Yet again a New Year and yet again the resolutions get us fixated! Three weeks into the New Year and we wonder how many of you all are still adhering to your resolutions. It is reasonable to let go of personal resolutions at times, nevertheless it may be tad tricky if they are professional, especially if these were woven around Social Media platforms for your brand/business.
There is no debate that most brands today reach its audience via Facebook and Twitter with limited exposure to Google+. Hence it is proper to state that Google+ is the ugly duckling of Social Media. Wait a minute did I just say ugly? Take a moment to ponder and you would realise that we are clearly hinting at the transformation Google+ is going through to be able to turn itself in to a beautiful swan. If you have read our previous story on its emergence you would agree for sure!
A Google+ page increase the chances of a brand’s visibility, better customer engagement and needless to say better analytics. Google+ enjoys the repute of a being the medium used by a savvy audience and hence the Social Media strategy on Google+ should be nothing short of being unique. Before we dig deeper into this here’s a sneak peek on what the world did on Google+ in 2013.
We have already given you insights on Social Media resolutions for Facebook and Twitter and it’s obvious that we complete the trilogy with Google+. Here’s our take on what should your resolutions for 2014 on Google+ be.
Drive traffic to Google+:
Driving traffic to Google+ page should be the most important resolution that a brand should make in 2014. Brands should use their active pages on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest to achieve the same. This task would help your followers to connect with your brand in a more holistic way. If your brand does not have a presence on Google+ yet, this would also act as an initial seed and the brand managers can take it forward and can grow from there. Many small and big businesses have followed this approach and have benefitted from the same. This is what the famous band Back Street Boy’s did to reach out to a larger audience and utilizing their Twitter account.
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Connect people in Real time:
One of the key features of Google+ is Google hangout. Apart from the regular update brands should utilise this option to communicate better with their audiences. There is no better joy than to experience things in real time mode. Google+ hangouts also minimize marketing budgets since it is a free medium. Celebs can use it to launch albums or movies, brands may utilise it for Q&A sessions or other important announcements and politicians for mast canvassing and ideating their thoughts on causes of national concern.
Brands like National Geographic and Lonely Planet use this feature for live interaction with its audience sharing with them interesting travel trivia, connecting its audience to explorers, mountain climbers and celebrating events. National Geographic’s hangout celebrating its 125th anniversary recently was a huge success. Its Google+ page also updates its audience about the upcoming hangout adding on to more conversations about the brand.
Brands can also utilize this aspect to host an in house meeting especially if the business is spread across the globe! Google+ also adds to the digital footprint of the brand and can be saved as you tube video for future reference by the audience.
Build admirable content:
We have emphasized on content being the hero, time and again. However the dynamics change on Google+ entirely. Unlike other platforms Google+ offers the maximum space for a brand to express itself, in other words- 100,000 characters. Brands need to have unique and engaging content to woo its audience on Google+. A good Google+ post content could include a good mix of product updates, product launch, and exclusive interviews.
Make Google+ the platform to share behind the scene stories, also a platform to announce “never heard before” scoop and exclusive contests or promotions. These tactics would make your audience visit your page more often, simply because of the exclusivity they get there. A good content strategy may include tips and short learning tutorials. Toyota today is by far the best brand on Google+.
Apart from the exemplary content strategy its USP lies in the audience engagement that it brings about. Toyota brought about ‘Toyota Collaborator’ feature that helped potential customer take a tour of Corolla’s (the brand’s top selling sedan) interiors, choose accessories, take a virtual tour and even interact with a Toyota dealer exclusively on its Google+ page.
Audience Interaction:
Audience interaction is the key to any Social Media platform. Create your content strategy that evokes your audience to interact with your brand. Engaging posts usually as questions get better response. Resolve issues and build camaraderie between the brand and its audience. This can be done by posting in the community, again a powerful tool on Google+ page.
‘Smart’ Hashtagging:
Twitter revolutionized it, Facebook followed it as well – although it’s failed so far. The question is how good is it to use hashtags in your Google+ posts? This has a one word answer –Excellent, especially when your brand has an active Google+ page. Apart from the relevant hashtags that pop up on Google+ page (Smart tags) incorporate your brand name as a hashtag as well, it increases your chances of visibility many folds.
This is what we discovered when we searched #Cocacola on Google search. Not only did it populate the Google+ page of Coca-Cola it also gave real time interactions happening around the brand, something on the lines of twitter!
Get smart with Images:
Image sharing plays a crucial role on Social Media. According to studies an individual spends anywhere between 3minutes-7minutes on a Google+ page on a given day. This is a very small window to create an impact, and what better way to do it than including images as a part of content strategy. Google+ has incorporated certain unique features that would make image sharing a far better user experience. These include Auto Enhance, Auto Awesome and Auto Highlight features that would increase the image quality. And didn’t someone say that a picture is worth a thousand words!
Keep an eye on trends:
When we say keep eye on trends we just don’t mean Google+ trends alone. Apart from technology aiding how we handle social media, use experience to keep a tab on how things are changing, how companies are engaging its audience, what strategies can make an impact. We observed that T-Mobil responds to every post, that you mention them in!
The world of Google is changing and re-inventing itself quite quickly. We recommend that you ride on this wave and make the most for your business through the Google+ page.
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