There is no doubt about it…Google Plus is where businesses need to be online. The challenge business owners have with setting up shop on Google+ is dealing with the change they need to make in their thinking towards marketing. They will need to steer away from their current attempts of shouting to the consumer to instead start talking with the consumer. To be successful in the social spaces businesses have to get social for which Google+ offers so many ways for businesses of all sizes to meet this challenge.
Understand Rule Changes
The questions businesses have about Google+ have to do with understanding how Google+ has changed the rules for marketing online. Google had obviously seen the mistakes other social spaces made by allowed businesses to shout their promotions to the presumably millions of people they say they have on their roster. This method of billboard marketing is not working and is now making the current social networking places most consumers would avoid.
Along came Google+ with a clean interface to a solid base of Real People and the game changed from social media to social search. No longer did a business need to blast their promotions to trillions of people. All they need on Google+ is accumulate a solid community of real people and start having conversations. The people in the Google+ community would then be part of helping the business be found by the consumers who need their products or services.
How do businesses get the conversation started on Google+?
The problem now is getting businesses to understand they can’t just post something on Google+ and expect something to happen. They have to have a conversation with people on Google+. This is the biggest problem business have since that requires resources they do not want to use.
The fact of the matter is, Google+ is where the consumers are going to be. Sure there will be people left on the other social spaces but they will not be consumers. The lack of responsiveness to purchasing anything from the few people left in those social networks will quickly result in those social networks shutting down due to them not reaching their financial goals. This will force businesses to realize they need to change if they are going to get the consumer’s attention..and money.
Easy to Learn
Businesses have to learn how to have conversations in the social space. This means they will need a person, or people, in the Google+ space responding to people who join their community or who ask a question. Businesses HAVE TO show consumers they know how to be social or the consumers are going to go elsewhere.
The biggest thing businesses have to do online to be successful is build trust with the consumers who are now flooding onto Google+.
Businesses have to get over their impression that there are not many people on Google+. They need to realize most people on G+ communicate in private or in communities that do not show up in the mainstream. However, the consumer’s conversation shows up in the Google Search Engine which is now where consumers go to find the products they need or want.
Businesses will need to go where Real People…the consumers… are and become part of the communities they are part of if they are going to keep a presence in their markets. It will take dedication to monitoring their communities in order to build the trust consumers expect. Businesses will also need to tell consumers they are on Google+ to stay.
Businesses need to just set up shop on Google+ and get after it. The old adage is still true..if you build it they will come. NowLet me know how I can help.
