Many small business owners neglect the power of social media marketing, especially when it comes to lesser-known platforms such as Google Plus for business. But due to its rapid growth since its creation in 2011, this is a platform that should no longer be ignored. According to the official Google blog, the service now boasts over 540 million users, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. These marketing tips for small business guide will show you how to take advantage of this unique platform and leverage its power to grow your own business.
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Target Audience Research: Putting Your Business on Google Plus
While Google Plus for business is a great way to connect with your audience, it isn’t a good match for every business. Research shows that Google Plus users are predominantly male, and they tend to work in tech-related jobs. If your business appeals to this demographic, then Google Plus could be the ideal platform for growing your social presence – but if it’s not, you may want to invest your time elsewhere.
Target Marketing: Reach out to key players in your industry.
One of the advantages of Google Plus for business is that it’s currently far less competitive than other social platforms. This means it’s incredibly easy to make direct contact with influential people in your market. What’s more, in January 2014 Google added a powerful new feature which allows you to contact any other Google Plus user directly via email – without having to know their email address beforehand.
Fortunately, this feature is also spam proof. You’re restricted to sending just one email, unless your initial email receives a reply. While this protects the feature from spam abuse, it also means you have only one shot to get noticed, so you’ll have to make sure it’s worth their while to reply.
This unique feature is a potential goldmine for any small business owner who’s looking to branch out and make valuable connections online. It can be used for reaching key players in your field, contacting customers, or anyone you would like to connect with. Of course, this does lead to some privacy concerns, because the feature is enabled by default. However, it’s also very easy to disable within your Google Plus profile page.
Google Plus for Business Tips
Providing engaging content is important for any social media campaign, but it’s vital for standing out in the Google Plus community. Another useful feature provided by Google Plus for business is the ability to cater your content for specific groups by using the circles feature. This allows you to target specific segments of your community, or even a specific individual.
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Interestingly, using this feature will also cause a notification to pop up in their Google account, which increases the chances of comments and social interaction on the post. This is a very powerful feature, but it’s important to use it carefully. It’s wise to use this only for your best content, and not spam your followers with every single post you make.
Google Marketing and Content Sharing
Something that really stands out on Google Plus is high quality photography. Using big, bold, striking images is an excellent way to attract attention to your posts, so take advantage of this whenever you can.
In fact, many of the most popular posts on Google Plus are simply evocative images that quickly capture your attention. Regardless of your market, there’s often a way to tie an interesting image to your post in some context. This is even more powerful if your competition isn’t doing this.
How to Get Your Business on Google: Leverage your other social platforms.
One of the best ways to gain additional traction on Google Plus is to promote your content on other social platforms. A simple tweet or Facebook post only takes a few minutes to create, but it’s a good way to get people over to your Google Plus for business page and generate some initial buzz. Of course, you can also use your Google Plus page to send people to your other social media accounts, too.
Marketing Strategies: Schedule your Best Content.
A common mistake made by Google Plus beginners is to share your entire best content first. Ultimately, this means you run out of steam as you have nothing decent left to share. If you give all of your best content away at the start, you might struggle to build a regular audience over the long term.
However, this problem is easily solved by scheduling your content to go live at specific times. You can even automate the process by using the Do Share chrome plug-in, which will allow you to control when your content is posted – down to the exact date and time.
Overall, Google Plus is a fantastic opportunity for any small business owner looking to benefit from increased online exposure. If you keep these tips in mind, you’ll be surprised by how useful this lesser-known social platform can be.
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