Social Media Monday: Take Advantage of Google+ For Your Small Business

Google+ recently climbed the social network ranks so that it’s number two in users, which means if you haven’t gotten on the Google+ train already, you need to. It represents a valuable social media marketing opportunity that you can’t afford to pass up. Since this social network might not be one that you’ve used on a personal basis before, there’s a bit of a learning curve as you learn how you can market yourself and your business. Discover how to use Google’s social network with these marketing tips.

One of the main concepts that you need to learn with Google+ are circles. You add people to specific circles, such as Friends, Co-workers, and other circles you create. When you follow someone on this social media network, they do not automatically follow you back. Instead they get a notification that you have added them to your circle, and they may decide to add you back. A few ways to increase the chances that your potential customers and clients will add you back include:

• Create compelling content

  You need to give them a reason to want to add you to their circles. The last thing that someone wants to do is add a person or business to one of their circles, and be inundated with spam posts and other things that don’t pique their interest.

• Use Circles to your advantage

  You restrict your posted content to specific circles, or you can make it publicly available. While it is in your best interest to make most of your content public for a wide range of marketing opportunities, you may wish to provide special incentives to those who add you to their circles, or your highest volume customers. Circles make it easy to target your advertising across all of your followers.

• Create posts that are widely shared

  Like other social networks, viral content gets you plenty of eyes looking at your page. While this isn’t the most targeted traffic, it does give you the potential for very large dividends.

• Share posts.

  Share posts that are related to your niche that you find interesting. Your Google+ page can get quite boring if you’re only focused on your products. Featuring a wide range of posts, such as showing off the latest news in your industry, behind the scenes moments at your business, and other relevant but not entirely promotional content will go a long way towards humanizing you to your customers. Social network goers want to be able to relate to the companies that they follow, and it’s easier for them to do that if they can see that you’re more than just a marketing mouth.

It’s not too late to create a Google+ page for your small business! It might take some time to get traction, but as you find your way around the network you’ll be able to leverage its great features for marketing and connecting with your customers. It also ties in with other Google services, making it a snap to sign up for.