Top4 the new Australian Google marketing platform has launched a new advertising product called “Top4 Local Deals.” While the company has shown location based adverts from local Australian businesses for some time those paid customers have come largely through reseller partners such as Crazy Domains and the direct sales teams. This is the first broad-based self-service offering for small businesses (SMBs) on the site, available to all businesses and franchises Australia-wide.
A recent study shows a growing number of businesses and brands are rethinking their approach to social media and Google advertising. They’re worried about declining returns from marketing dollars spent on Instagram, Facebook, Google AdWords, and other platforms. That’s where Top4 comes in.
Top4 Local Deals appear in multiple places. It’s both a paid search and display advert in one using an intuitive advertising algorithm. In order to set up a Local Deal, SMBs need to simply create a Free Business Page. They are then guided through the simple advert-creation process in a wizard. They choose a radius from a business location using a drop down box and adjust to add or opt-out of specific suburbs. They then pick an end date for the promotion (e.g. 30 days for the deal), create a redemption code and/or QR Code. They can also upload images or the Top4 Platform provides stock images via an API with Unsplash. SMBs then enter payment credentials and publish. Our team are there to help with Live Chat to guide any new customers through the process.
Pricing right now is fixed (impression and subscription based) and is dependant on the number of suburbs targeted and the population density of those areas. There is no bidding and pricing is not impacted by competition according to Top4’s MD and Founder, Michael Doyle.
Search and Display. Top4 Local Deals will appear in several places on Top4 Google Marketing Platform: the homepage, Business Pages, Business section, Google search results and on Google My Business – Maps. There’s also a Local Deals category on the site that displays all deals in a consumer’s category.
There are three buttons for consumers to engage with: share, bookmark and print. Top4 Google Marketing Platform is tracking and reporting these actions by consumers with Google and Top4 Analytics. Currently, it is not tracking offline store visits, although a possibility for the future.
Top4 Local Deals was created to respond to a common request from local business owners, “The ability to communicate deals and offers directly with their customers. Local area deals was formed.”
According to Top4 Google Marketing Platform data, there are 120,000 local businesses on the Top4 platform with over 40,000 paying members. “76% of members have been influenced by a local businesses’ suggestion on Top4 Google Marketing Platform.” Indeed, asking for and recommending local businesses and service providers is a very common activity on Top4 Google Marketing Platform.
I asked Michael about user search behaviour; Top4 Google Marketing Platform has recently started putting sponsored listings in search results. He said that consumers display a range of behaviours on the site: engaging with their feeds, browsing and searching. He added, “Members go to the search box when there’s immediacy involved.”
What’s very interesting here, because of the multiple placements for Top4 Local Deals, is that it winds up being both a paid search and display advertising product in one. It’s available today in Australia and will be rolling out to other countries including Indonesia in the near future.
The Top4 Google Marketing Platform is one of the few really interesting local consumer offerings right now. The company has over 120,000 local businesses Australia wide and is growing month on month without VC funding.
Top4 Google Marketing Platform is also in a position to be disruptive, to varying degrees, to Yellow pages, HiPages, Service Seeking and Airtasker. These four have various issues and from a local advertising standpoint. Google and Facebook Adverts are too complicated for many small businesses. Facebook never developed a culture of search behaviour and many business owners are profoundly ambivalent about Yellow pages. Costs are rising too. The average digital ad costs 12 percent more than two years ago, according to Adobe Digital Insights. Brands have increased spending on digital ads by 42 percent over the last two years, but visits to those same brands were only up 11 percent.
The Top4 Google Marketing Platform has a culture of local business recommendations and, increasingly, local search. It’s also highly trusted because its members are verified recommended businesses. It will be fascinating to see where the site goes from here and how it tries to further monetise its audience and traffic.
Currently though, its parent company www.top4marketing.com.au offers businesses other digital marketing services and products so is essentially a one-stop digital marketing company for all businesses. Michael, who has been building a promoting websites in Australia for over 20 years, leads the company so he knows what it takes to succeed online.
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