PETS PLACE BOERENBOND
80% increase in local impressions
Simultaneous data synchronisation on 30 networks
400 hours saved with Local Tooling
80% INCREASE IN LOCAL IMPRESSIONS DURING COVID
Pets Place, the biggest pet shop in the Netherlands and Boerenbond, one of the most famous Dutch garden centers owns a combined number of 175 stores throughout the Netherlands.
THE SITUATION
Pets Place Boerenbond’s (PPBB) marketing team had previously mostly ignored the maintenance of their presence in social, navigational and directory networks. Store managers started inquiring with the question “can the marketing team maintain and update the Google My Business accounts?”. A few store managers already worked on optimising Local Search themselves while others barely knew of the existence of Google My Business. PPBB quickly figured that it would be time-costly keeping all store listings up-to-date from one central team. In addition, PPBB had the ambition of expanding their presence onto all relevant (social-, navigational- and directory-) networks.
Backed up with offline conversion data from Google, the marketing team was on the hunt to utilise online marketing to drive more footfall to the offline stores. More was to be done in order to reach the growth goals for offline sales. PPBB also knew that there were other relevant networks (other than Google) that could increase the number of store visitors.
PPBB started optimising their GMB listings, so that all relevant information was available for Local Search through Google. Then, they synchronised all of their location data on more than thirty different relevant networks. Some of these networks are: TomTom, Apple Maps, Facebook, Instagram and Uber. PPBB created the possibility to simultaneously make changes of a store’s information on more than thirty networks, out of their new tooling.
After that, a content and review strategy was developed. This strategy made sure that PPBB could easily publish content over all the different networks, while still being relevant for specific different types of stores. Their brochures are mostly being promoted on Facebook and Google My Business. The brochures’ delivery areas have been translated into catchment areas on GMB and Facebook, making it possible to utilise the obtained data in online marketing. Future omnichannel campaigns will exactly understand which catchment areas are most compatible to drive more footfall to a certain store.
“Developments around operating our physical stores change faster than ever and our customers demand accurate and up-to-date information. Up Analytics’ tooling makes it easier to meet this need and be one step ahead of competition.”
Ard Malenstein, Managing Director of Pets Place Boerenbond
Just before the further implementation of the location based strategy, COVID-19 happened. This sudden pandemic changed the consumer behaviour rapidly. Customers suddenly had different expectations regarding information needed and services expected. PPBB reacted quickly and adequately to the unforeseen situation, thanks to the newly set up location tool for businesses.
During the first COVID-19 wave PPBB has been able to grow by providing up-to-date and relevant information about their products and services. It was completely clear how the PPBB stores handled the pandemic and new rules. One of the most important changes was the implementation of adding additional business attributes to the Google My Business listings, which provided the consumers with relevant information on how they could continue shopping at physical Pets Place stores. Simultaneously, the webshop was promoted as an alternative.
PPBB’s search for a solution to make results insightful and time saving ended at Up Analytics. Up Analytics direct support enables PPBB’s marketing team to speed up their in-house marketing efforts. The possibility to execute A/B tests with Up Analytics’ tool was also a major plus. PPBB needed an accurate measurement tool to map out the impact of the changes on Local Search, to win internal support. The review strategy and a major rebranding effort, which both required a significant investment, were A/B tested on small groups of stores.
THE RESULTS
80% INCREASE IN IMPRESSIONS ON LOCAL SEARCH DESPITE COVID-19
The investment in providing a great user experience on Local Search was proven to deliver positive results almost immediately. PPBB’s stores have seen a procentual increase of eighty percent in impressions on Google Search and Google Maps. This comparison has been made between the first nine months of 2020 (read: pandemic included) and 2019, a year in which COVID-19 barely had an impact on customer behaviour. Potential customers are finding PPBB’s store a lot more often through discovery searches. The biggest surprise for the marketing team: users that find PPBB through local search, also significantly increased the website sales.
By investing in the right tool, PPBB has approximately saved four hundred hours of manual optimisation of Google My Business. In addition, they save twelve hundred hours of keeping the store information up-to-date every year. The reporting of results has been completely automated and all thirty networks are now maintained with an investment of sixty minutes per week.
