Optimizing Your Apple Business Connect - 2023 Latest Guide

Apple has just released the latest free tool for businesses of all sizes and it's worth checking out the friendly and sleek looking interface.

If you are optimizing your Google Business Profile this new tool should also be in your wheelhouse.

Apple is no longer going to rely on other third-party tools for their users and is now introducing their latest free tool; Apple Business Connect. 

Allowing all businesses to customize their business information for their customers all across the Apple-sphere. 

This is a big move by Apple and will be learning how to help businesses showcase key aspects of their business. 

Apple users are in the neighborhood of billions and this latest feature will be featured through all Apple apps. 

The big takeaway from this new free tool will be the ability to engage with people with your business and moving further away from third-party data that will show inaccurate information about businesses. Let me run you through it.

Related: How to Optimize Your Google Business Profile

What is Apple Business Connect?

Apple Business Connect (ABC) is a new free tool from Apple that was introduced in January 2023. It allows businesses to create “place cards” or profiles to show all the important information about their business and the ability for people to store this information across all Apple applications. 

ABC allows for plenty of customizations regarding a business, you can create a category or add certain attributes depending on your business type. 

There are also features, similar to Google Business Profiles, where you can create custom events or promotions called Showcases and schedule them accordingly. They also come packed with call-to-actions prompting your customers to reach out to your business. 

You can also upload photos of the business showing the interior and exterior of the location. 

Features in Apple Business Connect

Let’s dive in and take a look around the interface of the new ABC tool. I will do a quick run-through with the sections involved in an ABC profile. 

Info

This will show all the key information for your business including a custom avatar profile picture and a custom banner. 

Here, you can edit/update your business category or change up the business information. If anything within the business changes you will want to be sure to update this information so to avoid confusing your customers. 

Showing the correct and current information for your business can be an important part that can be overlooked. If a potential new client or customer reads about inaccurate or old information about your business, it can create some tension and cause doubt about their purchasing decision. So, as the business owner, be critical with this information and check up on it regularly. 

Showcases

Similar to Google Business Profile “posts”, this is a big opportunity to show your customers what’s going on with your business. 

Have a new promotion that is getting ready to launch? You can schedule a the promotion for a certain duration and add call-to-actions like “Recommend This Place” or “Call Us”. 

The takeaway from this feature allows customers to save your business information through various types of Apple apps. So, this should not go ignored for a long period of time and should be worked on consistently. 

Photos

Another great way to put more content in front of your customers will be to consistently add photos to this section. 

Photos can tell a lot about a business. The better the quality photos that you supply here could be a factor in someone choosing to hire you are give you business. 

If you have your Yelp account set up, those photos will show in this section. But, try to add some more value through some custom photos for this section. 

Insights

The insights section will show you all the data about the engagement with your profile. I tend to take these numbers with a grain of salt and cross-reference them with my Analytics data.

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How to Setup Apple Business Connect

Setting up an ABC account is simple. Business owners can register their business using their Apple ID, if you don’t have one you can create one for free. You will register your business through the self-service website from a desktop or laptop. 

Once you have logged in and verified their business, this can be done through a domain validation or submitting an official document like a business license. 

After verification, you can proceed on claiming your location(s) and adding all the details of the business.

There are three different routes to getting your business registered: 

1. Single business locations
2. Enterprise companies with > 25 or more locations
3. Third-party agencies that manage online data for other businesses, done through Business Connct API

Some Pro-Tips - Optimizing Your Place Card

• Create photos that show your business engaging with customers
• Get creative in creating the ideal showcase for your customers
• Conduct interviews with your customers to help create better and engaging content for your audience.
• Create thanks for your employees in this section and showcase an all-star employee and then ask for your audience to “Rate You” 
• Create a UTM link for your website so you can accurately track your web traffic for this specific source of traffic and measure your ROI
• Set up a custom tracking number if you are using a call tracking service

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