Many business owners find that there are so many social network platforms, and not enough time to stay active on all of them!
Between using Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to market their businesses (just to name a few), Google+ is often forgotten about. Still, if you want to take your business marketing efforts to the next level, you really should be utilizing Google+ too. The platform can be great for networking, learning about business topics, and can increase traffic to your business’s website, just to name a few advantages.
In this blog post, we’ll explain the numerous ways you can market your business and increase engagement through Google+. Let’s get started!
1. Form New Partnerships Through Communities
One of the biggest benefits that Google+ offers is their Communities. You can join different Communities that are relevant to your business’s industry, your ideal customer base, and topics you’re interested in learning about, such as marketing, business technology, and customer service. For example, at Fora Financial, we’ve joined Communities related to small business owners, since they are the community that we serve.
Once you’ve joined applicable Communities, start by introducing yourself and your business. Get to know the other members, and interact with their posts. Some entrepreneurs make the mistake of only posting about their business, current offers, and other self-promotional content, but this could get you removed from the group. Instead, strive to use Communities as a networking opportunity in which you form lasting relationships. You never know, you could form great partnerships with this platform!
2. Explain Who Your Business Is in Your Profile
On your business’s Google+ profile, be sure to provide information about your company. For instance, you can edit your Story section to give your followers insight into how your business was founded, the products or services you offer, and where you’re based. In addition, you can add a tagline that will catch followers’ attention, and feature your contact information and website URL.
Keeping your Google+ page up-to-date with details about your business is crucial. Why should users follow you if they aren’t sure what you offer? Also, if current or potential customers visit your Google profile, it will be beneficial if they can learn about your company. In fact, it might make them want to make a future purchase.
- Share Content from Your Website
Another way to grow your business using Google+ is to post content from your website onto your profile. This way, Google+ users who haven’t seen your website before will be prompted to click links that will lead them there!On your Google+ page, you could post links to your business’s blog posts, press releases, product pages, or anything else you share on your website. When sharing links to your website, make sure to create campaign URLS so that you can track how many clicks you’re getting from Google+. If certain links are performing better than other links, you’ll know how to adjust your content calendar.
We suggest using Google+ to gain more referral traffic to your website, while educating your followers in the process!4. Interact with Customers and Social UsersIt might be tempting to post on Google+ and ignore the platform otherwise. That’s where you’re wrong! Whenever you receive a comment, question, or other feedback on your profile, you should respond. Make a habit of checking your Google+ notifications each day, so that you don’t miss any customer feedback. As you use your Google+ page more and more, you’ll likely see your interactions increase, so don’t neglect them.5. Send Content to Targeted Groups via CirclesAs you probably know, providing relevant content to a targeted audience is vital when marketing your business. For instance, content that interests your existing customer might not be the same type of information that will be pertinent to your partners. Luckily, Google+ makes it easy to target audiences through Circles. You can create Circles for different groups, such as potential customers, existing clients, vendors, colleagues, and other categories you typically interact with. This way, you won’t be sharing content that isn’t applicable to these groups.Start Marketing Your Business on Google+Now that you’ve learned about these five ways that you can use Google+, it’s time to get to work. Maintain your Google+ page, interact with other users, and strive to post content that’s going to attract customers to your website.
Katie Alteri is the content marketing coordinator at Fora Financial, a company that provides small business loans to businesses across the U.S.
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