Google+ Pages for Business: Recommendations (Third Thursday version)

Google+ Pages for Business:
Recommendations for clients
9 November 2011

© 2011 Gage Marketing Group. All Rights Reserved
What is Google+?

• G+ is a collection of different services bundled into a single user
experience and accessible at http://plus.google.com:
– Profile (similar to a Facebook profile)
– Stream (a newsfeed on the default page)
– Sparks (a recommendation engine)
– Hangouts (a video chat service)
– Huddle (a group texting service)
– Circles (a friend management service)
– Photos (a photo sharing service)
– Games (similar to Facebook games)

– NEW AS OF November 7, 2011: Business Pages
(similar to Facebook pages)

Why should I worry about
Google+ Pages for Business?

Unprecedented growth…

Image credit:: http://www.zurmat.com/2011/07/22/google-plus-growth-vs-other-social-networks/

Why Google is serious about G+

Google is deeply
concerned about Facebook
eroding ad revenues; they
hope Google+ can reverse
these trends

G+ is not going to go away
• G+ is critical for Google because:
– It drives longer and more frequent sessions
– It may make Google again the most popular online, and
thus…
– It may protect and even grow Google’s online ad spending
revenues for decades to come

Every time users log in, they are re-
exposed to all services and tools, Notifications are key to
which collect data and drive sessions driving repeat sessions in G+

How Google has already integrated
Social and Search with Google+

The “ ”

• Launched in June 2011
• Similar to - but an expansion on - Facebook
• Is a tacit endorsement to your social network of:
• Content (example: an article or video)
• URL (example: in search results or on website)
• Google+ post (example: a status update)

Why the “ ”?
2/3rds of the economy is influenced by personal recommendations. McKinsey & Company

Gartner 20% of consumers are key influencers of purchasing
activities of 74% of the population.

Consumers mention 56 brands in conversation per week. Keller Fay

62% of these discussions are positive.

Each peer recommendation reaches 150 people on the social web. Forrester

Less than 25% of people say they trust emails they sign up for.

1 in 3 people come to a brand through a recommendation. Weber Shandwick

Bain & Co. The most recommended company in any given
category grows 2.5x the category average.

40% of advocates answer, comment, or give opinions Yahoo! and
online several times each week. Comscore
9

The “ ”

• Appears to Google
users, their social
network, and the
general public in
slightly different ways

• +1 button on websites
drives more +1’s
• +1’s = Personal
recommendations to
drive “pre-qualified”
traffic

Abstract
• Google+ launched Pages for Business on November 7, 2011
• Google is the dominant player in search with 65-70% market share
• Google+ already amplifies organic and paid search outcomes. It is likely
that near-term changes will create additional opportunities and threats
related to advertising which clients must be prepared to manage
• Digital word of mouth (WOM) will become more and more important as
+1’s and relationships in G+ become more prominent and important to
volume and quality of search traffic and conversions
• Similarly, changes to Google’s search algorithm to reward brands that
continually develop fresh, relevant, popular content means content
marketing sophistication is now essential to both social and search; thus,
social media is even less optional now than it used to be
• Gage clients will benefit by embracing Google+, even in its current
“primitive” state. Conversely, clients who do not do so will be
increasingly at risk of losing ground to competitors, especially in regard
to Google search marketing outcomes. Gage can help.

The “ ”
• +1’s are also stored in a tab on Google+ profiles for easy
access. Users can opt to show their +1 tab, or keep it private –
“micro-bookmarking”
• +1 tab intended to let users manage from a single destination

The “ ”
• +1 is Google’s way of incorporating personal
recommendations into search results in a transformative way:
• Recommendations from:
• Personal networks
(example: “Steve, Roger, and Bill +1’d this”)
• General public, in aggregate
(example: “[URL] has1,200 ’s”)
• Yourself
(example: “you +1’d this at some point in the past”)
• +1 is a BIG DEAL because it means brands with more +1’s will
get more (and more qualified!) Google search traffic

How G+ now affects search

• Google’s organic search results are affected by whether
user has added a brand to their Google+ Circles

(Hovering over the Ford Motor Company link displays this)

• This means the more popular your brand is in G+,
the better your results are likely to be

G+ will change ad targeting
• Advertising in social is different because you can target
based on user profiles, which are proven to generate better
ads and higher return on advertising spend

– Google has always been ahead in search, but not social

– Google search targets on need (keywords)

– Social networks target on profiles (identity, interest, friends)

• Google+ will be able to add the power of profiles to need to
provide brands with a new targeting capability

G+ will also change analytics
• Because search outcomes will be affected by social and
Google+, it will be necessary for all brands who use Google
for paid search to use a Google Analytics account to track
social’s effects on search outcomes
• Brands should start exploring and experimenting now so they
are prepared to defend and improve search outcomes as
Google+ performance is increasingly integrated into
Google’s search algorithm

Starting a Google+ Page now: Pros & Cons
Cons (-) Pros (+)
Audience & Outcomes
G+ audience is still mostly early adopters G+ already has 40M users and is growing
across a narrower band of demographics, faster than any other network
industries, interests than all other top-tier
social networks
There is currently no inorganic method for There is already a known, significant Paid
building an audience in G+ (e.g., no and Organic Google search impact from
advertising or promotional capability) Google+ activity
Google’s search algorithm has already
been modified to favor newer content
(which favors social media content) and
will probably soon also favor G+ content
Functionality & Capability
Because there is no API, G+ cannot be G+ already offers some groundbreaking
managed along with other social functionality worth mastering, including:
channels, effort to add G+ channel to • Video hangouts with fans
ongoing management is not insignificant • Need to master Circle-based
community outreach/building
• Google Analytics tie-ins to show
outcomes across social, SEO, PPC, web
We know G+ will keep evolving

If you build a G+ Page

• Assume G+
audience,
outcomes,
functionality,
capability will all
grow - increase 2013 2012 now
and/or reallocate
social investments $ $$ $$$
accordingly

If you decide to build a G+ Page: Notes
• Business Profiles are like personal profiles on Google. Apply
behaviors and practices that are working well for your personal
page, if you have one.
• G+ Pages must be “tied” to a specific person in your organization.
Let us know if you need help deciding with whom to associate it.
• G+ Pages can’t circle individuals unless they circle you first. This is
tough on marketers – prevents from circling entire networks.
• Businesses can own more than one Google+ Page. Having one for
your brand and several for individual products may make sense.
• There is currently no verification process that certifies your Google+
Page. This means a competitor can create an identical page and
there’s not much you can do about it except complain to Google.
This will likely change soon, but for now, watch carefully for this and
let Google know when/if you find inappropriate uses.

Building a G+ Page: Investment

• Minimum investment to set up correctly ~10 hours
• See next slide for tasks (current clients only)
• 1-2 hours/week to publish, manage engagement, and build
audience (assumes community management services are
already in place for other social media channels)

If you decide to build a G+ Page: Tasks
1. Associate G+ Business Page with an individual (again ask for advice)
2. Set up a vanity URL for the Page
3. Set up Direct Connect on related website
4. Make sure Google Places data is configured correctly
5. Populate with content: text, links, videos, photos
6. Publish regular posts and manage engagement
7. Build and share Circles
8. Grow an audience: Promote on other social channels; ask employee
base to promote, send to mailing list
9. Use Google Analytics and analyze effect of G+ and +1s on search

10. What next? Use the above experiences and 3rd party research to
develop a long-term plan

From Kevin Mullett

To get started or learn more

• Contact your Gage Account representative
– Or…

• Contact the Gage Emerging Media team
– Chris McLaren, Director - Emerging Media & Strategy
Phone: 763-595-3855 (o) / 763-242-0930 (m)
Email: chris_mclaren@gage.com
Connect: http://about.me/cmclaren1

– Tim Bursch, Manager – Social Media
Phone: 763-595-3858 (o) / 612-770-9573 (m)
Email: tim_bursch@gage.com

33

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