Multi-location social media, one store at a time

The multi-location trap

The moment a business has a second location, social media gets harder in a specific way. Somebody writes one post and pushes it to every profile. Every store's Google profile now says the same thing on the same day, none of them names its own town, and the reviews for the Groton store get a reply meant for Manchester. Google notices duplicated content across profiles, and customers notice that the "local" shop is not talking about their town.

Social for Shops treats each location as its own shop that happens to share an owner.

How it works with more than one store

• One login, every location. Connect the Google account that manages the profiles and every location appears. Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts attach per store.
• Shared content, local wording. Write the offer once. Each store's version names its own town, its own phone number and its own hours, and publishes on a different day so the profiles do not move in lockstep.
• Store-specific posts too. A job done in the Salem store is posted from the Salem profile only. The manager there can add it from their phone with a photo.
• Reviews routed to the right store. Every review is answered from the profile it was left on, with the drafted reply referencing that store's details. See review replies.
• Numbers per store. Profile views, calls, direction requests and post clicks for each location, side by side, monthly. You see which store's profile is quiet before it costs you.
• Roles. An owner sees everything. A store manager sees one store. Nobody needs the passwords to any account.

Why one post per store beats one post everywhere

Google ranks each Business Profile on its own, for searches near that store. A post that says "iPad screen repair in Groton, same day" helps the Groton profile show for that search. A post that says "iPad screen repair, same day" with no town, copied to six profiles, helps none of them and can be read as duplicated content. The scheduler writes the town in, every time, for every store. The reasoning behind that is in the Google Business Profile scheduler page.

Franchise and kiosk operators

Repair kiosks inside big-box stores, franchise units, a cafe with a second site across town: the pattern is the same. Each location gets its own queue and its own rhythm. Head office sees the whole board. A store that has gone quiet for two weeks is flagged, because a quiet Google profile reads as a closed store.

Getting set up with several locations

1. Connect the Google account. All locations load; pick which ones to run.
2. Set each store's details: town, phone, services, opening hours, the manager who approves posts.
3. Approve the first month for each store. From then on it is a few minutes a week per store, or less if the manager handles their own.

Owners of a single shop should start at social media management for small business; everything there applies here too.

Straight answers