Latest / The Local Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Small Business, Google Maps, and Local SEO / How a Bookstore Uses Google Maps Posts to Host Events
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon — The Book Nook, been around since 2018 — and they've been using Google Business Profile posts in a way that's genuinely different from most small businesses I've seen. Luna: Different how? A lot of stores just post their hours and maybe a photo of a new book. Lucas: Right. Most treat posts like a bulletin board. The Book Nook treats them like a calendar of events — they schedule author signings, storytime for kids, even a monthly mystery book club. And the key is they're not just posting an event description; they're using the 'Event' post type specifically. Luna: Wait, Google Maps has different post types? I thought there was just one kind of text box. Lucas: There are actually three: 'What's New' — that's the general update — then 'Event' and 'Offer'. Most businesses use 'What's New' for everything. The Book Nook realized that if you select 'Event', Google highlights it differently in the Maps interface. It gets a date stamp, a time, and it shows up in a local events carousel on the Maps homepage for people nearby. Luna: That's a good detail. So instead of a static post that disappears after a week, an event post has more visibility because it's aggregated? Lucas: Exactly. The owner — her name's Maria — told me that after she started using event posts exclusively for author appearances, foot traffic from Google Maps discovery jumped about 40 percent. And this is over a three-month period last fall. Luna: Forty percent is huge. How many events were they posting a month? Lucas: About six to eight — so roughly two per week. But the cadence matters. She posts the event at least two weeks in advance, then does a follow-up post the day before with a 'reminder' tag. She also uses the 'event' post to link to a ticketing page — even if the event is free, she collects RSVPs through a simple Google Form. Luna: That's clever. The RSVP gives her data, and the two-week lead time means the event gets indexed and shows up in searches. Lucas: Right. And here's the specific stat that's worth repeating: Maria says 40 percent of her weekly visitors come from Maps discovery — people who searched 'bookstore near me' or 'events near me' and found her. Before she started using event posts, that number was around 15 percent. Luna: So it's not just about the posts themselves — it's about Google surfacing them in a different part of the app. Lucas: Exactly. The event posts feed into Google's local events algorithm. When someone in Portland opens Maps and taps 'Events', The Book Nook shows up alongside museums and concert venues. That's a huge lift for a small bookstore. Luna: I want to push back a little. Does this work for every business? If you're a hardware store, posting an event for a DIY workshop might not drive the same volume. Lucas: Fair point. But even for a hardware store, an event post about a Saturday morning workshop on how to fix a leaky faucet — that's an event. And it would still get the same treatment in Maps. The difference is the audience. For a bookstore, events are core to the business. For a hardware store, it's a side offer. But the mechanics are the same. Luna: Right. So the lesson is: if you have any recurring timed activity — a class, a tasting, a meetup — use the event post type instead of just posting a photo. Lucas: Exactly. And The Book Nook took it a step further. They optimized their post images. Instead of uploading a generic book cover, Maria uses photos of the author holding the book in the store. Faces perform better — Google's algorithm seems to favor posts with people. Her click-through rate on posts with a person is about double. Luna: That makes sense from a human psychology angle. We're drawn to faces. So the post becomes more engaging, and Google notices that engagement. Lucas: Exactly. And the post stays live for the duration of the event — up to two weeks after the event date, actually, but it's most visible before. Maria told me her best-performing post was for a local author's debut novel launch. She posted it 17 days in advance, updated it with a 'sold out' note after the first week, and the post got over 1,200 views. Luna: That's a lot of eyes on a single post. For a small business, that's like free advertising. Lucas: It basically is. And she didn't spend a dime. Google Business Profile posts are free. The only cost is her time to write a short description and upload a photo. She said each post takes about 10 minutes. Luna: Ten minutes for potentially hundreds of views. That's a great return. Lucas: If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used — maybe you've started posting event types or trying out better images — a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going. Buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to keep the show ad-free. And honestly, even a few dollars makes a difference for us. Lucas: So back to The Book Nook. One thing Maria also does is she responds to every Q and A question on her profile within an hour. That feeds into Google's freshness signals. Luna: An hour? That's fast. Most businesses take days. Lucas: She has notifications turned on her phone. When someone asks 'Do you have parking?' or 'Is the event wheelchair accessible?' she answers immediately. That activity signals to Google that the profile is active and relevant. Luna: So the event posts, the quick Q and A responses, the photos with people — it's a system, not a one-off. Lucas: It is. And the results are measurable. She tracks her Google Business Profile insights weekly. She showed me that event posts have a 12 percent click-through rate on average. Compare that to her 'What's New' posts, which are around 3 percent. Luna: That's a four times difference. So the event post type is just better at getting action. Lucas: Yes, because it has a clear call to action. 'Learn more' or 'Get tickets' is more compelling than 'Read more'. And the event post shows a specific date and time, which creates urgency. Luna: What about businesses that don't have events? Like a plumber or a tax accountant? Lucas: They could use 'Offer' posts — for a discount on a first service or a seasonal special. But if there's genuinely nothing time-bound, then 'What's New' is fine. But I'd argue most businesses have something: a holiday sale, a new product launch, a charity drive. If you can frame it as an event, it's worth trying. Luna: So the takeaway is: check the post types, use 'Event' if you have any date-specific activity, include a face, and post two weeks in advance. Lucas: That sums it up. And one more thing — Maria says she always includes a clear location in the post. Even though the address is on the profile, she writes 'at our store on 23rd and Alberta' because some people scan the post and don't scroll down. Luna: Small details. That's the kind of thing that makes the difference between a post that converts and one that just sits there. Lucas: Right. And the overhead is minimal. Ten minutes per post, a phone camera, and a little planning. If you're a local business owner, that's one of the highest roi activities you can do for free. Luna: I'm going to try this with my local coffee shop. They do open mic nights but only post on Instagram. I'll show them the event post type. Lucas: Let us know how it goes. Could be a future episode.