What is Google+?

We are all fairly familiar these days with social media and how it works… but what is Google+? We are finding a lot of clients have either never heard of it or just don’t understand it.

We are still trying to get the hang of it ourselves but we thought we might tell you a little bit about it to try and help you understand what Google+ is and why you need it.

Social media experts are labelling Google+ as the most important social network for businesses and marketers… some have even said it could one day take over Facebook!

Google+ isn’t just a new social network site, it integrates with other Google features and one of the main benefits is that it has a significant impact on your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

As you would expect, Google+ allows you to post videos, photos, links and text just as you might do on Facebook, however it has an exclusive feature which they call ‘Circles’. Google Circles are basically groups of friends that you can organise by categories including Family, Friends, Colleagues, School Friends, Customers etc. You can also do what is called a ‘Hangout’ which is video or text chatting with several others.

So why do we need Google+, here are our top 3 reasons:

It makes life easier

Google+ integrates with Gmail, Youtube, Google Maps, Chrome and Google Play. This makes is super easy for you to share and manage content across all of these services.

SEO

As we mentioned earlier, Google+ can affect your SEO Google ranking.  You should have already noticed the little +1 that now appears on a lot of websites and blogs, this is similar to a Facebook like. The more +1 (likes) that a page gets, the more Google determines that website as being popular, which then increases your ranking score. Ultimately effecting you position in Google search results which allows people to find your website and your business easier.

Hangouts

Being able to video chat with several other parties is a very useful tool for the likes of video conferences, live feedback sessions with customers, video training and much more.

We hope this very basic review of Google+ helps you understand a little bit about what it does and why you need it. Once you have signed up visit our page and join the QA CIRCLE.

For more information visit our website www.sunnymedia.com.au

What YOU can be doing to help boost your business

Here are a few tips from QA that you can try yourself to help your business grow.

Get personal with your customers

Your customers are the heart of your business – without them, you would cease to exist! By interacting with them you can develop a powerful relationship.

When a customer makes a purchase, or signs up to your newsletter etc, have them receive a welcome email.  Something simple like this reduces cognitive dissonance (the feeling of ‘oh god, what have I done’ after a purchase or decision) and allows them to feel supported in their decision.

Get social

By incorporating social media into your everyday business, you can connect with tones of potential customers.

People go on Facebook to be distracted – so give them something worthwhile to turn their attention to!  Refer to our previous Instagram blog post to find tips on how to use Instagram for your business.

Leave the office

Increasing your public profile through conferences and networking events can be beneficial to the success of a business.  So any events that are suitable to your industry you should consider attending.

Be the leader/ expert in your industry

Consider who the influential leaders are in your industry.  How can you get amongst them?

Offer insights to bloggers, journalists or become a guest editor to give your opinion.  Customers relate to knowledgeable and powerful figures.

Know your users

If you don’t understand what it is you customers want, there is no point implementing any of the above tips.  Engage with them to find out what kind of product, information, insight, services it is that they are after.

This can be found by finding out what keywords are trending in your space through Google’s free keyword search tool.

Here at QA we love to hear about what is working to boost your business, and we love giving advice so contact QA if you would like to chat about other ways we can help you boost your business.

We hope you enjoy reading the Sunny Media blog. For more information please visit our full website www.sunnymedia.com.au

Brand Ambassadors can boost your social media

Anyone online can see that the remains of various social media campaigns are scattered all over Facebook! Many marketers have flocked to Facebook in the hopes of striking viral. However, one of the major problems behind these campaigns is that not a whole lot of them had much of an idea of what they were doing!

Do not assume that if you build a social media presence that customers will come. Always ask yourself, what is the value to them? The real challenge is building a brand-based community, and developing ambassadors is just one method of creating them.

Firstly, you need to understand that the term ambassator is far more general. It applies to those who act as leaders within the community. They come in different shapes and sizes, but they essentially represent a highly engaged community member. They also are the seeds from which communities grow.

Their networks may not resemble the adoring fans of a movie stars, but they do represent networks nonetheless – networks comprised of a valuable target audience group. Your ambassadors may not be paid, but they are conduits through which to communicate with your audience, approaching them as peers, rather than as customers.

The advantages that brand ambassadors represent are numerous. They not only grow the community, but also sustain it as it develops. They provide support to new members, and work to dispel the trolls.

There are many who would tell you that the absence of ambassadors was instrumental in the downfall of the Kony 2012 campaign, a campaign comprised of thousands of supporters armed with very few facts. Without enough ambassadors equipped with a genuine understanding of a complicated issue, the overnight community collapsed, as the few highly vocal cynics went practically uncontested in their efforts to topple the movement.

Your ambassadors should be the ones who sit right on the edge of the idea diffusion bell-curve – early adopters, the people that are naturally excited about your offering. If you can identify these individuals you are going to find a far higher return when you engage with them, rather than with those that aren’t quite as interested.

The role of ambassadors needn’t always be this formal however. Look at Nike’s ‘She runs the night’ campaign. The campaign was highly ambassador-focused, but the ambassadors were young female runners. Identifying these people and supporting them did not comprise of formal training but simply giving away a few free sneakers and running activities for them to participate in. The real life engagement carried over into online discussions, designed to create a buzz around the Nike brand with the ultimate call to action being towards recruiting runners into a night race. The campaign was a huge success.

More and more brands and campaigns are taking this approach – identifying the few who will talk to the many, empowering them and supporting them in their voluntary role.

In order to communicate with a target audience, you need to understand them, and nobody knows a particular type of person better than someone who is that type of person. Ambassadors provide a much-needed point of reference in the murky world of social media engagement.

Not all campaigns, and not even all brands, are going to have activities that are ambassador-friendly, but if you want to make people care about something, a sure-fire way is to give them ownership.

This article was sourced from B&T News. If you think your brand could benefit from a brand ambassator or you need help with your social media presence ask QA to help… it’s just another service we can work on with you to help you achieve better outcomes!

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