Smart PR

Google+ – Does it really matter?

September 22, 2011 at 4:37 PM 1 comment

This week I attended an IABC (International Association of Business Communicators) event on a topic that seems to have everyone buzzing…Google+. The panel was led by three social media gurus – Esteban Contreras from Samsung, David Stark from IBM and Jeff Hayzlett from The Hayzlett Group.

Google calls Google+ a social networking “project” that will rival Facebook. It’s still in beta and has about 25 million users so far. While everyone at the event agreed that Google+ has reach and importance and is influencing the other major social networks (case in point, Twitter and Facebook are both making significant changes to their platforms), the question remains whether Google+ will actually be a winner.  Why? First, Twitter and Facebook had far more users after three months than Google+ currently does. Second, each social network has a particular purpose, and we still aren’t sure where Google+ fits or whether it will be relevant. There are a few reasons for this:

• Google+ is straddling everything from business to personal – what is the value add that doesn’t already exist on Twitter or Facebook?
• Users have a strong comfort level with established platforms, but not with Google+
• Three’s a crowd. How many platforms can you really put effort into? Look what happened at Netflix when many of their customers became annoyed by having to register for two services that were once combined. Similarly, when do social media users experience social overload?

That said, Google is a formidable player and some are projecting Google+ to be the second largest social network by next year. Thus, panelists said that companies do need to be ready to join as soon as Google launches company pages. How do you prepare for a new platform? The panelists had a few good tips, which can actually be applied to any social media platform:

1. Remember that social networking is a means to an end; don’t participate just for the sake of participating.
2. Think about your strategy – and simply deciding to participate is NOT a strategy.
1. Determine your goals and rules for participation. What’s your governance structure?
2. Base your strategy on what kind of value Google+ will drive for your brand.
3. Be prepared to truly engage with people, far more than you do on Facebook and Twitter.
4. Decide which platforms are most important to you. Not every company has the resources to dominate every platform.
5. Decide whether Google+ is an offensive or defensive tool for your brand.
6. Determine your metrics for ROI!
1. Remember that simply counting fans, followers and circles isn’t effective.
2. Yes, be aware of those “shallow” metrics, but also monitor what the platform is doing for your brand. Having tons of users in your circle doesn’t matter if you’re not really engaging and it’s not helping you meet your brand goals. There is currently no cut and dry way to measure this, but each company should regularly evaluate their social media practices in comparison with how quickly they are reaching their brand goals – as Esteban Contreras said, social media should help build your brand, and building your brand should help drive sales.
3. Think about both short-term and long-term objectives.

One of the most interesting comments from the night was, “Be prepared to get it wrong.” You won’t always have a plan for everything that happens in social media, especially with a new platform, so plan for the unexpected and be prepared to think on your feet.

- Melissa Baratta, Managing Director

Entry filed under: Communications, Corporate, Social Media. Tags: Best Practices, Communications, social media.