A new report from U.K.-based TrendStream says Google+ will soon be the second-largest social media platform globally.
According to TrendStream’s Global Web Index, the number of active Google+ users in the fourth quarter of 2012 was 343 million. Facebook is the largest social network by far, with roughly 700 million active users and nearly one billion total accounts.
Put another way, 51 percent of the global Internet population visits Facebook monthly, compared with 25 percent who use Google+ each month, the report said. The Global Web Index measured active users, ages 16 to 64, meaning they’ve used or contributed to the social network in the past month.
It’s important to note that studies such as these vary widely, because social networks don’t share their internal figures with analytics firms. But, either way, the Global Web Index study prompts the idea that it might be time for you to consider Google+ as an effective way to communicate with target communities.
Several reasons why Google+ is worth exploring:
1. Search Results. Having an account on this social network can boost your search results, whether you are managing a brand’s online presence or your own. A powerful engine for enhancing search optimization, Google+ will continue to be one of the best opportunities for building individual and brand identities online.
2. Group Hangouts. This is a group video chat, in which up to nine people, plus a host, can take part. Hangouts offer a way to create panel discussions, video conferencing, staff meetings and more. “That’s exactly why you should get involved now,” says consultant Linda Sherman, who is also the past CEO of ClubMed Japan. Sherman praises Google+’s Hangouts, which enable group meetings, discussions or demonstrations. “It’s completely unique to Google+,” she says. “Facebook and Twitter don’t have that.”
3. Google+ Communities. Recently, Google+ added a community function, creating places for people with common interests to hang out and chat, ask questions, and share information. By the way, there are at least 14 Google+ Communities that are useful for PR and marketing professionals.
4. Massive Profile Photo. Google+ now supports a massive photo at the top of the “about” page. Companies and marketers should take full advantage of this big and bold feature.
5. Content Modules. Content is now neatly organized into modules, making it much easier for others to learn about you at a glance. That also means it’s even more important to tighten up descriptions, titles and other relevant information. Make sure to check all content for accuracy and completeness and take the time to add links to published content from other places on the web.
6. Business Networking. Google+ has created a section with an emphasis on previous work experience and skills that is a mirror of LinkedIn. This clearly points to making personal Google+ profiles more useful for business networking.
7. Connection Engine. The capability to import connections from virtually any source except Facebook is astounding. Of course, it is possible to use a workaround to bring in Facebook connections.
Other Features of Note
The most notable feature of Google+ is its ability to segment communications to people. Google+ provides separate channels, called Circles, for friends, family, acquaintances, people following you and any other Circle you might wish to create, such as fellow hobbyists or coworkers or members of an association to which you belong. Facebook lacks this feature.
Google+ allows you to post to each of these segments without spilling over to the other, which greatly increases privacy, a knock against Facebook, which only offers one channel per user.
In fact, common sense use of Google+ will allow one to post embarrassing photos for friends to chuckle over without having to explain to a prospective employer why you were pictured in that silly photo from the party.
From a PR perspective, this is a big plus because one can target messages. It is not difficult to envision a Google+ site in which a corporation posts news for employees in an employee circle, news for customers in a customer circle and news for investors in a Wall Street circle. The downside of such segmentation is increased time and cost. One has to set up each circle populate it, then update content in each as well. While Facebook has little privacy, it is easier to make a single posting and be done with it. On the other hand, Google+ can serve as a single-source complement to other social media, which could be easier to maintain in the long run.
So how can companies make use of Google+? The uses are limitless, from organizing panel discussions for potential customers that explain how to use your product to seamlessly archiving and uploading videos to YouTube. Whether teaching how to make a recipe, organizing a chat with thought leaders, or doing a live product demonstration, Google+ has the advantage of looking very professional without taking much effort.
Are you using Google+? Are there additional uses that we haven’t yet discovered? Does it have the potential to overtake Facebook at some point? We’d love to know your thoughts.
