Last updated: 2026-05-11 · Google Business Profile · By SocialKit Team
Google Business Profile Offer and Event posts let you announce a promotion or happening with a start and end date, a CTA button, and optional coupon codes — but GBP has no native scheduler. This guide walks the full SocialKit flow to queue Offers and Events days or weeks ahead, so they publish automatically at the right moment.
Before you start
You need a SocialKit account — the 7-day free trial (€0.00 due today) covers the full GBP scheduling workflow at no cost.
You also need your Google Business Profile connected to SocialKit. The connection goes through Google OAuth: SocialKit requests the Business Profile API scope, you approve it on Google's own consent screen, and then select the specific location you want to manage. If you manage multiple GBP locations, each location is a separate social account in SocialKit — the Solo plan supports up to 15 accounts across all 11 platforms.
Finally, make sure the Google account you authorize has Owner or Manager permission on the GBP location. Editor-level accounts may lack the API write scope needed for publishing as of June 2026.
In SocialKit, open workspace settings and navigate to the connected accounts section. Choose Google Business Profile from the platform list and click Connect. You are redirected to Google's own OAuth consent screen — not a SocialKit password box. Approve the requested permissions, then select the GBP location you want to schedule posts for. If you manage multiple locations, repeat the process for each one; they each appear as a separate account in your SocialKit dashboard.
Tip: If your location does not appear in the selection list, confirm your Google account has Owner or Manager access to that location in the Google Business Profile Manager at business.google.com. Viewer access is not sufficient for the publishing API.
Create a new post in SocialKit and select your GBP location as the publishing destination. You can also add other platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more) in the same composer session to cross-post the same promotion — useful for reaching customers wherever they are searching. Each platform gets its own caption field so you can tailor the message per channel.
In the GBP post composer, select the post type. The three types available as of June 2026 are: What's New (a standard update with no fixed duration), Offer (a promotion with a title, start and end date, optional CTA button, optional coupon code, and optional terms), and Event (a happening with a title, start and end date/time, and optional CTA button). Choose Offer for discounts, sales, or limited-time promotions. Choose Event for workshops, open days, live performances, community activities, or any time-bound happening.
Tip: An Offer post does not expire from your profile until its end date has passed, whereas a What's New post historically expired after approximately seven days for most accounts as of June 2026 — one of the clearest reasons to use the Offer type for any date-bounded promotion.
For an Offer post: enter a clear, specific offer title (e.g. "20% off all services this weekend"), set the start and end date for the promotion, write a description in the body field (up to approximately 1,500 characters as of June 2026 — check the live character counter in the composer), and optionally add a CTA button. GBP Offer CTAs include "Book", "Order online", "Buy", "Learn more", and "Get offer" — pick the one that matches what the customer should do. You can also add a coupon code and a redemption link if your promotion is trackable. For an Event post: enter the event title, set the start and end date and time, write a description, and optionally add a CTA button and a ticket or registration link.
Tip: Keep the offer title specific and benefit-led — "20% off this Saturday only" outperforms "Weekend special" in click-through because it answers the customer's "what's in it for me?" before they tap.
Add a photo to the Offer or Event post. GBP posts with photos consistently receive more engagement than text-only posts. As of June 2026, the recommended image dimensions for a GBP post photo are 1200 × 900 px (4:3 ratio) at minimum, JPG or PNG, under 5 MB — check /sizes/google-business-post-size for the current verified spec. Use a photo that shows the product, venue, or outcome rather than a generic stock image; local context (a recognisable storefront, branded packaging, event space) increases trust with nearby searchers.
Tip: Avoid adding text overlays that cover more than 20% of the image — GBP displays post images at multiple crop ratios and a text-heavy design can become illegible on some surfaces.
Pick the date and time you want the post to go live. For an Offer, schedule it to publish a day or two before the offer's start date so customers discover it before the window opens — not the day of. For an Event, scheduling three to seven days ahead gives your audience time to plan. SocialKit's calendar shows all scheduled posts across platforms so you can confirm there is no gap in your GBP presence. You can also let SocialKit suggest an optimal publish time based on when your local customers are most active — see /best-time-to-post/google-business for baseline data, though your own audience's patterns are always the most reliable signal.
Tip: GBP does not have a native scheduler of any kind as of June 2026 — the only way to publish at a specific future time without being at the keyboard is via a third-party tool like SocialKit. This makes the scheduling step genuinely distinct from the "go to GBP and post manually" workflow.
Use the post preview in SocialKit to review how the Offer or Event will appear on Google Search and Maps. Check the title, description, dates, and CTA button label. When satisfied, click Schedule — SocialKit will auto-publish the post to your GBP location at the selected time. You will see the scheduled post appear in the SocialKit calendar. After it publishes, you can confirm it is live by searching your business name on Google or checking the Posts tab in the Google Business Profile Manager.
As of June 2026, Google Business Profile supports three post types via the Business Profile API that SocialKit uses:
**What's New** — a general update with no fixed duration. Historically these posts expire and are removed from the profile after approximately seven days, though Google's exact retention behavior has varied. Best for product announcements, team news, or evergreen updates.
**Offer** — a time-bounded promotion with mandatory title, start date, and end date. Supports optional coupon code, redemption link, and CTA button. The post stays on your profile until the end date. Best for sales, discounts, introductory pricing, and loyalty promotions.
**Event** — a time-bounded happening with a title, start and end date/time, optional description, and optional CTA button (typically a ticket or registration link). Best for workshops, classes, open days, performances, or community gatherings.
Choosing the correct type matters because it affects how long the post remains visible, which fields are available, and how Google may surface it in local search results for time-sensitive queries.
SocialKit auto-publishes GBP Updates (What's New), Offers, and Events via the Business Profile API — all three post types publish automatically at the scheduled time with no manual action required on your part as of June 2026.
Some GBP profile management actions remain outside the scheduling API: adding or updating business hours, responding to reviews, managing Q&A, uploading cover and logo photos, and editing business attributes. These still require direct access to the Google Business Profile Manager at business.google.com. SocialKit handles the publishing side; the profile management side stays native to Google.
SocialKit auto-publishes GBP Updates, Offers, and Events at the time you choose — no staying late to hit "post" manually. Queue a month of local promotions, cross-post to Facebook and Instagram in the same session, and manage all 11 platforms from one calendar.
Schedule Google Business Offers and Events with SocialKitSchedule and cross-post to all 11 networks from one calendar on one flat plan. 7-day free trial — €0.00 due today.
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FAQ
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