August 2011
Facebook is big. If it were a Twinkie, it would be 35 feet long and weigh approximately 600 pounds. Google wants to take a bite out of that delicious social Twinkie (and who wouldn't?) with Google+. But will its latest attempt to gain social traction pan out? ComScore reports that Google+ is already the fastest growing social network of all time, having reached the 25-million-user mark at the end of July. What's more, its users are spending increasing amounts of time on the site.
If the early excitement and overall trust in the Google brand isn't enough to ensure world domination — or at least success in the social space — perhaps the low satisfaction of the Facebook user base will help. Factor in Plus integration with other Google products such as Gmail, Calendar, and Android, and you know we haven't see the last of it.
One sure thing is that businesses will need to hedge their bets. Currently, Google is expected to offer specialized brand profiles for businesses during or just after Q3 of this year. We're hoping they'll be worth the wait and offer great features like advanced sharing options and high-quality analytics.
When business profiles go live, regardless of what you may think about Google+ and its prospects, you'll want to secure your name on the service as quickly as possible. If the platform takes off, you won't want to have to settle for an awkward handle like 'Purveyors-of-Delicious-High-Carb-Snack-Cakes.' 'Hostess®' just makes more sense.
In the meantime, you can still use the tool to promote your business if you have someone on staff who can manage customer and lead interaction, such as a brand ambassador, community manager, or even a CEO. Efforts from a personal account could be worked into a broader social media strategy or translated for a business profile later.
Here are readily available features that both CEOs and regular folks can use to connect, promote and share:
Circles
Google+ offers circles, which are similar to Facebook's rarely used list feature, to assuage users' concerns about privacy. Users decide which content items are shared with which circles. Want to keep your parents from seeing photos of your Las Vegas wedding? Drop them into a 'family' circle, and they can live in ignorant bliss until you introduce Sapphire at the family reunion. Or better yet, use circles to segment your customers.
The Stream
Many users submerge themselves in the stream, which aggregates news about other users. This is very similar to Facebook's feed with one notable exception – there's no character limit. Why use a traditional blogging platform when you can put entire articles directly into Google+? TechCrunch has reported that Kevin Rose believes the latter may just be key to user engagement.
Sparks
Adding a spark that's dedicated to a certain topic creates a stream of new, regularly updated related content, making it an excellent tool for finding news and inspiration. You could even write an article about Google+ just by going to Google+ and creating a Google+ spark. (Not that I would know. I never write about Google+.) Marketers are already trying to understand the sparks algorithm and optimize content for it.
Hangouts
How about this scenario: you want to get a mean game of Dungeons & Dragons on. I'm talking Gold Wyrms and Tarrasques mean. But all of your friends are busy at the gaming convention this weekend. Hangouts could save the day! Up to 10 users gather in these video chat rooms, which host anything from small parties to focus groups.
It will be fascinating to watch Google+ grow its new social network, leveraging its second-mover advantage, and to watch how Facebook, Twitter, and other networks respond. Don't judge the platform against its competitors too hastily; it's still in the early days of its beta. New features and basic fixes are underway, which makes keeping up with the development blog, What's New With Google Plus, fun.
So, you haven't taken the plunge and started your own Google+ profile? If it's because you need an invitation, the first 150 people to click this link will receive one. Be sure to act soon. A flexible social strategy that's able to keep up with new tactics could be a sweet move for your business in the long run. Twinkie sweet.
Should marketers use different tactics for optimizing content for Bing? For the most part, Bing's ranking algorithm doesn't seem different from Google and other major engines. It does, however, have two unique focuses. One is that the engine prioritizes task completion, trying to determine the intent of searchers to serve them what they need with fewer clicks. Another differentiator is that it prioritizes social integration. Keeping these ideas in mind, marketers can check to be sure that their sites have thorough, understandable copy and that their social efforts are focused on their brands and well optimized.