Google+ is slowly but surely attracting a more diverse user base and big brands are taking notice. Many have fully integrated the platform into their social media strategies. Is Google+ a part of your social media strategy? It should be!
A dominantly male platform, almost 70 percent, Google+ is slowly but surely attracting a more diverse user base. Big brands are taking notice and many have fully integrated the platform into their social media strategies for 2012. Is Google+ a part of your 2012 social media strategy? It should be!
Let’s examine a few of the brands to look in 2012 for social media insight.
Over half a million users have this brand circled on Google+. If you circle H&M you’ll see their fashion picks of the day, get access to style guides like their 2012 Denim Guide and engage with other fans of the brand by discussing questions like “What’s the first sign of spring? Caps, sneakers, sunglasses?”. Engagement isn’t quite what you’d expect if you had this many fans on Facebook – under 100 shares and around 100 +1s is common for their daily status updates.
Insight: Don’t expect Google+ to perform exactly how Facebook or Twitter brand pages do. It’s a new platform and all of us are still waiting to see how the community shapes up. Take the lead from H&M and start interacting. Find an anchor topic, like H&Ms fashion picks of the day, and stay consistent with your messaging. If it’s not working then switch it up, but at the very least try!
Touted as one of the world’s most prominent character based entertainment companies, Marvel has been around for more than 70 years! Fans of Marvel characters can circle the brand on Google+, and almost a quarter of a million have to date.
Marvel is using their brand page to promote upcoming liveblog sessions and even held a Google+ Hangout to announce “Avengers vs. X-Men” back on December 7. They’ve done a great job of promoting their brand across many social platforms.
Insight: Multi-platform social promotion is a great way to expand your reach to many demographics. Learn a thing or two from Marvel: promote across many platforms. Make sure your message is consistent but not exactly the same. The team behind the Marvel brand pages makes each status update unique and you should too!
Google+ very well may be the new place to start connecting with savvy tech customers. Tech brand Samsung has turned to the site to capture the attention of online users.
What I like most about Samsung on Google+ is how real their messaging is. So many brands don’t stay casual with their messaging through social media. Samsung does with status updates like “AdWeek has an article about our most recent Samsung Mobile campaign. What do you really think about it?”, “Can you +1 this please? We need them to power up the coffee machine.”, and “+1 if you agree: Tiny mobile screens are so early 2000’s”.
Insight: Get real with social media. Knock down virtual walls and really connect with your fans by talking to them conversationally. The last thing online users want is to be marketed to.
It seems that whenever a social media brand to watch post comes out Ford is always mentioned and my list is no different. Circle Ford on Google+ and you’ll see corporate announcement posts, exclusive photos of stunning Ford vehicles, Ford promotions and posted shared by other Google+ accounts.
Insight: Engage with other pages. Don’t feel limited to your own Google+ page. Share content that others share on their pages – essentially the same as a retweet. Show the love on Google+ like Ford has done.
Always worthwhile to watch on Twitter, Comcast cares is the online customer service extension of this large cable, Internet, and phone provider. Comcast’s social team is using Google+ to announce corporate activities, show support & empathy for cable outages, respond to customer service related issues and announce service changes or promotions.
Insight: If you have any element of online customer service already, then you need to go where your customers are online. Eventually more will get to that platform. Do you really want to relive that moment you realized people were talking about your brand on Twitter and you weren’t there to respond? Get there first!
Are you on Team Coco? As any fan of Conan O’Brien will tell you, being on Team Coco has its perks. Regular doses of funny served up to you on all your favorite sites: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, and of course TeamCoco.com.
Insight: Don’t limit your status messages to just written content. Share video and images like Team Coco does on Google+. A quick skim of their stream shows you almost every status message has some sort of visual content.
Do your own research about Google+. Not all social sites are going to be perfect for your brand.
Find competitors using Google+, examine ripples, see if you can notice trends within your own industry’s community on Google+. Use some of the insights you glean from big brands and start a Google+ page. Monitor your progress and see what works for you.
Do you plan on having a brand presence on Google+ in 2012?