Latest / The Local Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Small Business, Google Maps, and Local SEO / How Local Gyms Use Google Maps to Fill Classes
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this gym in Austin, Texas, right on South Congress, that tripled its class bookings in three months. And the tool it used wasn't a fancy CRM or a new fitness app. It was Google Maps. Luna: Wait, really? I mean, I get that people search for gyms on Google Maps, but tripling bookings just from that? That sounds like a stretch. Lucas: I thought so too, until I looked at the numbers. The owner, a former CrossFit coach named Dana, told me that before she overhauled her profile, her gym was showing up maybe three or four times a week in Google Maps searches. After the changes, it was more like thirty. And the key wasn't just the listing itself. It was how she used every single feature Google Maps gives you. Luna: Okay, so walk me through it. What was the first thing she did? Lucas: First, she made her profile complete. Like, actually complete. She had already claimed it, but she'd left half the fields blank. No description, no hours for the weekend, no classes listed. Google's algorithm loves completeness, and so do customers. So she filled out everything, including a detailed description with keywords people actually use, like 'HIIT classes near me' and 'strength training in Austin.' Luna: Makes sense. But a lot of gyms probably have that. What else? Lucas: This is where it gets smart. She started posting to Google Maps. Not just updating her profile once a month, but posting every few days. She'd put up a photo of the morning class, a quick note about a new kettlebell session, a tip about recovery stretches. Each post is like a tiny ad that shows up right in the listing. And she made sure to include a call to action, like 'Book your spot today' with a link straight to her booking page. Luna: So she treated her Google Maps listing like a mini social media feed. That's actually pretty clever. But doesn't that take a ton of time? Lucas: That's the thing. She blocked out fifteen minutes every morning to do it. She'd take a photo of the empty studio, write a quick caption, schedule the post. And it paid off because Google rewards fresh content. The more often you post, the more often your listing shows up in local searches. And that matters more than ever because something like seventy-six percent of people who search for a local business on their phone end up visiting that business within a day. Luna: Seventy-six percent? That's huge. So basically, if you're not showing up on the first page of Google Maps, you're invisible to a massive chunk of potential customers. Lucas: Exactly. And Dana realized that. So she also tackled her reviews. She had about forty reviews, but they were mostly from friends and family. Not exactly a trust signal. So she set up a simple QR code at the front desk that linked directly to her Google review page. She asked every member who finished a class to leave a quick review. Within two months, she had two hundred reviews, and her average rating went from 4.2 to 4.8. Luna: That's a solid jump. Did she respond to all of them? Because I've heard that responding to reviews helps with rankings too. Lucas: She did. Every single one. Even the occasional negative review. And this is where she was really smart. For the few one-star reviews, she didn't get defensive. She thanked the person for the feedback, apologized for the specific issue, and said they'd fixed it. That's what a potential customer wants to see. They want to know the owner cares. Luna: So reviews are a big part of the trust factor, but what about the Q&A feature? I feel like a lot of people overlook that. Lucas: Oh, she used that too. She realized that people were asking the same questions over and over, like 'Is there parking?' and 'Do you have showers?' So she wrote clear, polite answers to each one and pinned them. That way, the next person who asked got an instant answer. It also signals to Google that the listing is actively managed, which helps with ranking. Luna: It's like she turned her listing into a mini FAQ page. So what was the actual impact on bookings? You said she tripled them. Lucas: Yeah, in three months. She tracked it using her booking software. In the first month, she had about sixty classes booked through Google Maps. By the third month, it was a hundred and eighty. That's a hundred and eighty extra bookings, each worth about twenty dollars. So that's three thousand six hundred dollars in extra revenue per month. Not bad for fifteen minutes a day of work. Luna: That's a solid return on investment. But I want to ask, because this is a podcast and we don't run ads, right? And I think it's worth saying, if these marketing ideas have helped you, and you want to support the show so we can keep making it ad-free, you can buy us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small gesture, but it genuinely helps us keep doing what we do. Lucas: Yeah, we really appreciate that. And like Luna said, we keep this show free of ads because we think that creates a better listening experience. So if you've gotten value out of these episodes, that link is there if you want to support us. No pressure, but it does help. Luna: And we're back to the gym. So, Dana's story is great, but I'm curious about the bigger picture. Does this strategy work for any local business, or is it just for gyms? Lucas: It works for any business that has a physical location and wants local customers. Think about a dentist, a hair salon, a mechanic. The same principles apply: complete profile, regular posts, active review management, and answering questions. The key is to treat your Google Maps listing like a living storefront, not a static yellow pages entry. Luna: What about consistency? I feel like that's the hardest part for a small business owner who's already wearing ten hats. How do you keep it up? Lucas: Dana's answer was simple: she scheduled it. She had a reminder on her phone, and she used Google's built-in scheduling tool to plan posts a week in advance. So she'd spend an hour on Sunday, map out the week's posts, and then just let them go live automatically. She also checked her insights every Friday to see which posts got the most engagement and adjusted from there. Luna: So it's not about being on your phone all day, it's about being deliberate. I like that. And I've got to say, the fact that she used photos of the actual studio, not stock photos, probably helped too. It adds a personal touch that makes people feel like they know the place before they walk in. Lucas: Absolutely. She told me that one of her most successful posts was a photo of her dog, Waffles, sitting on the front mat. It got three times more clicks than any of her workout photos. People love a bit of personality. It makes the gym feel like a community, not just a place to sweat. Luna: That's the thing about local marketing, right? It's not about being perfect or corporate. It's about being human and showing up consistently. So what would you say is the one takeaway from Dana's story? Lucas: I think it's that your Google Maps listing is not a set-and-forget thing. It's a dynamic tool that can actively bring in customers if you use it the way it's designed to be used. The businesses that win are the ones that treat it like a relationship, not a billboard. Luna: And the cost is just a little bit of time every day. That's a pretty good trade. I know what I'm doing this weekend with my own listing. Lucas: Ha, I bet you do. You know, it's funny, we've talked about so many different types of businesses on this show, but the lesson is always the same. Be specific, be consistent, and be local. The algorithms respond to that, and so do your customers. Luna: Alright, so next week we're going to dig into a topic that's a little different, but I think it's going to be a good one. Until then, maybe go check what your Google Maps listing looks like on your phone right now. Lucas: Yeah, do that. You might be surprised by what you see. Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.