Latest / The Local Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Small Business, Google Maps, and Local SEO / How a Thai Restaurant Uses Google Posts to Drive Lunch Orders
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this Thai restaurant in Portland — it's called Khao Man Gai, which I love because the name literally just means 'chicken and rice.' And they've figured out something that most local businesses miss with their Google Business Profile. Luna: Okay, I'm curious. What's the trick? Lucas: They use Google Posts — the little update box inside your Business Profile — not just as a general announcement board, but as a precise lunch-rush trigger. And they've got the data to prove it works. Luna: Define 'precise lunch-rush trigger.' Are we talking about posting a photo of pad thai right at 11 a.m.? Lucas: Close, but even tighter. They post at 10:30 a.m., Monday through Thursday, with a specific offer: 'Order any lunch entree before 1 p.m. and get a free spring roll.' That's it. But the timing and the consistency are what make it work. Luna: So they're not just posting randomly. They've got a schedule. How long have they been doing this? Lucas: About six months. And in that time, their lunch orders — according to the owner — have increased by roughly 20 percent. Not bad for zero ad spend. Luna: And those posts show up right in Google Maps and Search when someone looks up their restaurant? Lucas: Exactly. When you search for 'Thai food Portland' or even just 'lunch near me,' Khao Man Gai's profile appears with that active post front and center. It's not buried in some menu tab. It's the first thing a potential customer sees after the star rating and the hours. Luna: That makes sense. But don't most restaurants have Google Posts? I feel like I see them all the time. Lucas: They do, but usually badly. Most restaurants post once a month with a generic 'We're open!' message and no call to action. Khao Man Gai is posting three times a week, rotating between three post types: 'Offer' — that's the free spring roll thing — 'Event' — like a lunch special — and 'What's New' — maybe a new curry they're testing. Luna: And they're sticking to just those three categories? That's interesting. Google gives you 'Offer,' 'Event,' 'Product,' and 'What's New.' So they're using three of the four. Lucas: Right. They never use 'Product' because they don't sell packaged goods. But the key is they always include a button — 'Order Online' or 'Call Now' — and a clear expiration date. Google Posts expire automatically after seven days if you don't set an end date, but Khao Man Gai sets theirs to expire at 1 p.m. the same day. So by the time the lunch rush is over, the post disappears. Luna: That's smart. It creates urgency. If you see it at noon, you know you've got an hour to act. Lucas: Exactly. And because the offer is time-bound, people actually click. The owner told me their click-through rate on the 'Order Online' button is around 8 percent, which is well above the average for local business posts. Luna: What's the average? Do we have a benchmark? Lucas: It varies by industry, but for restaurants, typical click-through on a Google Post is maybe 2 to 4 percent. So 8 percent is double or triple the norm. Luna: So part of their success is the offer itself. A free spring roll isn't huge, but it's something. But I'm guessing the photos matter too. Lucas: Hugely. The owner told me they never post a photo that isn't well-lit and shot from above. They actually hired a food photographer for a single session — cost them $150 — and now they reuse those images in rotation. They crop them square so they look good on mobile. And they always include the dish name in the image text overlay. Luna: Right, because Google Posts allow you to add a small headline and a description. So you can write 'Free Spring Roll with Lunch' right on the image. Lucas: Yes. And they keep the description short — under 100 characters — because Google truncates anything longer on mobile. They lead with the offer, then the call to action. No fluff. Luna: That's a good rule of thumb. So what about the weekends? You said they post Monday through Thursday. What about Friday through Sunday? Lucas: They don't post on weekends because their weekend traffic is already strong — dinner crowds mostly. They focus their posting effort on the days when lunch is slower. That's another lesson: don't post for the sake of posting. Target your weak spots. Luna: That's a smart way to think about it. A lot of businesses just blast the same message every day and wonder why engagement drops. Lucas: Exactly. And here's something else they do that I thought was clever: they use Google Posts to announce menu changes before they update the actual menu online. So if they run out of a key ingredient, they post a 'What's New' message saying 'Today we're featuring our new green curry instead of the panang' — that way customers aren't disappointed when they arrive. Luna: Oh, that's smart. It's like a real-time update that doesn't require editing your website. And it probably cuts down on customer service headaches. Lucas: The owner said it reduced complaints by about half. Little things like that add up. Luna: You know, it's interesting — we've done a lot of episodes on Google Business Profile features, but this one really shows how something as simple as a post can drive real revenue if you have a strategy. Lucas: And that's the thing I keep coming back to. A lot of this stuff is free. It just takes a little consistency and thought. Which reminds me — we keep this podcast ad-free, and that's only possible because a handful of listeners chip in on buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small group, but it genuinely makes a difference. If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used, that's the kind of support that keeps us going. Lucas: Right. So back to Khao Man Gai — one more thing they do that I think is underused. They schedule their posts using Google's own scheduler, not a third-party tool. That way the post goes live exactly when they want, and it's tied to their Business Profile natively. Luna: Does Google's scheduler work well? I've heard some people say it's clunky. Lucas: It's not as polished as a tool like Hootsuite, but for a single location, it does the job. The owner told me they spend about 10 minutes a week — Sunday evening — scheduling the three posts for the week. That's it. Luna: Ten minutes a week for a 20 percent increase in lunch orders. That's a pretty good return on time. Lucas: It is. And I think the biggest takeaway here isn't the free spring roll or the photo quality. It's the discipline. They don't skip weeks. They don't post something generic. Every post has a purpose: drive an order before 1 p.m. Luna: So if someone listening wants to try this, what's the first step? Should they just start posting daily? Lucas: No. Start with two posts a week, same days, same time. Pick one offer type — maybe a discount or a freebie — and stick with it for a month. Track your clicks in Google Business Profile Insights. If you see a lift, scale to three posts. Don't overcomplicate it. Luna: And make sure the photos are good. That seems like a non-negotiable. Lucas: Absolutely. A blurry phone photo of a dish under fluorescent lights will hurt more than help. Spend the $150 on a photographer if you can. It pays for itself after a few orders. Luna: Alright, I'm hungry now. And I'm definitely going to check my lunch options on Google Maps with fresh eyes. Lucas: Same. And if you end up with a free spring roll, think of Khao Man Gai's strategy.