It’s that time of year when marketers like to make lists – lots of lists. Currently making the rounds are social media marketing predictions for 2014 ( Google it and you’ll see….) and nearly every list has one thing in common: the growth of Google+ brand pages.
Google+ Marketing Launched in 2011, Google+ is a new social network that attracted the attention of marketers and amassed more than 90 million users. In 2013 the site rolled out business pages making the platform’s functionality – sharing stories, getting involved in discussions, posting photos and videos, and participating in video conference calls called ‘Hangouts’ – available to brands.But businesses have been slow to really integrate Google+ into their social media marketing plans, and struggle in some key areas: developing the type of content that gets shared on Google+; posting the content that looks best (photos!); tapping into relevant conversations; and engaging with fans one-on-one.
The main perk of Google+ so far has been its influence on Google search engine traffic which may help boost your position in search results; as well as increasing brand integrity through Google’s ‘+1’ system – a sort of virtual indicator of the number of people that vouch for your brand. Brands may have thousands, even millions of +1’s, but very little interaction on individual posts and with actual people.
Are these incentives enough to be on Google+? If you answered no, you might be interested to learn that Google+ may change the face of search. Google is banking that we will all get in the habit of putting a little ‘+’ sign in front of our Google searches – a program called Google+ Direct Connect. Google+ Direct Connect is a search operator that allows users to go directly to a company’s Google+ page – skipping past the traditional search engine results. Get Started with Google+ Direct Connect.
In order for your company’s Google+ page to be retrievable, your first need to install the Google+ Direct Connect code on your website to verify that your Google+ page is the official page for your business.Once your website is verified, you may also want to take advantage of adding one of six different Google+ buttons to your website or blog – making it easy for website visitors to become Google+ page subscribers. Either way, you are now a part of Google+ Direct Connect – but it doesn’t stop there.
According to Google, an algorithm will determine which verified pages actually get included in Direct Connect. To increase your presence, you need to promote your Google+ page on your website, blog, and other properties including other social media sites – to influence the Direct Connect algorithm to get your business listed. In short, this means you might want to consider coming up with a mini-strategy just on how your brand should use Google+.
Some best practices for optimizing your page for increased traffic and leads are: Share lots of photos; Fill in all of the descriptive fields about your business; Add links to key web pages and offers; and cross market with your blog. Google+ is an emerging market and there is still much to be desired in the platform’s look and feel. Make sure your marketing efforts are not in vain by first and foremost setting up Google+ Direct Connect. Getting found is half the battle.
