New Google My Business feature: gift card or donation button available on business listing

July 03, 2020

Let your customers show their support. With changing times due to COVID-19, small businesses have turned to online services for every day transactions. Whether it’s to send out a notice about updated hours or a new safety policy, the way customers interact has changed. Luckily, tools and services available for small business are also changing. One of the most prominent was Google My Business (GMB). GMB added “takeout,” “delivery,” and other buttons to quickly notify users of services available during the pandemic. Now Google is adding more features that can allow you to offer gift cards and donation options within your Google listing.

The new option should be available under the “Posts” section within the “COVID-19 support.” It’s currently offered in the United States to businesses with a physical storefront. The Google My Business account must be a verified account prior to March 1st 2020.

The service is meant to encourage customers to support their favorite business remotely. Usually, small business owners provide goods and services that require face to face interactions. A gift card can serve as promise to provide a future transaction. Similarly, non-profits can take advantage of the service to raise funds via donations without the hassle of creating a complicated network of social media accounts, web hosting, and marketing campaigns. It’s all about simplicity, available right on your listing so that it is easy to access when customers search for your organization.

The new feature should work with existing gift card and donation services such as Square, Paypal, or your own website. Google asks that you provide a supported URL format for the service to work.

Full disclosure: Top Hat Central offers a Google My Business management service. Google My Business is a free tool offered by Google. This article was meant to highlight a new service available to small business. As a management agent, Top Hat Central offers both general and premium upkeep of Google listings. This includes professional photography, relevant keywords and SEO, and other services to generate business traffic, both on and offline. We specialize in small business and understand that micro businesses may not have the personnel to specialize in online marketing. We know they often wear many hats to keep their business going, we offer to be one less so they can focus on expanding their efforts.

For more information on setting up a gift card or donate button on your listing click here: https://support.google.com/business/answer/9872059