Mike Stiles
In a long awaited move, Google+, the social networking site aiming to take on Facebook and rock its world, now allows branded pages for businesses, organizations, artists, and yes, radio stations. There was never a doubt brands were interested in trying out Google?s venture, even having to be told by the company to stop making regular profile pages, because brand pages were coming. Well ta da, they?re here.
I hear you. ?What? Another social network I?ve got to deal with?!? No, you don?t have to make a Google+ brand page. But I would if I were you. In fact, I?d do it today, and here?s why. As with Facebook, there?s no real verification process to make sure someone setting up a brand page truly represents that brand. In other words, some yokel could be there right now setting up a Google+ brand page in your station's name. So if nothing else, secure your name.
It?s easy.
-Sign in to Google and go to http://www.google.com/+/business/
-Pick a Category. You?re in Arts, Entertainment & Sports.
-Enter your business name and website.
-Pick a sub-category. You?re a radio station.
-Decide who can see your profile. That would be everybody.
-Describe yourself in 10 words and put up a photo.
-Drag and classify the people who follow you into circles. You can designate your own
circles, i.e. Listeners, Advertisers, Partners, Media, etc.
Beyond that, you?ve got to make your own decisions on whether or not you?re going to actively use Google+ brand pages, and when, and how. At the moment, it boils down to how big of a pioneer you want to be.
Things to know to help you decide:
1. Facebook has 750 million users, so it makes sense for brands to want to reach those people. It?s going to take some time for Google+ to reach a similar number, but you?ll have to decide at what level of user adoption you want to jump in with vigor.
2. It?s speculated Google may be able to offer its brand pages some kind of advantage when it comes to search, since Google has 60% of the search business. However, that kind of thing might also bring legal challenges.
3. As a matter of Google policy, you can?t run contests, sweepstakes or promotions on Google+ brand pages. You can on Facebook, but such contests must be contained within apps.
4. You may find the ability to create more of a brand experience on Google+ thanks to the ability to custom skin the page, employ rich media ads, etc. You already kinda see this on branded YouTube channels. And while giving your page a distinctive look sounds good, the danger is some designers will go nuts and drift into the territory that got MySpace in trouble.
5. Ads and analytics. Again, there?s an assumption being made that Google?s existing ad and metrics tools will be able to give brands user data above and beyond what you?d get from Facebook Insights. Of course, if you?re doing the right thing and using a 3rd party publishing and analytics tool, you?re already getting comprehensive, usable data.
6. So far, only Facebook has eCommerce plug-ins rolling so purchases can be made within the social environment. They also have the app and like-gating ability advantage.
7. The component of Google+ that?s been getting the most buzz isGoogle Hangouts, which are like video-conferences. At the moment, Hangouts are limited to a handful of people, so you?ll have to decide if there?s a practical use for that for your station. Maybe listeners could win entry to a private Hangout with an artist?
So there?s Google+ for brands, at least as things stand now. Discuss amongst yourselves its rightful place in your marketing world.
Mike Stiles is a writer/producer with the social marketing tech platform, Vitrue, and head of Sketchworks comedy theatre. Check out his monologue blog, The Stiles Files.
Find him on Facebook www.facebook.com/mike.stiles
or on Twitter @mikestiles
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