Everything is connected
Ever since its launch three years ago, there has been considerable chatter surrounding Google+ and its anticipated success or failure across the digital marketing and business worlds, with speculation varying from certain condemnation to relative obscurity to a multifunctional revolution in social media.
Rather than taking the world by storm in a Twitter-esque frenzy, Google+ has been slowly but surely making waves across enterprise owners, specialists and professionals, particularly in the US, but with traction increasing daily across the pond here in the UK. It presently has over 300 million active users and that number continues to grow. As a digital marketing professional and huge Google+ fan who’s had plenty of fun familiarising myself with it, I believe its appeal lies in its interconnectivity and flexibility.
As one would expect of a social media platform from Google, it has the advantage of being linked to Gmail, AdWords, Google Search, YouTube and as of very recently Google Local has been integrated within Google Plus. This interconnectivity is advantageous for a number of reasons, not least of all the potential benefits for search rankings and the opportunity for web users to make their entire web experience social, connecting interests, search habits and relationships in one place for a completely personalised user experience. While first and foremost it is a social networking platform, Google+ has the edge over its peers by being an identification tool, which associates web content and data with the author. Google+ Circles are used to organise contacts, split recipients of content by geographic or demographic factors, and +1-ing pages, businesses, sites or content is equivalent to sharing or recommending it to Google+ friends and contacts.
The buzzwords here are ‘data’, ‘user’ and ‘personalisation’, and the connection between the three that Google is working to establish. Unlike existing social media platforms, Google+ doesn’t just offer users the chance to engage and share content but to ensure that users consuming the shared content have similar interests - resulting in true connection with a targeted, engaged audience.
Communication is key
The average internet user and social media fan will have a Facebook page, LinkedIn, Skype, Instagram and Twitter accounts, as well as Pinterest and Flickr presences for more visual content and shares.
These platforms are hugely popular for both personal and professional use, and have widely recognised and evidenced potential to create strong social signals for brands and individuals alike. As all digital marketers know, a combination of useful, original, quality content, links from high quality domains, removal of spammy links, social traction and interaction all help to guide traffic and conversions through websites.
The beauty of Google+ as a social media tool is that it brings together the key features of each of the aforementioned platforms in one place, allowing users to publish their own relevant content as well as sharing others, build communities (based on segmented interests and relevant content – spammy content will only result in users leaving the circles) via Google+ Circles, embed links to their blog pages, and take part in Google+ Hangouts via YouTube. Google+ Hangouts are an excellent way to communicate and interact with others via live or pre-recorded video chat - showing the human side of the business - which can be kept private or publicly posted if desired. The interaction of Google+ with Google Drive, a tool which has revolutionised the workplace - is a gift to organisations with multiple users of documents as it allows up to 50 people to make immediately visible simultaneous changes. And that isn’t the end of the Google+ phenomena; it offers tools like AutoAwesome, which brings images to life by turning them into an animated gif, as well as simple hashtags to highlight and group content, and emboldening or italicising content is equally as simple.
Third party tools such as CircleCount, Circloscope, NOD3x and Steady Demand provide measures of brand pages or personal profiles on Google - helping users to gauge and improve their traction on the platform.
This rich integration of Google+ with other Google platforms as well as specialist tools, along with the ease with which these can be used, is, in my opinion what makes it such an excellent marketing tool for businesses. Google+ shouldn’t be seen as a replacement for other social media platforms, rather a complementary and very marketing friendly option which any digital marketer worth their salt should certainly be working with for online success.
Ends
In my next instalment, “Google +, a guide for digital marketers part 2, we will be looking at how and why a Google+ presence can have a positive impact on a business’s marketing and corporate objectives, search rankings and digital content strategy. A range of practical tips will outline how best it can be used to market to current and potential customers.
By Kath Dawson, creative director at Strategy Digital.
PrivSec Conferences will bring together leading speakers and experts from privacy and security to deliver compelling content via solo presentations, panel discussions, debates, roundtables and workshops.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the website.
comments powered by Disqus