When I first started getting into the platform around the turn of the
year, I'll admit, I didn't see a future for the platform. Even though it
was Google's baby, I just couldn't see how it could topple the behemoth
of Facebook (which, to my mind, it most closely resembles).
Fast-forward nine months, and I'm believing the hype.
The problem (and huge benefit, I may add) is that there are many unique
features on Google+ which take a while to get your head around. It can
be very disorientating. Once you do though, their marketing potential is
vast - particularly from a business point of view. It ties in video
marketing, content marketing, post targeting, community management,
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Search Engine Ranking Pages (SERP)
& customer interaction; and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
So I've picked out 5 of my favourite features which will hopefully persuade you that Google Plus is a keeper.
Hangouts, and Hangouts on Air
One of my favourites,
Hangouts not only offer the chance for colleagues separated by long
distances to interact (a la Skype), but also allow a business to offer a
video one-on-one service to a customer (like IM or a conference call,
but more personal). Think of the kudos you can achieve from offering
such a personalised service!
On top of this, Hangouts on Air (a public video
conversation/presentation, streamed live on YouTube and saved as a video
afterwards) provide you with innumerable opportunities - explained in
the blog link above - including live product launches, webinars,
interactive Q&A sessions and 'how to' videos, all of which add to
your company's growing social kudos.
What makes this even
more brilliant is that, rather than doing
these things via traditional social media, which is very transient and
has a short shelf-life, Hangouts on Air provide you with both real-time
and long-term tangible content you can use over and over again to refer
customers to, via the video. Which is pretty awesome.
Circles
Circles are great because they allow you to manage those who follow you.
Rather like Lists on Twitter. However, unlike Lists, which are quite
passive, Circles allow you to use those sections to target specific
posts to specific sections of your following.
So, for example; if you had a post geared towards your 'First Time
buyers' asking for feedback on a product, you could quite easily select
your 'First Time Buyers' circle and send them the post, allowing you to
target specific factions of your following. Other examples could include
posting product releases to high-profile bloggers, or targeting
specific communities you have a presence in (more on that later).
Combine this with Google's 'Search' feature, and you have a match made in heaven to maximise potential interaction.
Communities
If your business has a strong social following already, you may want to
consider setting up a community, so they can share and interact with
each other - providing you with an easily-accessible base with which to
interact with people who are interested in your brand.
Now, this has obvious benefits - you can manoeuvre conversations for
your own benefit, let your followers know what's going on in your
business quickly and easily, and you can find out the sorts of things
which are concerning those who are most precious to your business and
manipulate your own content accordingly. Being a community manager
though is not something which is just 'done' - it requires a certain
sort of person. I've hosted
a workshop on community management which you can access at your leisure.
What's cool about Google Plus communities as opposed to Linkedin
communities, though, is that as a moderator/owner of a group, you can
set up 'subcategories' for posts, making them more easily categorised
and accessible. The
IB group
(which you're more than welcome to join) is a good example - someone
interested in technology can simply check the 'Technology' subcategory
for all the posts in that area, for instance. Again, you can use these
subcategories to manipulate the types of post you expect within the
community as well, so use them wisely!
SEO Potential
An area which isn't my speciality, but one which is incredibly important nonetheless.
Here's a
really great blog on how Google Plus can affect SEO, but here's a great taster to think about:
"Google
Plus content stays around, gains page rank, gives page rank and appears
in search results over a long period. It appears Google Plus posts can
retain ranking indefinitely with some posts over a year old still top of
search result pages. Compare this to the 14 minutes of life a standard
tweet is estimated to have."
Something to chew over next time you create content.
Google Authorship
I suppose this links into SEO, really - but in this age of ranking
highly in search engines, I thought this merited a separate mention.
It's a bit fiddly to set up (
we have a great guide from SEO expert Kate Tolley on the Ingenious Britain site),
but once you've established your author tag and linked it to a site,
it's incredibly quick and easy to implement for all future content. It
basically assigns your content to your Google Plus personal profile,
providing a little image and a bit of information about the author when
searched on Google.
I'm yet to be convinced that it makes a demonstrative effect on how the content
ranks at
present, but it certainly increases your content's a) visibility (the
author image takes up more room on the search page), and b) clickability
(I'd rather read content when I knew a bit about the author, wouldn't
you?); couple this with the fact that, as a result people can add you to
their G+ circles more easily too (and check out more of your posts),
and you're onto a winner.
Membership Has Its Privileges
Paul A Smith
Work With Me
PS: Book Your Travel And Receive CASHBACK!!!!
