Latest / The DTC Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Direct-to-Consumer Brands, Shopify, and E-Commerce Growth / How DTC Brands Use Google Business Profile for Local Discovery
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, if I asked you to name the single best free tool for a direct to consumer brand to get discovered by people who are literally standing outside their door, what would you say? Luna: I mean, instinct says Google Business Profile. But I feel like most DTC brands treat it like an afterthought — they claim the listing, put up a logo, and forget about it. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the gap this episode is about. Because if you're a DTC brand with a pop-up, a showroom, or even just local inventory — your Google Business Profile is basically a free storefront on Google Maps and Search. And brands that optimize it seriously see real traffic. Luna: And it's not just about 'we're here', right? There's a lot more you can do — posts, Q&A, product photos, even direct booking. Lucas: Yeah, and that's what we're going to dig into. But first — a quick thing. These conversations we have every week, they take real time to research and produce. And they stay ad-free because of listeners who chip in a couple of dollars a month over at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. If these marketing deep dives have sparked something you've actually used — that's the place to say thanks. It genuinely makes a difference. Luna: Absolutely. It keeps us independent and focused on what actually works. Now let's get back to Google Business Profile. Lucas: Right. So let's start with a concrete example. There's a mattress-in-a-box brand — I won't name them, but they're well-known in the US — they opened a handful of showrooms in major cities. Initially, their Google Business profiles just had an address and hours. Then they went all-in: they added 50+ photos of the showroom, posted weekly updates about new models and sales, and responded to every single review. Within three months, organic search impressions for 'mattress store near me' in those cities jumped by over 200 percent. Luna: And foot traffic? Did they track that? Lucas: Yeah, they used a simple QR code at the door tied to a landing page. They saw a 34 percent increase in in-store visits directly attributable to the Google profile. And the cost was basically time — no ad spend. Luna: That's huge. So what are the key levers for a DTC brand doing this well? Lucas: I'd break it into three buckets. First, verification and completeness — fill out every single field. Category, attributes like 'women-owned' or 'appointments preferred', service options. Google rewards completeness with visibility. Luna: Right, and that includes the Q&A section, which a lot of brands don't monitor. But customers ask things like 'do you have my size?' or 'can I return in store?' — if you don't answer, Google still shows the question. Lucas: And unanswered questions hurt trust. So second bucket: photos and posts. Not just a logo — interior shots, product shots, even short videos of the space. Google's algorithm weights recency and frequency of updates. A brand that posts a new photo or offer every week signals it's active. Luna: And the third bucket is reviews — both quantity and response rate. A DTC brand I spoke to told me they saw a direct correlation between responding to reviews within 48 hours and a higher average star rating over time. Lucas: That makes sense. Responding shows engagement. And Google factors in the freshness of reviews too — a brand with 50 reviews from last month will rank higher than one with 500 from three years ago. Luna: So there's a real cadence element here. It's not a set-it-and-forget-it channel. Lucas: No, it's a relationship. And for DTC brands that are used to thinking purely online, this is a mindset shift. Your Google profile is like a mini website that lives inside Google's ecosystem. And it's often the first thing a potential customer sees when they search your brand name plus 'near me'. Luna: What about brands that don't have a physical location? Can they still use it? Lucas: Yes, but only if they serve customers at their location — like a service-area business. A DTC furniture brand that offers in-home assembly, for example, can set a service area rather than a physical address. Then they show up in local pack results for searches like 'furniture assembly in Austin'. Luna: Interesting. So even if you're mostly ecommerce, if you have any local service component, you should claim your profile. Lucas: Exactly. And there's another angle: using Google Posts to promote limited-time offers or events. A DTC skincare brand I follow posts every time they launch a new product — they include a 'Shop Now' button that goes to their product page. Google tracks clicks from those posts, and it feeds into engagement signals. Luna: So the profile becomes a discovery engine, not just a directory listing. What metrics should a brand track to measure success? Lucas: Google Business Profile gives you an insights dashboard. Look at search views — how many people saw your listing in search results. Then map views — how many clicked to get directions. And then website clicks or phone calls. The ratio of map views to direction requests is a good indicator of intent. Luna: And for brands with a physical location, you can also use Google's 'Business Messages' feature — lets customers chat with you directly from the listing. Lucas: Yes, and that's increasingly important. A DTC eyewear brand with try-on showrooms told me about 40 percent of their in-store appointments came through Google's chat feature. It's basically a free CRM. Luna: So if a brand is listening and wants to improve their profile today, what's the single highest-impact action? Lucas: Go to your Google Business profile and look at the 'Posts' section. If you haven't posted in the last week, create a post right now — even if it's just a product photo with a short description. Freshness matters more than people realize. Luna: And respond to any unanswered reviews. Even a simple 'thanks for your feedback' can move the needle. Lucas: Exactly. Consistency over perfection. This channel rewards frequency, not just quality. Luna: Alright, so let's wrap with a forward look. Google is experimenting with ai generated summaries of business profiles. How do you see that changing things for DTC brands? Lucas: It means you need to be even more deliberate about the structured data you provide — categories, attributes, and especially the 'from the business' description. If Google is going to summarize your brand in a paragraph, you want to define that narrative before an algorithm does it for you. Luna: So it's about owning your story at the profile level. Good advice. Lucas: And if you've been sleeping on your Google Business Profile, today's the day to wake up.