Google Plus, we’ve all heard of it. Some know that they are some how connected to it, but not sure why or how. Others understand why a Google Plus Marketing Strategy is crucial for business.

Google Plus Marketing Strategy

We’ve compiled a list of 12 Content Types that you can use to boost your Google Plus Marketing Strategy

Google’s own social media platform is useful in that it is directly connected to users’ Google accounts. While it never reached a point where it competed with Facebook – as was speculated by some upon its announcement – it is still a valuable social space to build a community.

It functions with social ‘circles’ and doesn’t stop benefitting your brand after SEO (although many may believe so).  Google Plus should be considered as another generalist social media platform.

Before you dive headfirst into setting up a Google Plus Marketing Strategy, it’s important to understand what it’s all about. Having clear business goals and objectives is a key component when setting up a Social Media Marketing Strategy. This will help you set up a plan that is tailored to your brand’s objectives and will help you measure your ROI more accurately.

At the moment, tech-savvy men between the ages of 24-36 represent the largest base of Google Plus users. However, there is still a vast and diverse market engaging in Google Plus.  Connecting with this right target market and knowing where to find them, are key elements to set up a successful Google Plus Marketing Strategy.

SOURCE

Google runs almost everything – fact. Your emails are in Gmail, you save important documents on Google drive, and your marketing strategy frequently revolves around keeping up with the latest Google algorithm updates and changes. Does anyone truly understand Google Plus and its benefits? Your brand could be missing out on plenty beneficial marketing opportunities through this frequently overlooked social space.

Using Google Plus is beneficial for your brand’s:

• SEO
• Branding
• Content Sharing
• Networking

Most brands and businesses, however, still find themselves gravitating towards more popular social media platforms. That’s all fine but focusing on one social platform more than others doesn’t mean you can’t utilise the benefits from other effective platforms.

According to 2018 Google Plus statistics, however, putting more focus on your Google Plus content might be a smarter move than you initially thought.

Your Google Plus profile appears in every email you send. When people click on your profile via email it

• Provides more about your business and company.
• Includes links to other social media platforms.

SOURCE

Buffer App has recently announced the inclusion of Google Plus, which means you can connect your Google Plus profile and fully manage it alongside your other social media platforms, making your Google Plus Marketing Strategy easier and scheduling more manageable.

 Connect your Google Plus personal profile with your Buffer account here

Content Types to Boost your Google Plus Marketing Strategy

Content Type 1: Blog Posts

SOURCE

One of the more valuable benefits of sharing blog posts on your Google Plus pages and profile is regarding the SEO benefits of the social space. Blog posts is a smart and effective content type to include in your Google Marketing Strategy. Sharing blog posts via Google Plus allows your post to rank for keyword terms in ways that other social media marketing platforms don’t offer quite yet. Blog posts with high SEO ranking can possibly drive and increase cross-platform traffic between your Google Plus profile and your landing pages.

Another benefit of including blog posts in your Google Marketing Strategy is the fact that Google Plus ranks its own platform higher than others. This means that your content is more likely to appear on Google’s search engine.

Content shared on Google Plus also gets indexed quicker than content that is not.  By sharing Blog Posts to your Google Plus Page, Community or Circle, brands can also drive traffic to their blogs.

Content Type 2: Article Shares

Google Plus, like many other social media platforms, offers not only the chance to connect and engage but it is also a valuable learning tool which your marketing strategy can benefit from. Many users use Google Plus as a tool to gain knowledge and information. By sharing articles that provide valuable information on your profile, you provide potential customers with important insights. This could also boost your engagement and networking if you become part of trending conversations surrounding brand-relevant topics.

SOURCE

Content Type 3: Case Studies

Client Work Case Studies

Including client case-studies is an effective way for your brand to show customers some of the work you have done for other clients. Clients don’t just want to know what you can do for them; they want to see. Therefore, including case studies is a valuable storytelling technique and allows you to add credibility to a brand. Prospective clients will be able to see a visual example of what you have done for other companies and then picture how your product or service could work for them as well. Turn your client case studies into a success story. Case studies include the art of storytelling and merge that with the importance of communicating industry-related and valuable information. Case studies are also a great way to show-off as a business.

On Google Plus, you can either incorporate case studies into your pages and profile by making them part of a case-study specific collection, forming a community for those interested in case studies, or link case studies into your posts.

SOURCE

Illustrative Case Studies

Illustrative case studies are descriptive case studies which display certain events, topics or situations. These case studies aim at shining a light on a certain topic that your clients aren’t yet familiar with, aiming at familiarising your audience with it. This is effective for your business to make clients aware of problems that they previously weren’t aware of. Your business or service could then be part of the solution they need.

Research Case Studies

As a brand, you’ve probably done plenty target market, product and industry-related research. Communicating this research in a way that will transform the way your audiences think, engage and behavetoward your product or service is tricky, as most people aren’t interested in reading thousand-word reports about competitor analysis, statistics and figures. Research-based case studies, however, are a great tool to answer cause and effect questions. These types of case studies call into question a method and challenges it. When including these types of case studies your brand or business could answer a lot of questions or doubts that your prospective client might have. This is always a great way to encourage and market new product pitches with background research and proven past results to current and prospective clients.

SOURCE

Content Type 4: Testimonials/Reviews

Including testimonial posts can be a great way to build brand trust, customer loyalty and brand credibility.  Testimonials don’t always necessarily have to be long monologues from customers going on about how your product changed their life but can include short authentic snippets from relevant people, which will ultimately feel like a recommendation from a friend. Testimonials also add creativity and variety to the benefits of your brand or business, as it comes from people who all experience your product positively, yet differently.

SOURCE

Types of Testimonials

Quote Testimonials

Quote Testimonials are short, punchy and effective. They are often motivational and centre around the key benefit of the product.

SOURCE

Influencer Testimonials

These types of testimonials don’t focus as much on what is being said but rather who is saying it. If someone admirable and influential says something as simple as the fact that they love your product, it’s a great testimonial – as people value that person’s judgement and opinion.

SOURCE

Social Media Testimonials

Many people take to social media first to voice their opinions about businesses, brands, people etc. Social media influencers carry an extreme weight within their following, especially when it comes to the lives they lead and the specific products and services they use daily. Be sure to look through social media for mentions of your product or services and incorporate them into your testimonials. Opinions about your brand on social media can also be used as a tool for client services and relationship building, as it allows others to not only see customer opinions, but how you respond to them.

SOURCE

Content Type 5: SlideShare Presentations

Currently owned by LinkedIn, SlideShare is a great way to improve cross-platform traffic and allows brands to upload files via pdf, PowerPoint, Keynote etc. either publicly or privately.

Benefits of SlideShare Presentations for your Google Plus Marketing Strategy include:

• SlideShare is an effective SEO booster
• Could increase traffic
• Boosts thought leadership
• Promotes your content
• Effectiveness is easy and highly measurable.

These Presentations generally perform best on LinkedIn, but including valuable keywords and sharing them on Google Plus could boost your SEO ranking on a Search Engine Results Page.

The effectiveness of SlideShare directly correlates to how high the quality of your content is. By sharing SlideShare presentations and making them public on the SlideShare platform, you create another channel where you can increase brand awareness and visibility. Users then use the SlideShare platform to search for relevant industry related topics. Therefore, your company presentations will be visible through SlideShare and link back to your brand. Although SlideShare is less social than other platforms, it’s a great platform for information discovery. If you are a B2B brand and one of your objectives is to get content in front of other B2B decision makers, SlideShare may be a valuable part of your Google Plus Marketing Strategy.

SOURCE

Content Type 6: White Papers. Not product pitches.

By creating and providing your audience with white papers, you educate them about a particular issue. You can explain, promote or recommend specific methodologies in an in-depth, detailed problem-solving guide.

Your White Papers should be fact-based and should have supporting evidence from experiments as well as past scholarly work. Not all members of your target audience are going to engage with your White Papers, that’s fine. White Papers remain an amazing marketing tool for B2B marketing. You can distribute your White Papers on Google Plus through communities, circles or collections, ensuring that you are providing them to the right audience to boost effectiveness.

Benefits of including White Papers in your Google Plus Marketing Strategy include:

• Generating leads
• Increases conversion rate
• Grows mailing list
• Builds brand image

Because people can be sceptical when it comes to marketing content, White Papers add credibility to your brand and content as it is fact-based and includes a certain standard of academic and professional reliability.

SOURCE

Content Type 7: Quotes

As a brand, posting Quotes shouldn’t only be defined by things like #mondaymotivation or #throwbackthursday. They can be product-related, event-related, a medium for competition entries or a way for your company to engage in important conversations and topics.

Quote posts are an effective way to boost your Google Plus Marketing Strategy. Yes, we know that inspirational quotes get engagement and emotional response, but they do have a double-edged sword. Ask yourself, “Is the engagement you’re receiving via quotes truly beneficial for your brand or company?”

Types of Quotes:

• Informational
• Inspirational
• Humour
• Insights
• Blog Snippets
• Announcements
• Behind-the-scenes
• Customer Testimonials
• Teasers

When brands use Quote Posts incorrectly, it can lead to:

• A diluted content stream
• Irrelevance as a brand
• Miscommunication

On the other hand, quotes work because they are short, brief and easily consumed. When you include Quote posts in your Google Plus Marketing Strategy you can use them in a way that is strategic,which could uncover multiple marketing opportunities.

Plan ahead, and don’t merely copy and paste quotes you ‘think’ might get an interaction.

SOURCE

How to create an effective Quote Post:

• Communicate your brand promise
  Quote Posts can provide insightful thoughts and opinions from respected leaders in the field and can boost your brand promise.
• Quotes should have a purpose
  Find quotes that communicate to the niches of your target market. By doing this you don’t just broadly relate, but you find a way to speak to the specific interests and concerns that your target market has. Schedule quotes into your content calendar to improve consistency and to ensure that they are pre-meditated and ultimately contribute to your specific business goals and objectives. Include keywords into your Google Plus Quote Posts, to boost SEO ranking.
• Brand your Quote Images
  Including texts and images to your Quote Posts are great ways to make quote posts more attractive and boost interaction. However, you still want to include your brand in the success of the Quote Post. Quote Posts often lack the ability to represent brands accordingly, as they get shared via/via, brand recognition can very easily get lost.

Content Type 8: Company/Influencer News

Have you ever heard of someone being called a ‘Google Plus Influencer’? Well, they are out there and much more influential than initially thought. National Geographic shares content on Google Plus to over nine million followers.

SOURCE

A powerful tool offered by Google Plus is also the ability to view your business page’s influence. Your Page Influence Analytics shows you insights for the past seven or 30 days.

These insights include:

• How many people follow your collection
• How many times your post has been shared
• How many comment and interactions your posts have

Content Type 9: Embedded Video

Sharing an embedded video on Google Plus not only drives traffic to other landing pages but also includes the beneficial elements of video content to your Google Plus Marketing Strategy.

SOURCE

When embedding a video on your Google Plus account, you first need to ensure that your video is available on YouTube.

By sharing a video on Google Plus, there is the benefit of viewing the video directly on Google Plus along with the link.

Embedding video links in your content carry a lot of power, especially coming into a time where video is emerging as one of the top marketing tools. 2017 statistics show that 52% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI and that people spend on average 2.6x more time on pages with video than without.

By sharing videos on your Google Plus profile, you gain the opportunity to add personality to your brand and improve company culture.

With videos, your audience gets to see who they are following and trusting, boosting brand/customer relationships.

Content Type 10: Multi-Page Guides

Because of the SEO and keyword ranking benefits of Google Plus, long-form and page guides are a great way to incorporate the benefits of various other forms of content as well.

A SlideShare Presentation is an effective way to communicate engaging content effectively and clearly as a brand.

When creating a guide, your business will provide your audience with information that they truly need and are already looking for on Google Plus.

When building your audience, visibility is key and multi-page guides are great for creating content that you can easily promote and use to boost your social media platform. Including multi-page guides into your Google Plus Marketing Strategy also allows you to link this content to your landing pages and improve cross-platform traffic.

Many brands also incorporate multi-page guides into their marketing strategy as a way to generate leads, as the valuable information encourages people to provide valuable contact information in exchange for the accessibility to your guides and information.

SOURCE

Content Type 11: Industry News

SOURCE

When sharing industry-related news, you don’t only show your audience that you are up to date with the latest trends, but it also opens the door to connect with other brands and businesses in your industry. By creating ‘communities’ on Google Plus, you can start industry-related conversations.

Google Plus allows you to group people into specific content target markets.

This is beneficial to your brand as it allows you to provide more relevant and focused content.

Industry news can include: 

• Announcements
• Latest Trends
• Industry Updates
• Industry-related blog posts

Including these content types allow you to reach a large audience that might not have been aware of your product. Your content can pop up on their news feed because it includes relevant topics that they’ve shown interest in lately or in the past.

Content Type 12: Infographics

Infographics paint the picture of the story you’re telling, making it more compelling, understanding and engaging due to a phenomenon called the ‘Picture Superiority Effect’. Now, what does all of this have to do with your Google Plus Marketing Strategy? Well, because Google Plus is a platform to gain knowledge and information, you want the information that you provide to have a lasting effect on whoever views it.

This is where the Picture Superiority Effect plays a vital role. The PSE refers to the notion that concepts that are learned via pictures are better digested, remembered and understood than written content.

SOURCE

Infographics for Google Plus carry a great deal of value to your Google Plus Marketing Strategy. Most brands ensure that their infographics are shareable so users who find it useful can share it with their following.

There are many effective and easy-to-use tools available to help your business create infographics. BeFunky offers easy to design templates to ensure your infographics are creative and grabs the attention of potential and current customers using Google Plus.

SOURCE

In Summary, many brands use Google Plus as an added ‘extra’ in their Social Media Marketing Strategy. By putting a bit more focus on the platform and understanding what it can do for your brand, you will gain valuable customer insights and expand your digital voice.

Including these content types in your Google Plus Marketing Strategy helps you to build a strong foundation. Soon you can master and tailor a Google Plus Marketing Strategy that supports your business goals and objectives.