Google Business Profile posts for car dealerships

Your Google Business Profile is the panel that shows your hours, reviews, photos and directions in Google Search and Maps. Posts appear on that profile too. They’re free, they reach people who are already searching for a dealership near them, and they take a few minutes each — once you have the image ready.

The three post types

• Update (“What’s new”): the everyday post. A vehicle spotlight, a new arrival, a community event photo or a service tip.
• Offer: for sales events and specials. It has a start and end date, and can include terms and a link to redeem. Use it for finance offers, service specials and trade-in events.
• Event: for anything with a date and time, like a launch night, a charity barbecue or a test drive event.

Every post type can have a button, such as Learn more, Call now or Book. Link it to the vehicle, the offer page or your service booking page, not just your home page.

Get the image right

Google Business Profile posts work best with a 4:3 image, such as 1200 × 900 pixels. A square social post cropped to fit usually cuts off the price or the bumper, so make a version in the right shape. The car dealer ad size cheat sheet has this size alongside every other one.

• Keep the vehicle and the headline in the middle; Google crops the edges on some screens.
• Use less text than on Facebook. The post’s own text does the explaining.
• Use your own vehicles, photos and branding, so it’s clearly your dealership.

What to post each week

1. A vehicle of the week, new or used, linked straight to its page on your website. See how to market used car inventory for picking which units to feature.
2. Your current sales event as an Offer post, with the dates and terms. Plan them ahead with the dealer marketing calendar.
3. A service special, like winter tires or an oil change. Here are more service department marketing ideas.
4. A customer review turned into a post. It’s proof from real people, right where shoppers compare dealers. Here’s how to turn reviews into posts.
5. Community and events: a sponsorship, a donation or a launch night as an Event post.

Write the text for Google, not Facebook

• Plain and helpful. No hashtags, and go easy on emojis.
• Lead with the useful part: what, when and how much. Only the first line or two shows before “More”.
• Mention your city or neighbourhood naturally, the way a customer would say it.
• No phone number in the text. Google may reject the post; use the Call now button instead.
• Keep the fine print for any price, payment or rate, just as you would in any other ad.

The formula in how to write captions that sell cars works here too; just drop the hashtags.

Working in a specific city? See car dealer marketing by city for seasonal plans and local rules.

Common mistakes

• Posting once and forgetting. Older posts drop out of sight, and a profile whose newest post is from last spring looks neglected.
• Reusing a square Instagram post so the price gets cropped off.
• Linking every button to the home page instead of the vehicle or offer.
• Leaving offers up after they end. Use the Offer type with an end date so expired deals don’t confuse shoppers.