Can online advertising drive people to a physical store?
Yes. Google's Store Visit conversions and local campaigns are specifically designed to bridge online ads and offline foot traffic — and the data is more reliable than most business owners think.
We ran store visit campaigns for Kelsan, an industrial cleaning equipment retailer with locations in Nashville and Charlotte. Over 12 months, their campaigns generated over 2,000 tracked store visits on a combined spend of $25,967.
How do Google Store Visit campaigns work?
Google uses anonymized location data from users who have Location History enabled to estimate when someone who clicked your ad later visited your physical store. It's a statistical model, not GPS tracking of individuals — but at scale, it's remarkably accurate.
For Kelsan, we built two location-specific campaigns:
- Nashville Store Visits: 28,627 clicks, 2,048 store visit conversions at $0.37 CPC
- Charlotte Store Visits: 23,888 clicks, 27 tracked store visits at $0.40 CPC
The Nashville numbers are striking — a $10,569 investment that drove over 2,000 people through the door. Charlotte's store visit tracking showed lower numbers, but this is likely a data maturity issue: Google needs sufficient foot traffic volume to confidently report store visits.
What complemented the store visit campaigns?
Branded search captured people already familiar with the Kelsan name. Their branded campaign drove 3,737 clicks with 176 conversions at just $0.58 CPC. For a specialty retailer, that's critical — these are people comparing Kelsan to national brands who decided to buy local.
We also ran a Tennant-branded campaign targeting people searching for a specific equipment manufacturer that Kelsan carries. 856 clicks at $4.29 CPC — higher cost, but these searchers have extremely specific purchase intent.
On social, Kelsan's organic Facebook presence reinforced the brand: 15,460 impressions and 1,039 engagements in six months with a community of 434 followers. For a niche industrial retailer, those are engaged numbers.
How should retail businesses think about online-to-offline attribution?
The gap between a click and a purchase at a physical location has always been the hardest thing to measure in marketing. Here's how to close it:
- Run store visit campaigns if you have physical locations and meet Google's eligibility thresholds.
- Track direction requests as a secondary conversion — someone asking Google Maps how to get to your store is a strong buying signal.
- Use offer codes or check-in promotions to tie in-store purchases back to specific campaigns.
- Monitor branded search volume as a leading indicator. Rising branded searches mean your ads are building recognition, even before someone walks in.
Is this strategy only for big retailers?
No. Kelsan is a niche, regional business — not a national chain. The total annual spend was under $26K. Store visit campaigns work for any business with a physical location, enough foot traffic for Google's model, and a Google Business Profile in good standing.
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