the ability to streamline their ad operations in one place.

Key Features:

Simplified Ad Creation: The integrated tool will be easier for making ads—those who have less experience in advertising can create them easily.

Centralized Management: You can manage all your ads right inside GMB, ensuring you have a single point of control for your online advertising efforts.

Benefits:

Time-Saving: You will save valuable time otherwise spent moving from one platform to the other by integrating ad creation in Google My Business.

Consistent Branding: Since all of your ads are going to be run from one place, you’ll be able to ensure uniformity in marketing messages and branding efforts.

3.Emoji Reactions to Reviews

In a step toward much more engaging customer reviews, Google has added emoji reactions to reviews on Google Maps. Now, customers are able to add emojis to their review responses, enhancing them by adding a personal flair. 

Key Features:

Emoji Reactions: Customers can react with lots of different emojis, hence making the process of reviewing more interactive and playful.

More Engaging: Emojis are a quick way to help customers express their feeling about writing a review; hence, reviews are more expressive and engaging.

Benefits:

Personalized Response: This will allow for more nuance and personality in the response, letting a business react to the customers on a more emotional level.

Increased Interaction: Being able to use emojis may encourage more customers to review, as now they have the ability to express themselves more freely. 

4.Terms and Conditions Updated

Google has changed the terms and conditions of the GMB in light of its August 2024 update. The updates in general deal with compliance and that all content on GMB stays accurate and appropriate. 

Key features

Compliance Focus: The new T&Cs shall keep all business listings compliant with the policies of Google. 

Accuracy of Information: Emphasis on the accuracy of information ensures that a business offers reliable and trustworthy details to their customers. 

Benefits:

Legal Protection: Complying with the new T&Cs protects your business from potential legal issues that can arise due to a lack of compliance.

Reliability: Accurate and compliant listing allows you to build up trust in customers. It helps in increasing the credibility of your business.

5.Social Media Links

In the age of today’s digital connectedness, the presence across all platforms is highly imperative. The newest update of GMB enables businesses to share links of their social media directly on their GMB page.

Key Features:

Social Media Integration: It easily integrates these social media platforms with your GMB listing: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Increased Visibility: Help customers find and connect easier with you across more channels of social media.

Benefits:

Broader Reach: You increase your reach by linking your social media profiles and making it easier for customers to hit your business via their favorite platforms.

Increased Connectivity: Get easily connected with your target audience through direct links to social media profiles for more meaningful relationships and fostered loyalty.

Conclusion

The August 2024 Google My Business update is full of features that can increase communication, make ad management easier, and boost customer engagement. The more tools being rolled out, the better a business will be positioned to save time, stay compliant, and deepen relationships with their customers. Ensure all of these updates are utilized to make a difference in this competitive environment and to give your audience the best experience.

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