Google has just launched "What's Happening" for its Google Business Profiles. You can display daily specials alongside your business listing if you are a restaurant or bar. This offers a valuable opportunity to increase your visibility at the critical time when customers are making dining decisions.

It is said that it will soon be rolled out to other businesses.

What is the "What's Happening" Feature

When potential customers search for dining options in your area, they'll immediately see your current promotion before any other business information. This placement ensures that your most compelling offers receive maximum visibility when it is critically needed.

Currently, you have nothing to lose, as it's free.

Implementation Options for Your Business

I was thinking about how you can use the "What's Happening" feature.

Try it out by publishing this content directly through your Google Business Profile dashboard.

If you like it, connect your existing Facebook or Instagram profiles to sync relevant content to your Google Business Profile automatically. If it works, this would eliminate the duplicate work while maximising the exposure of your existing content across platforms.

If you are our client, we are happy to assist you as we always like to maximise our clients' benefits.

Optimisation Strategies

I am sure that Google's algorithm will favour current, engaging content that they are looking for. So to extract maximum value from the "What's Happening" feature, you would need to:

- Focus on a straightforward offer rather than overwhelming potential customers with multiple options.

- Use action-oriented language, e.g. "Book today" or "Try our new menu", as it's designed to drive immediate response, so you need something that is for an immediate response.

- Clearly say when promotions begin and end to create urgency and manage customer expectations

- Keep it up to date; customers will only be disappointed and lose trust if they come for an old offer that is no longer available.

- Note each promotion to see which ones work for you to refine your approach over time

Integration with Point of Sale Systems

If it takes off, we will undoubtedly integrate. I can already see some automation, as the POS system knows

- Your excess inventory can be used to reduce wastage.

- Performance analytics can be utilised.

- Automated scheduling is no problem for your POS System.

How to do it

To implement the "What's Happening" feature for your hospitality business:

Access Your Business Profile

Sign in to your verified Google Business Profile.

Review Profile Verification

Please ensure your business details are current and accurate

Select Implementation Method

For starters, till you get going, I suggest picking manual posts

Create Your First Update

Highlight your most compelling current offer or upcoming event—something simple like the deluxe premade range of sandwiches, 50% off now to 4:00 p.m. today. Remember, unsold sandwiches are often binned if not sold by 4:00 p.m. Also, I must say that excessively offering such discounts rarely does a business much good in the long term.

Review

See how it goes, I suggest experimenting a lot. Its very hard in advance to know what motivates your customers.

Please tell me

I would love to know how it goes for you.

One problem I noticed is that it only supports one location. If your business has multiple locations, you may have problems. One solution might be to make one business profile for each location.

Conclusion

It's free and does represent a significant opportunity for Australian businesses to enhance their online visibility and connect with customers.

I would say, "What do you have to lose?"

Written by:

Bernard Zimmermann is the founding director at POS Solutions, a leading point-of-sale system company with 45 years of industry experience. He consults to various organisations, from small businesses to large retailers and government institutions. Bernard is passionate about helping companies optimise their operations through innovative POS technology and enabling seamless customer experiences through effective software solutions.

As Australia's number one newsagency software provider, I believe we found while recently updating our marketing list that we were shocked to discover how many Australian newsagents hadn't claimed their free Google Business Profile (GBP). Out of an estimated 3,000 newsagencies nationwide, we estimate that less than half have one. That is a horrible statistic.

Now, I have spoken about this many times.

This gap represents a significant missed opportunity for most newsagents, considering the sheer volume of online newsagent searches to find their location, almost all by customers looking to purchase something from a newsagency.

Although the figure is not released by Google, looking at our SEO package, it estimates that Australians perform over 55,000 searches every month for "newsagent near me" and "newsagency near me". As I stated, most of these searches customers use to direct them to a newsagency to buy something. Yet, approximately 1,500 newsagents are missing out as their potential customers will never find their business. What these customers will see are other newsagents. 

Why go to all the trouble of making your shop the best if no customers come?

What Is a Google Business Profile?

A Google Business Profile is a free tool that puts your newsagency on Google Search and Maps. It displays essentials like your location, hours and phone number.

Why It's a Game-Changer for Newsagents

Boosted Visibility

Show up at the top when someone searches for a newsagent nearby. Look at the image above.

Trust Factor

A polished profile with photos and reviews makes customers more likely to choose you.

Local SEO Edge

Climb higher in local search rankings with a well-managed profile.

Smart Insights

Access data on how customers find and interact with your listing.

It is free and low-effort. You can set it up in under 30 minutes.

Turning Losses Into Gains or The Real Cost of Inaction

If you do not have one, with 55,300 monthly searches for newsagents and only half of them visible online, each newsagency gets around 40 monthly searches on average.

Now consider this.

Lost Revenue Impact

No Google Business Profile means missed foot traffic. Say an average sale is $25. If half of those people were coming to buy, that is, 20 customers a month, they should have picked up. In dollars, that would be $500 a month; those newsagents have lost $6,000/year plus possibly much repeat business from those 20 people.

How to Set Up Your Google Business Profile in 5 Simple Steps

Claim Your Spot

Head to Google Business Profile

1. Search for your business.
2. If not, create a new listing.
3. If it is there, check that you have claimed it; if not, claim it.

Add Your Details

Enter your business name, address, phone number, and hours.

Pick categories like "Newsagent" or "Lottery" to match customers' searches.

Show Off with Photos

Use your smart camera to take a few clear shots of your storefront and products. Add them to your profile; this is important as profiles with photos get 42% more direction requests.

Stay Active

At least once a quarter, go into your profile and update it.

Claim Your $6,000: How You Can Win with Google Profiles

With 55,000 monthly searches up for grabs and half of Australia's newsagents missing out, the time to act is now.

Claim Your Profile Today, its free!