Google+ is an important social platform because it was developed by Google, one of the Internet’s favourite brands and one of the most influential websites when it comes to site referrals.
+1 Button
Putting a +1 button on each product page, is a great way to get free promotion from people who like the product to people with similar interests.
Google’s +1 button can be placed virtually anywhere, including your website, articles and even ads. Each time a user +1s your content, the action creates a personal recommendation for your brand that appears in the user’s stream and is shared with his Circles. By strategically placing +1 buttons on engaging content and connecting them to your page, you’ll create a targeted Google+ experience for your fans.
In addition to a text-based status update, each post can attach a photo, video, and URL link to make the post richer. Directly engage your followers by asking questions that start discussions and lead to +1s. The more users engage with a post, the greater the viral effect, and thus, brand awareness. This keeps your brand top-of-mind and drives interest in your offering.
Hangouts
Hangouts give brands an opportunity to connect directly with customers in a video chat environment.
For Fun
Google+ Hangouts offer an unprecedented opportunity for businesses to engage in a highly personal way with clients, customers and industry thought leaders.
For Work
Think about live events, Q&A sessions, new product demos, webinars and customer service calls — all with a real, live person on the other side of the camera.
Remotely located staff can hold team meetings to brainstorm with one another from the Google+ interface which affords them immediate and easy access to share and collaborate on most of the information materials, such as documents and spreadsheets.
Circles
For Community
Google+ makes it easy for businesses to segment their audiences and share select content directly with defined groups of follower.
Your Google+ page comes with the ability to create custom Circles as well as four default Circles: Following, Customers, VIPs and Team Members. Once users add you, they’ll show up under the “People Who’ve Added You” tab. You can then drag and drop certain users to your Circles to share content with them.
In addition to lumping all your customers into one Circle called “Customers,” you can segment them by product affinity, preferences, likeliness to influence others, or even history of engagement.
Use Google+ to network, research and gather data of relevant contacts, to create better connections.
BONUS TIP for optimizing your profile
Get creative with your “Employer” field and use that to craft an eye-catching “mini-bio.” This then shows in your hovercard, which is often the only information someone on Google+ has in front of them to decide whether to circle (follow) you or not.
Some Considerations While Google+ is in it’s infancy:
1. Administration can be difficult. Google+ pages need to be created from an individual’s account. You cannot add admins or have any other users to manage the account.
Depending on the size of your business, this may not be an issue. For example, if you only have a few employees, there probably isn’t an issue accessing the page from a personal Google account.
For larger businesses that don’t have a dedicated (and of course, trusted) social media manager, this problem is amplified because of the need to give out personal account information for users to post on the business page.
2. Approach Circle creation as you would audience segmentation in ad placements. Because Google+ pages do not currently support geo-targeting, effective Circle management is crucial to properly connect with followers and drive engagement.
3. Circle management is a manual process. Without location, demographic or preference data that allows for scalable segmentation, Circles must be managed manually. Be vigilant when adding followers to Circles, or you’ll wind up spending a lot of time sorting through user profiles.
4. Understand Your Audience. The Google+ user base is changing daily, so it is important to gather insight on who your audience is and determine how best to capitalize on those connections to build an engaged following.
You should not assume that your Twitter followers, Facebook fans and your Google+ followers are one and the same. Are your customers on Google+? Which of them actively use it? What type of content resonates with them and drives comments or encourages shares that ultimately builds brand awareness and drives follower growth?
