We’ve all been speculating about Google+ Brand Pages and what they might look like since Google+ first launched months ago. Well, the wait is over. They have arrived! You can now create a Google+ Page for your own company. But before you get started there are six things about Google+ for business that you must know so that you can make sure you do it right. You don’t want to make a mistake with your first chance at grabbing a space on this new, fast growing social media network.
1. Personal users are king.
Google has given the power of interaction to the personal users, not Pages. They must add you to their circles before you can add them to your’s, +mention them, or +1 their posts. A Page cannot interact with a personal user at all before they add that Page to their circle. Once a person unfollows a Google+ Page, that Page automatically unfollows the person as well. This all rocks for personal users, but becomes bothersome for marketers because the relationship is the individual’s to begin or end. This is inbound marketing to the extreme.
2. Use Circles.
Circles are probably the biggest strength of Google+ for personal users and Pages alike. This feature allows users to only share things with certain “circles of friends.” This way you aren’t sharing your partying pictures with your mom or sharing your status about how bored you are at work with your boss.
Well, circles can be a great asset for marketers too because it allows you to only send posts to certain groups of people. Have a sale only available to those in a certain country or city? No problem! Now you have the ability to let them know by only sharing it with them instead of all of your clients, for instance those in the “United States Customers” circle. You can do the same thing with any other way that you segment your customers. You can also send out messages regarding the company BBQ to just your “Team Members” circle too, something Human Resource Departments will probably like.
3. Connect your Page to your website.
With Google+ Pages, Google has introduced a new feature, Direct Connect. Direct Connect is an easy way for your customers to find your Page by doing a Google search. All they have to do is type “+” in front of your company’s name such as “+YouTube” and they will be sent directly to your Google+ Page. Users also have the ability to automatically add Pages to their circle by searching this way.
Connecting your website with your Page and enabling Social Extensions in Adwords will also help you to build a larger collection of social recommendations called +1 recommendations that act much similar to “likes” on Facebook. People can +1 you from your website, in your Ads, and on your Page. People will see how many +1s that you have across the web. So, when someone is searching they will see how many +1s your Page has. The fact that you have more recommendations than your competitor could significantly increase the chance of a prospective client choosing you. People trust others recommendations and reviews much more than they trust advertising.
I am sure that there will be other implications eventually, if not already, on organic search results based on a company’s number of +1 recommendations and followers. This is another big reason to even get a Google+ Page to begin with and to make sure you connect it to your website.
4. Use Hangouts.
Hangouts are another one of the big strengths of Google+. They are a video chat with 10 people at once (yourself and nine others). They are a great way to do product demostrations, share financial results, hold customer service office hours, or hold a Q&A/feedback session for a group of clients or even a group of team members working abroad. It will be a great way for companies to connect with their clients in a more personal way. It will help to better give your brand a face. Some big names have already held hangouts such as Good Morning America, The Muppets, and Google+ itself.
5. Post scrapbook photos.
To help fill out your profile, you want to make sure you post pictures to your scrapbook (the pictures at the top of your profile). You can post some pictures of different areas of your business like we did. Or post pictures that work together to make a cool panoramic picture like Pepsi and Burberry.
6. It’s not perfect…yet.
Be patient. Everything you might be expecting or hoping for in a Google+ Page probably is not there, yet. Right now it has only a few differences from a personal account, but Google promises that “in the coming weeks” there will be more features like transfer of Page ownership, multiple administrators, and analytics. I’m sure that there will be other features eventually as well such as a vanity (custom) URL, since currently your URL will look similar to ours: https://plus.google.com/102937091588156594835
Only time will tell if Google+ sticks around. However, you don’t want to be late to the party if it does take off, and you definitely want to put your best foot forward when you start out!
Do you have any other tips or hints? Share them in the box below, leave them in a comment on our Facebook Page or Google+ Page, or tweet them to us at @HostDime.
[...] Brand Pages first came out, we gave you some tips on the best way to use them, and why making a Google+ Page for your business should be a high priority in your marketing plan. However, now it has to be a must because just [...]