CEDA have partnered with Miles Partnership, a strategic marketing company focused exclusively on destinations, to boost Palmerston North and Manawatū’s digital footprint and directly support our business community with increasing their digital capabilities.
The Google DMO partnership is a cooperative initiative aimed at improving the quality and visibility of businesses and destination-related content within Google’s maps, search and travel planning products.
With 94% of all searches happening on a Google platform, this is a significant opportunity for us to elevate the city and region’s online presence, and it reinforces why it is so important for businesses to have a verified listing on Google.
How will we do it?
CEDA are working with the Miles team to lift the visible digital profile of Palmerston North city and Manawatū, through improving content, imagery, video and key information on the region. This will include street view content capture where the Miles team will document parts of the region that need it the most, either through using the Google Street View Car or a backpack rig for more off-the-beaten-track locations, such as Te Āpiti – Manawatū Gorge Tawa Loop track. This will in turn help visitors and residents alike to better navigate important areas of our region, before and during their trip, and connect them to relevant or complementary information when they’re moving around our region.
What’s in it for Businesses?
To understand how effectively our visitor facing business community were utilising Google My Business tools, a regional audit was conducted across tourism, hospitality and retail. This looked at nearly 400 businesses to uncover what information was correct, missing, or inactive on business listings. Of the businesses audited (49%) were complete listings, while (37%) were listed, but had incomplete information such as open hours, contact details and other business details.
To support businesses to learn more about Google My Business Tools and how to leverage them, CEDA hosted a successful workshop in Palmerston North during October where we were able to validate, connect and register nearly 60 businesses in person. We are now working to support the remaining identified businesses, providing them with a free suite of tools and training on our Manawatū resource hub, with further workshops planned in Feilding shortly.
How can I get involved?
If you have a business and would like to know more about how you too can improve your digital presence for FREE, we would encourage you to check out the Manawatū resource hub which includes access to the free Marketing Academy. You can also get a free audit and report on your Google My Business listing through the Checkup Tool available through the hub. If you have any questions or would like help with verifying your business listing, get in touch with the CEDA team today.
