Google+ is the new player in the social media industry after it was launched in June 2011. It initially began as invite-only, but with the ever-changing and developing world of social media, the sector called for something much bigger than the kind of social network model it was offering. With this in mind, Google+ opened up its doors for all to enter.
And the people responded.
In just a short period of time, Google+ became one of the fastest-growing social networks, overtaking the rate of signups from social media giants Twitter and Facebook. It had created such an impact, business owners could no longer afford to overlook the presence of this ‘new’ networking model.
If you want to make an impact in the world with your company then using Google+ is a must. It is simply extremely difficult to ignore how this social network is fast becoming one of the most important Internet marketing tools and one that business owners should have in their digital marketing arsenal. The list below can provide you with additional information and the advantages of using this model.
1. google+ is now no.2
Despite other social media giants having the foot in the door much earlier than Google+, the boom in users following the open invitation has ballooned its numbers to more than 369 million active users. This increase in users has given it the title of the second-largest social media network sitting behind Facebook.
Facebook still has the largest account ownership, dominating 70% of internet users globally. Despite this, Google+ is gradually creeping up behind with 50% ownership and is expected to increase since Gmail account users will have a mandatory Google+ account.
Interestingly enough, although Google+ may have fewer users, it is currently dominant in terms of monthly visits. Google+ claims 1,203 million visits per month, significantly higher than Facebook’s 809 million and Twitter’s 416 million visits. Photo uploads, a social network activity that catapulted Facebook to the social network pedestal has also been found to have the most popular activity in Google+.
2. google+ can easily be integrated with other google products
This is pretty simple, yet also useful when it comes to running a business. Using the same network across the board keeps things simple and easy to access. The products involved with google include Google Maps, Gmail, Chrome (for PC browsers and users), Google Play (for Android) and YouTube. Using Google+ connects its users to these services and makes it easy for companies to integrate, manage and share content across all these products. No other social network can offer such a range of resources from within a single vantage point. This will surely be a boost to your business even if you’ve just started using a few of these tools.
3. business pages enhances your visibility with targeted audiences
Facebook Pages is one of the features this social network offer that business owners are leveraging to connect with targeted audiences. Imagine if you could enhance these pages even more and make them much more visible to your targeted audiences. Google+ did this by allowing users to set up their own Business Pages.
Google+ Business Pages are easily indexed by search engines which allow for much-enhanced visibility of your brand, products or services among your targeted audiences. These pages can be a very neat extension of your main website where you can make regular updates for your targeted audiences.
4. communities provides better interaction with targeted customers
One of the best features of Google+ which can provide better interaction with targeted customers is the Google+ Communities. You can create one on your own which you can nurture as a focused group that is directly aligned with whatever brand, product or service you are marketing. Effectively using communities as a way to enhance the concepts and values your brand adheres to can create trust and lasting relationships with targeted audiences.
This works both ways. Your Google+ profile can help your brand participate in other communities, which can be composed of other individual Google+ users or other companies with a Google+ account. Participating in these communities can help increase your brand awareness if done correctly. This can really go viral and reach out to Google+ users from around the world – instead of simply waiting for people and other users to visit your page.
5. 'events' provides interactive ways to promote your projects
Marketing your events and special promotions can be done much more effectively through an interactive channel. This is what can Google+ Events offer its users. It has an increased level of interactivity compared to Facebook Events. As a Google product, it can be linked to your event guests through their Google Calendar which has an internal system of reminding their account holders of upcoming events.
Aside from that, events owners can send out invitations to either individual Google+ users or members of a Group, reaching more targeted audiences you may be interested in what your events have to offer.
6. 'local' can help promote your business locally
Reviews about your business establishment or photos uploaded by satisfied customers can be used to your advantage by making use of Google+ Local. This feature is an evolution of the previous ‘Google Places’ where local businesses can put up a business listing page where important business information, as well as contact information, is displayed together with customer reviews, ratings and user-uploaded photos.
This increases credibility for your local business, as internet users will trust recommendations from real people with real photos and real user accounts.
7. allows better options for messaging
One of the features that make a social network a very powerful tool for businesses is the option for messaging. Google+ however makes messaging a much better and easier to use the option that your company can tap into. You can specify which group a particular Google+ connection will be grouped together with. You can easily group friends or family from your business prospects and others who you may have in mind.
This allows you to communicate directly with specific sets of information to a particular group who may be interested in what you may have to say. This is a better way of reaching out to a targeted audience instead of broadcasting information to everyone including people who have no interest in your product or service no matter how good these may be.
8. it connects you to a wider global audience
Although Facebook is the social network giant and has a wide reach that can connect you to a global audience, Google+ goes above and beyond that. Facebook is only limited to social media, while Google+ can connect to everything that is Google. This can open new and wider doors for your brand or business to any people who are using Google’s products, not forgetting the search engine.
Google is moving towards Social Search and Google+ is adapting to show posts, business pages and user profiles to appear or be incorporated in search results. That’s the power of the +1 button and if more people +1’d your business pages, it can have greater chances of inclusion among searches that your targeted customers from all across the globe are making.
9. free conference/webinar tool with hangout
If there is a powerful tool that no other social media network can offer, it’s Google+ hangout. This tool allows you to broadcast webinars in real-time to all Google+ users. While webinar tools are not that cheap, Google+ hangout is your best alternative in broadcasting real-time webinars to prospective clients/customers. You can even use this tool to have a conference with your employees and team members all over the world for free. You just need a Google+ account as well as your prospects or employees.
10. it is google
As obvious as it may seem, Google+ is from Google. That’s more than enough reason for any business to be in Google+. Companies are scrambling to be on top of Google’s search results, so it is quite obvious that being in Google+ and leveraging every tool and digital marketing technique it offers would be to your companies’ greatest advantage.
It has grown bigger and in such a short span of time that the growth of the network is nothing but spectacular. Google of course has more plans for this social component of its wide network that will eventually place it on top of the social media ladder. So why wait for that to happen when your business can now leverage what Google+ has to offer?
