As marketers, you know that words matter, names matter. What you call something tells your audience what you value, and a little bit about why it’s important. Sometimes names need to be changed to keep up with the intent behind the name,which is exactly what happened with Google My Business. 

Online Reputation Management Matters

According to our G5 Data, GMB, GBP (or whatever you want to call Google’s Business Listing service), is one of the top three most consistent and highest performing marketing channels. That’s a big deal. Our data scientists examined data in each of our industries — multifamily, self storage, and senior living — and across millions of digital interactions and customer journeys to evaluate which ones led to a phone call or a web form fill. Again and again, GBP reigns supreme. 

This shouldn’t be too surprising because if you read online reviews before you order the perfect shower curtain…well, you’d better believe that researching prospects read online reviews about your properties or communities. The decision to — select a new apartment home, find the right place to store belongings, or find the ideal senior living community for a loved one — is weighty, expensive, and one to get right. Check out these blogs to learn more about the importance of online reputation, and our review response strategies, and keep reading to learn more about changes to Google My Business…I mean, Google Business Profile!

Google My Business Becomes Google Business Profile

New name, who dis? Google changed Google My Business’ name to Google Business Profile (GBP), and plans to retire the Google My Business app in 2022. If you’ve been with us for a while, you know that this isn’t the first time Google has changed the name…you might also remember names like Google Local Business Center, Google Places, and Google+ Local. 

No App, Edit It in Map

MarTech poet and we didn’t know it? Apart from the name change, the biggest shift is that Google is allowing businesses to manage their listing directly from Google Search and Google Maps. You read that right. Some disclaimers and caveats: This is helpful for smaller businesses to manage their individual listings. 

What if you manage multiple listings? Fear not, dear marketer. The new name Google Business Profile is a more seamless name extension of Google’s Business Profile Manager, which is what they’re renaming the existing GMB web experience. The Business Profile Manager is primarily Google’s answer to supporting larger businesses with multiple locations. 

So, if you’re reading this and panicking because your MarTech provider currently manages your GMB/GBP listing, don’t sweat. Know that they’ll continue to use an interface similar to the existing GMB web experience, meaning, functionality hasn’t changed and they still have your back covered in the review response arena. 

Why Marketers Care

Translate this into marketing speak, please? Well, at the risk of looking like you don’t know what’s up…GMB to GBP means that you could mess up an acronym and you’ll be speaking more marketer acronym alphabet soup. Kidding aside, changes like these mean that Google is examining the offering, and that other changes are likely to follow. There will probably be more features into the existing web interfaces, and more features in the Google Search and Google Maps interfaces for business owners. 

Be Agile

The good news is: After the last few years, we all know how to be agile, adapt, and roll with new changes. If you need a trusted MarTech provider to navigate this change with, let’s chat and see how G5 can help.