The lines haven’t been drawn, yet. But the sketch lines are definitely in place: the new Google+ is taking on Facebook, and they’re doing it in a big way. So what’s in it for you and your business? Read on.
First of all, let’s take a look at what Google+ is, and isn’t. Google+ is a new social networking tool that does a lot of what Facebook does, like send out messages and photos to your friends, let’s you share links, chat – all the reasons you log on to Facebook every day. But here’s the big difference: when you post a link on Facebook, for example, it’ll show up on your profile for all of your 532 closest friends to see. With Google+ - YOU get to choose who you want to share things with. That’s HUGE.
Google+ works using “circles” that you create. For example, you can create a family Circle; a co-workers Circle, a “people you sometimes like and sometimes don’t Circle” - well, you get the idea. And sometimes you don’t want your co-workers to see what your family is up to. Especially when Aunt Edna posts something on your wall about what you did when you were 3 years old. With Facebook, everybody sees everything. With Google+ - you decide who gets to see what. Pretty cool.
There are many other features you’re going to really like. It has great mobile capabilities; it has an “Instant Upload” feature that instantly puts the photos you take into a private album in a cloud, that you can share later with the Circles you choose.
And the list goes on and on. But how does this fit into a marketing tool for businesses?
Right now, Google+ has the best of Facebook and the best of Twitter – the ability to broadcast to selected groups – with you deciding who is in the group. This is a great tool for businesses and brands wanting to target specific groups of people in real time. And at some point, Google+ will use their remarkable algorithm abilities to be able to suggest brands and products to the user. That’s when businesses and brands can really take advantage of the power of this remarkable new tool.
The most important thing from a business perspective is find new ways to engage with our customers. The key is to be smart in how we engage. Google has stated that they will be launching brand pages, and will provide analytics to help businesses use those pages properly. Based on their experience with search and analytics, they’re bound to do a great job. Ultimately, we need to find a way where we can engage people effectively, and it looks like Google+ will be a great tool to do just that.
Right now there are 20 million people “playing” with Google+ and it hasn’t even officially launched yet! Whether it will ultimately replace Facebook is yet to be seen. But it sure is off to a great start.
First of all, let’s take a look at what Google+ is, and isn’t. Google+ is a new social networking tool that does a lot of what Facebook does, like send out messages and photos to your friends, let’s you share links, chat – all the reasons you log on to Facebook every day. But here’s the big difference: when you post a link on Facebook, for example, it’ll show up on your profile for all of your 532 closest friends to see. With Google+ - YOU get to choose who you want to share things with. That’s HUGE.
Google+ works using “circles” that you create. For example, you can create a family Circle; a co-workers Circle, a “people you sometimes like and sometimes don’t Circle” - well, you get the idea. And sometimes you don’t want your co-workers to see what your family is up to. Especially when Aunt Edna posts something on your wall about what you did when you were 3 years old. With Facebook, everybody sees everything. With Google+ - you decide who gets to see what. Pretty cool.
There are many other features you’re going to really like. It has great mobile capabilities; it has an “Instant Upload” feature that instantly puts the photos you take into a private album in a cloud, that you can share later with the Circles you choose.
And the list goes on and on. But how does this fit into a marketing tool for businesses?
Right now, Google+ has the best of Facebook and the best of Twitter – the ability to broadcast to selected groups – with you deciding who is in the group. This is a great tool for businesses and brands wanting to target specific groups of people in real time. And at some point, Google+ will use their remarkable algorithm abilities to be able to suggest brands and products to the user. That’s when businesses and brands can really take advantage of the power of this remarkable new tool.
The most important thing from a business perspective is find new ways to engage with our customers. The key is to be smart in how we engage. Google has stated that they will be launching brand pages, and will provide analytics to help businesses use those pages properly. Based on their experience with search and analytics, they’re bound to do a great job. Ultimately, we need to find a way where we can engage people effectively, and it looks like Google+ will be a great tool to do just that.
Right now there are 20 million people “playing” with Google+ and it hasn’t even officially launched yet! Whether it will ultimately replace Facebook is yet to be seen. But it sure is off to a great start.
