When anticipating the launch of a new social media platform this past summer, the first Google+ feature that caught my attention was the \u201changouts\u201d addition. Since lots of talk within the marketing industry has been increasingly focused around user-generated content (UGC) and the essence of monitoring and responding to consumers in real-time, what could be better than giving brands the option to use this feature as a virtual customer-service desk?<\/p>\n
Better yet, an interactive spot to \u201changout\u201d and video chat with fans? Marketers will be able to see and speak to customers, answering inquiries and providing updates on promotions, etc. in a fresh and timely manner. What\u2019s more is that this opens a visual space to create and build meaningful brand-consumer connections. In my opinion, it couldn\u2019t get more personal nor easily accessible. Perhaps not even in the retail environment where response time is also of essence.<\/p>\n
Taking it a step further, brands can use the \u201changouts\u201d to encourage conversation surrounding its products and services; and glean consumer opinion\u2013 important information to have handy when devising marketing strategies. (Are the online surveys days nearing an end?)<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also the more obvious benefit that your brand page will be linked to the biggest search engine among the top 3 (Google, Yahoo and Bing). Which means we\u2019re all going to need the golden touch of an SEO Analyst when creating our + profiles.<\/p>\n
How are Google+ Brand Pages organized?<\/em><\/p>\n One major plus for your brand is the \u201cCircles\u201d feature, which will essentially become synonymous with what marketing professionals refer to as market segments. This feature enables you to segment your target markets into circles, to be labeled and organized any way you want. By purchase history, demographics, geographics, and the list goes on.<\/p>\n \u2026And the best feature?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cDirect Connect.\u201d In terms of searchability, Google has provided an easier method for consumers to add brands\u2013users simply type + followed by the brand name and they will land directly on the brand\u2019s Google+ profile page.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s where I landed after typing \u201c+Macy\u2019s\u201d in the query:<\/p>\n Additional perks?<\/em><\/p>\n Upon entrance into a new social media network, many businesses have complained of having trouble with authenticity, discovering that their brand name has already been taken. Thankfully, the Google experts have implemented a verification feature to weed out all the imposters.<\/em><\/p>\n What are the potential minuses?<\/em><\/p>\n Exclusivity, of course.<\/p>\n As of late, Google has granted these useful features to + pages for a select group of partner brands. Big ones like Pepsi and Toyota.<\/p>\n Modeled in the same way that Google lists websites on SERPs, in terms of popularity, legitimacy, content relevancy, design and whole bunch of blurry algorithms (I don\u2019t want to get into \u201chigh math\u201d here,) Google will measure algorithms and gradually enable pages for select brands accordingly.<\/p>\n But exclusivity is not necessarily a bad thing as far as the success of +brand pages is concerned.<\/strong><\/p>\n I remember how elite it felt when I first created my Facebook profile from the university library. At that time, creating a Facebook account required a .edu<\/em> email address to register and be a part of the cool crowd<\/em>. This was a tease to those who weren\u2019t in college, so once Facebook became accessible to any and everyone, any and everyone gradually joined. Since many consumers have yet to embrace the beauty of Google+, brands should now consider incentive for their current and future customers to join the network.<\/p>\n Exclusivity isn\u2019t exactly permanent nor a threat to smaller brands either.<\/strong><\/p>\n In a similar manner, Google+ first launched as \u00a0invite-only. I have yet to see a statement in which Google openly states that these special features will always<\/em> only be made available to big brands. My best guess is that in three months, brands of all sizes will be enabled the benefits of the elite.<\/p>\n In the meantime, the initial launch of Google+ for brand pages should, if anything, motivate businesses to revamp their websites.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"screen-shot-2011-11-09-at-5-23-38-pm\"](\"https:\/\/imagemme.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Screen-shot-2011-11-09-at-5.23.38-PM-1.png\")
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