Plan ahead and jump in when the water is warm.
With 10 million confirmed users on Google+ the new social network is off to a hot start. Brands are ready to jump into the Google+ pool but the platform is not yet ready for them. Stories across the web reported that Google+ business pages would be coming later (though a few hundred brands would be allowed as part of a pilot Google+ program including Ford).
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| Google+ Ford Test Account |
Google is now promising to “roll out rudimentary business accounts by late fall ” according to ClickZ. While brand marketers may feel anxious being barred from the network they can take this time to strategise about how to best use Google+ once it opens the doors to brands.
- Do Your Community Research – If you have a list of key brand influencers check to see if they’re already active on Google+. You don’t want to spend time and money focusing on a platform if your key influencers aren’t there.
- Use it Yourself – Immerse yourself in the Google+ community and learn the nuances that make it different than other networks.
- Create Your Community Strategy – Before you begin marketing to Google+ users you need to put a solid community strategy in place. Build a plan that answers the following questions before reaching out to them on the platform:
- What are the potential ways to communicate in this channel? (Posts promotions paid ads contests updates and other content)
- How is this channel different than our other social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter?
- What are target audiences looking for from this channel? Are they like Facebook users of do they come to Google+ to interact about different topics than they do on Facebook?
- Decide on Success Metrics – Figure out what you can measure on Google+ to determine success for your marketing or brand engagement goals. Make a list of all the metrics you can measure (e.g. number of fans clicks comments shares).
- Develop a Rollout Plan – When the gates open and brands are allowed on Google+ there will undoubtedly be a flood of content hitting users who will have just gotten used to using the new network for their personal relationships. Create a phased content rollout plan to ensure you don’t bombard your targets with unwanted messages. Start slowly and tweak content based on reactions.
Source: SearchEngineWatch
Tags: Google+