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Last week Google announced that it will begin offering complimentary marketing materials to help small-business owners promote their local companies.

The Small Thanks Hub (https://smallthanks.withgoogle.com/) marketing materials are available to any U.S. national company with a verified Google listing with a complete address

How Does SmallThanks Hub work?

Google-listed businesses can search for their business name on in the hub and Google will automatically create the marketing materials based on positive reviews from consumers.

These marketing materials include posters, stickers, table tend, window clings, and social media images (as shown in the released Starbucks sample below) featuring excerpts direct from your Google customer reviews.

Image: Google

These materials can then be published on social media outlets or professionally printed to be hung up in brick & mortar locations, distributed to local community businesses and potential customers.

SmallThanks allows businesses to personalize their marketing materials colors, layouts, and design style in line with their branding.

What does this mean for your business?

Customer reviews are imperative for small businesses to a customer base and compete with larger national companies in all industries. As mentioned in LocalClarity’s blog post earlier this week, showing appreciation for and acknowledgement of customer’s reviews can have a major impact on a customers’ perception of a small business. Google recognizes this and is providing a free outlet for brands to create materials to advertise their appreciation for their customers’ positive reviews.

As the Vice President of Marketing at Google, said in a recent blog post about the #SmallThanks initiative, “Reviews from your fans are like digital thank you notes, and they’re one of the first things people notice about your business in search results. A few positive small thanks can mean the difference between a potential customer choosing your business or going elsewhere.”

With 71 percent of customers admitting positive reviews in search results make them more likely to choose a business, there is no question small businesses need to change their marketing strategy to take full advantage of their positive customer reviews through features available in Google’s #SmallThanksHub