Are you thinking about incorporating Google+ into your social media strategy but haven’t made the leap yet? There are a few important advantages to participation you need to consider. But first, some background.

What is Google+, really?

For the uninitiated, it’s a social network. For those in the know, it’s a Facebook clone (that’s a tongue-in-cheek comment but it’s partially true). Google is understandably avoiding making any comparisons to existing social networks. If I were forced to do so then Facebook would be the most likely comparison. As you think through both this post and your strategy, Facebook will do if you absolutely need a point of comparison (at least for now).

Something to keep in mind is that Google+ is not +1. They are two separate names to two related but very different things. For those that don’t spend their professional time geeking out on social networks (I do) the terms can be confusing. That’s completely understandable. As discussed above, Google+ is Google’s social network. The +1 is their equivalent of the Facebook Like (to stretch the comparison a bit further). So when you “+1” something you are giving Google a signal that you like the page/link/ad (Yes, you can +1 an ad. Who does that?!!?).

To add further confusion to the understanding of Google+ terminology, Google is now aggregating +1 and Circle activity for business pages. I’m not even going to go there right now (see the footnote for an explanation¹).

Why should you consider incorporating Google+ into your social media strategy?

As marketing practitioners we all need “another social network”, right? Well, under other circumstances I would relegate Google+ to a second tier network, monitor it for any activity about my brand and respond as appropriate. Then I would move on with my life. But this is Google and, while their network is still nascent, it does require more attention than you would give other burgeoning social networks.

These are the important and distinctive advantages to using Google+:

• Google allows for long form content (somewhere around 100,000 characters if you would like to personally test it). You can post long status messages like this entire blog post or even a novella (literally).  Sure.  Sure.  Facebook recently also increased their character count on posts to 63,206 (Facebook … Face Boo K … hex(FACE) – K … 64206 – 1000 = 63206) but it wouldn’t flow or feel right if you used all characters.  The Facebook community is not used to long posts.  The Google+ community see long form content regularly.
• Google+ posts can be referenced through unique links and shared publicly. There is no need to worry about whether or not someone has a Google+ account. Everyone can view your public content regardless of their Google+ account status. This is not a distinct advantage in and of itself but when combined with the next point it is important to consider.
• Google+ posts perform extremely well in the search results. Some prominent bloggers have used anecdotal evidence to support the idea that, while their blog post performs well in the Google SERPs, a Google+ post about the original blog post performs better. See this note from a former Google Apps product management lead as an example of said anecdotal evidence.
• Google “Search plus Your World” (a.k.a. social search) is a significant change to their algorithm in which social signals (mostly the +1) are incorporated into Google’s search results. Currently, signals from Twitter and Facebook are not being included in these results so activity on Google+ is the only way to increase your chances of being seen (there has been plenty written about this already). This is a complex advantage so lets look at some pretty pictures.

Look at these screenshots for an example of how social search is affecting results even today. They are both for the search term “SOPA” (an extremely egregious and disgusting bill making its way through Congress). The results are very different when social search is triggered and the difference does not have anything to do with proper SEO. It’s almost entirely based on your Google+ Circles and +1 activity.

Based on the incorporation of these new social results, there has been some healthy discussion about how traditional SEO is not important (see an excellent argument from Ed Kless about SEO and social search). I think this conversation is great because we are in a transition phase. SEO is still extremely important for your digital marketing efforts if your goal is to be seen by more people.  It’s difficult to tell if SEO will continue to deliver the same results using the same formula as social search becomes more prominent. My educated guess is that it will not.

The carrot and the stick

The advantages listed above are all carrots. That is, they are the positive benefits of having bought into participation on Google+ for your brand or business. Here’s the stick:

Not only do Google+ posts rank highly in their search algorithm but activity around the +1 will directly impact your cost per click advertising costs. Stay with me here because this is the most important part of the post (Yes.  I buried the lead). Based on the 2011 Search Marketing Report from MarketingSherpa, the paid search click through rate of social media users compared to non-users (the 3 of you left out there) is double. Double. Let’s put that in terms a bit easier to understand. The more your Google AdWords ads get clicked, the higher your quality score. The higher your quality score the less you pay for ads. In my best mafia voice, “Capisce?”

In Summary

Google+ was officially launched on June 28, 2011. Just prior to that the +1 button was launched but didn’t have much of a purpose without the accompanying social network. In other words, it hasn’t been that long (Leo Laporte asked an excellent question on his TWiT podcast recently, “How many internet years is represented by a real year if a dog year is 7 years?”). You can clearly see Google’s focus here and their desire to make this product successful. Personally, I’m in. The conversations on Google+ are intelligent and in-depth. I really enjoy it. From a business perspective it’s hard for me to argue against the points above. Get your pencils sharp and dust off your thinking caps. It’s time to focus some of your effort on Google+.

¹Footnote: Just like on Facebook, you can like a brand or business on Google+. This is done through the +1 and, for comparison’s sake, it matches the Facebook Like perfectly. You can Like a status update. You can +1 a status update. You can Like a brand or business. You can +1 a brand or business. If we look at the Los Angeles Times business page on Google+ we can see that “14,127 have +1’d or added to circles”. Wait. What? Yes, if you Circle a brand on Google+ you are counted in their aggregate influence number (What are we calling that number, anyway?). Breaking down the number, 13,986 have the Los Angeles Times in a Circle which means that only 141 have +1’d the venerable west coast publisher of news and information. I’ve seen similar trends skewed in favor of Circles for other brands as well. I’m not sure why Google is aggregating these numbers but it can create a small amount of confusion as you are measuring the success of your efforts.

UPDATE: Almost 3 years later from the original post below (July, 2008) and AT&T took the lead on location-based shopping alerts in partnership with Placecast.  It took 3 years and AT&T to make this happen?!!?  Really.  Really!  I’m either way off base on the power of location-based marketing or the revenue model just isn’t there yet.

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Security and privacy implications aside (see the NSA reference in the title of this post), July 11th is set to be a day that brings a renewed focus to mobile marketing.  What am I talking about?

• July 11th is the launch date for the new 3G iPhone.
• July 11th is also the launch date for the App store in iTunes.

From an internet marketing perspective, you should care about this date even if you do not own an iPhone (only a few million of us do at this point).  You should care because the launch date of this new phone is likely to place a renewed emphasis on the GPS chip that is already in many smart phones today.  I’m not giving Apple credit for putting a GPS chip in a cell phone……hardly……but I am giving them credit for putting the tools required to take true advantage of this functionality in the hands of developers.

Keep your eye on the ball.  Here are a few trends to watch:

Geoblogging: location-aware blogging adds a new layer to one’s posts and comments on the internet.

Location-based Advertising (Are we calling this something else yet?): You are in a new city…….say, Seattle…..and you really want a cup ‘o joe.  Power up the GPS enabled cellphone with Google Maps loaded on it and off you go.  Oh yeah….and Google Adsense will be adopted to provide coupons/discounts to those stores closest to you.  Location based advertising will be HUGE.

Posted via email from Greg Tirico – Tirico.net

If you are not focused on explicitly measuring your internet marketing efforts and tying those efforts back to an actual increase in revenue or reduction in costs then you should just start over from scratch.

Here’s a recent article from Search Engine Watch that should help to spark a few ideas around tracking your offline and online conversions.

Want to become an email marketing expert? No problem.
Need to start a pay-per-click advertising campaign? Easy.
Looking to create a cool microsite for a new product? Done.

When you start pulling all of the pieces together things tend to get complicated. How do you make sure that all of your efforts are working in concert and that your overall spend is being put to good use? I use a pyramid analogy to demonstrate the basic building blocks required to successfully execute on an internet marketing plan.

Lets look at each one of the pieces and how they all stack up together:

1. Compelling Websites – This one is not really about internet marketing as much as it is about common sense. If you do not have a website…a *compelling* website…than you are wasting your time. Whether you are promoting a product or selling a service, the rules are the same. Having an engaging site that pulls people in and makes them want to stay is Internet Marketing 101. You would be surprised at how many organizations miss this (especially in the B2B world) so it’s not as obvious a point as one might think.

2. Search Engine Marketing – Once you have your house in order then it makes sense to start promoting it. This building block of the internet marketing mix breaks down into search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. By focusing on Google first, Yahoo second and Microsoft third, you will be able to drive both organic and paid traffic to your…ahem…compelling site.

3. Email Marketing – Still the most effective way to engage in a conversation with customers and prospects, this is one of the keys to your internet marketing mix. Whether or not you operate in a B2B or a B2C environment, the people on your house list have ASKED to be there. These people expect to receive information from you and it would be a shame to let them down.

4. Social Media – This is the most fluid area today based on the constantly changing landscape of services coupled with finicky consumers. The point always remains the same, however. You can choose to ignore them but communities are forming everyday around your brand. Choosing to participate in these communities is equivalent to choosing to support your brand and its reputation. Choosing not to participate is the equivalent of choosing to operate at a competitive disadvantage. It’s your choice.

5. Analytics – You can explicitly measure everything online. Everything. That’s the best part of the internet marketing mix. Your analytics can be used to gain insight into trends from real time data which then allows you to adjust your strategies. The results are nothing short of beautiful when your analytics are in place and well understood.

If you understand and execute on these five points you will be well ahead of your competition with few exceptions. Good luck and feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss a speaking opportunity or want more information about some of the details.

Read the first post about Google Suggest and its affect on SEO

UPDATE: Since posting this article Google has updated their terms of service for the Google Chrome product. Still not entirely consumer friendly it is *much* better than the original and even carries a Google apology along with the terms of service amendment.

Is it just me or does that new model car on the road make the model only 1 year older look like it has aged decades? You know the feeling. You put down a massive amount of money on a new car and 1 year later the new model comes out. Your car looks completely outdated at that point. I suppose we can chalk the sensation up to good design.

Speaking of which…..I hopped on the Google Chrome bandwagon as soon as it was released. Switching back to Firefox 3.0 gave me that old car sensation. Is Google onto something? I wouldn’t say that they have completely changed the landscape but they have created something very useful.

Pros –

1. Javascript heavy web apps load a heck of a lot faster. Noticeably faster. I mean *really* fast.
2. The minimalist design is worth mentioning. The amount of screen real estate available for websites is increased without sacrificing necessary browser features.
3. Desktop shortcuts for your favorite web applications: Similar to Mozilla’s Prism offering you are able to create desktop shortcuts for any web app that you frequent. Handy.
4. The name….Google Chrome. While I may not have tricked out my car, I have tricked out my internet experience.

Cons –

1. Third party cookie support…ugh. This is the biggest con for me and something that everyone should be paying attention to. Google Chrome allows for third party cookie support out of the box. You are then required to turn this feature off in the options menu if you so desire. My opinion: By default, all browsers should disable third party cookies thereby creating an opt-in solution vs. an opt-out solution.
   <sarcasm> I wonder if this has anything to do with DoubleClick? </sarcasm>
2. Privacy. Google Chrome has the potential to leak massive amounts of information about you….the internet user. While nothing catastrophic in the way of an overflow or other attack has been discovered, the potential is there.
3. As per usual, the Google terms of service is not very consumer friendly.

UPDATE:  Since writing this post a watchful and attentive reader (Michael of CloudSherpas.com) has pointed out that PicLens has been re-branded and launched as Cool Iris.  I find myself using Cool Iris almost exclusively for image searches via Google images or Yahoo photos.  Extremely useful and worth everyone’s time.

A picture is worth a thousand words.  Right? Well, along that same line of thought several visual search engines have been developed.  Here is a quick rundown:

- Kartoo: This is the best visual search engine for determining relationships of sites based on your search term.  They group similar listings in folders and show the interconnected web that we weave….presumably through a link popularity algorithm.

- Quintura:  This site is visual only in the sense that related search terms are displayed in a large column on the left hand side.

- Searchme:  Coverflow for your search results.  ‘Nuff said.

Overall, I prefer Searchme as a visual search engine.  The interface is clean and the results are comparable to Google.  We all love eye candy and Searchme delivers in this area.

One thing to note about visual search engines would be their SEO/SEM implications.  If visual search catches on (I wouldn’t be surprised to see this feature in Gng sometime soon) than not only will your current SEO/SEM efforts contribute to your success but the visual layout will also be an important factor.  An interesting mix of SEO and user interface design efforts will be required to rocket you to the top and……more importantly……capture those eyeballs with a click.

What I really like about Seth’s blog posts, books and public talks is his ability to boil things down to the most simple terms.

You should read his most recent post on B2B marketing. Twice.

The challenge for B2B marketers is still how to most effectively use the internet to their advantage. I’m still seeing far too many corporations struggle with how to engage their prospective clients online. Sure, sure….you can do some basic things.

- Publish a white paper.
- Hold webinars for new product releases.
- Make sure your email marketing habits are consistent.

But at the end of the day I can easily argue that B2C marketers have mastered the “art of the close” online.