Square is giving merchants a better way to work with Google and Instagram. The company says that its Square Appointments will now integrate with those two platforms, “allowing sellers to grow awareness of their business and acquire new customers right from their social media feed or search results,” Square said in a statement.
The new feature enables businesses that use Square Appointments — especially those that offer health and personal care and salon services — “to get discovered by customers looking for their services,” which in turn helps those merchants and service providers stand out in the marketplace.
“Square found that over 50 percent of Square Appointments sellers do not have their own public website,” the statement said. “This free integration helps sellers get discovered in an easy and affordable way, allowing customers to schedule appointments directly from Google and via their Instagram page, no website required.”
More specifically, here is how the integration works for Instagram, according to Square: Sellers with Instagram accounts can add call-to-action buttons to their Instagram pages, which then allows “customers to instantly book an appointment through Square Appointments. Customers can book an appointment without ever leaving the Instagram app.”
When it comes to Google, sellers can opt in to Reserve by Google and “get discovered by local customers searching for their services.” As well, Square said that “Reserve with Google will enable customers to create, cancel and reschedule appointments directly from their Google Search and Maps, resulting in a frictionless flow from search to appointment booked. With just a few clicks, new customers can find a business and book an appointment right from Google. Sellers will then be notified of all new appointments booked through Reserve with Google.”