I’m getting a LOT of questions about Google+ lately and I wanted to provide a quick and dirty guide for getting yourself set up on Google+ in 15 minutes or less.
Ready. Set. Go!
- Determine what role Google is going to have in your marketing mix. All too often companies create social channels only to later abandon them. Just like any social networking account, you will want to include the marketing of this channel with the rest of your marketing activities. This includes allocating time for sharing your own content, responding to comments, sharing content from the business pages and profiles of your influencers and, as always, figuring out ways to convert Google activity into real leads for your business.
- Choose a Gmail account to link to your Google page. Once you’ve tied a specific email address to a Google product it’s hard to unlink it. So save yourself a lot of effort by setting up a brand new Gmail account to be used specifically for your company’s Google (and other Google services) activity.
- Hop over to http://plus.google.com/pages/create and follow the prompts. If you’ve ever created a Facebook business page this process will look very familiar to you; if not, the instructions are clear and easy to follow. Click ‘Set up a Google page’ located on the right side of the website. During this process you will have the option of selecting a classification for your business. If you have a business that relies on local foot traffic, like a yoga studio or a restaurant, then choose the local business or place option. If your business page is focused on something specific, like a book, financial service or clothing website, choose the product or brand option. The other options are self-explanatory. Complete the rest of the information as required.
- Customize your Google business page with a tagline and your logo or product image. Remember, your tagline should NOT be your business name; rather, it should describe your business in a compelling way that’s easy to understand. A good tagline spells out who you are and what you do in a sentence or less.
- You may now be wondering how you’ll get people to even know about your new Google business page. I suggest you treat your new Google location like an address change: add a link to your Google page in your email signature, add the Google icon to your website and blog, mention your Google page in your newsletter, add the URL to the reverse side of your business card, etc. Whatever you would do to let people know that your address has changed, do the same types of things for your Google business page.
- Engage, engage, engage! Find the Google business pages and profiles of your immediate influencers (clients, potential clients, media professionals, vendors, etc.) Add them to circles and comment on their business pages. The key with social media is reciprocity. We’ve all heard the saying that to have a friend, you first have to be a friend. With social networking, to get attention and visibility you first have to give attention and visibility. While this is something you should do as soon as you get set up, you should expect to lather, rinse, repeat on this step to maintain conversation flowing around your Google page.
Taking these steps will help ensure that your Google business page gets off to a good start and delivers the results you need.
How are you engaging your audience on Google+? Please share below.
