Use Google+ to start a conversation in a community that would value your business.
Can Google+ be a positive for your company? With roughly half of the uptake of Facebook, Google+ is not the largest player in the world of social media, but it can bring unique advantages to your company's lead generation. How can you use Google+ to generate leads?
Connect Social and Search
One of the advantages of Google+ is that it explicitly connects social media and search. Google is the world's largest search engine, and its social media venue is designed so that when you increase your connections on Google+, your content has a higher likelihood of showing up in those individuals' search results. Even if you're not connected to someone on Google+, you'll be able to wiggle your way toward the top of the search results by getting more +1s on Google+. While you can get a lot of leads when your content goes viral on Facebook or Twitter, Google+ is a different platform with its ability to connect search and social media.
Find or Create Communities That Find Your Content Valuable
When you're working with Google+, you can combine targeted content and the ability of a community to share. Consider the keywords that you use in your advertising and on other social media venues. Which ones draw the most interest? Develop or choose content that is directly focused on those keywords, and think about the communities of people who come to you due to that content. Look for or develop Google+ communities of those people: individuals who would find your content particularly valuable. Participate in these communities, comment on other shared content, and share your own to draw in potential leads.
Build relationships that form the foundation of future sales.
Build Relationships Within Your Communities
In Google+, you need to not only build relationships with individual influential followers, you need to develop a reputation within an online community. Set aside time to create those relationships. Think about Google+ as a village. By supporting others within that village through comments and by asking pertinent questions, you'll develop a reputation as a wise elder in the community, and people will come to you when they need your help.
Use Links to Your Advantage
On Google+, links are king. Make sure that you feature your link in a location on your cover photo or profile photo. Add relevant links to your content as well. This sends people in your communities back to those linked pages and helps those links show up in searches as well.
Go Multimedia
If you have a product or information to share and you'd like to do so in a video format, Google+ makes this very simple. By creating a Google Hangout on Air, you can broadcast your Google Hangout to others, send it to Facebook, or send it automatically to Youtube. Whether you're inviting a guest expert or you want to create a how-to video about your products, this feature simplifies your video content creation and allows you to use video to draw in those who are curious about your products and services.
Are you developing your social media presence? Digital Inbound can help you strengthen your inbound marketing plan. Contact us today to request a free Website Competitive Analysis report.
