SLIDESHOWS
Jeff Bertolucci | September 17, 2012
 
      

10 Best Business Tools In Google+



Photo

More Plus Than Minus

Your business probably has a Facebook presence, and there's a good chance you're active on Twitter, as well. But what about Google+? You might be suffering from social media exhaustion, but keep in mind that a comprehensive social strategy embraces all platforms, and Google+ is a vibrant, active online community. In short, it's one platform you shouldn't ignore.

OK, reality check. We're not going to pretend that Google+ is running neck to neck with Facebook, nor that it will anytime soon.

Google announced in July that its year-old social network had 250 million users, which certainly looks impressive on paper. More than a few analysts, however, have questioned Google's rosy growth numbers. In May, for instance, RJMetrics pulled publicly available data for a random selection of 40,000 Google+ users, and found that engagement was pretty tepid. For instance, 30% of users who made a public post never made a second one. And the average post had fewer than one +1 (similar to a Facebook "Like"), fewer than one reply, and fewer than one re-share.

Engagement might have improved since them, but it's clear that Google+ is no Facebook. McDonald's Facebook page, for instance, has 22 million "likes." Its Google+ page? Just under 16,300 +1's. It's obvious who's lovin' it more.

Then again, Google+ is a platform with a lot of business marketing and cost-savings potential. Google continues to enhance the social service's business features, including video conferencing and collaborative work tools that are particularly useful to enterprises that run Google Apps.

How can followers and fans on social sites help your bottom line? Well, they're much more like to buy your products or services. Consumer electronics chain Best Buy, for instance, benefits enormously from its Facebook presence, according to Forrester research.

"Being a Facebook fan of Best Buy increases the odds that a customer will purchase by 5.3 times; the next closest influence factor is having researched consumer electronics, which only increases the odds of purchase by 1.4 times," analyst Josh Bernoff writes in an April 2012 blog post.

Interestingly, this pattern is the same for every behavior and brand. "For example, having a Walmart nearby doubles the odds that you'll consider buying there, but being a Facebook fan of Walmart increases those odds by more than a factor of four," Bernoff writes.

The same sort of dynamics, combined with the power of Google search, should pay off for organizations that establish a presence on Google+ and grow with it. Has your business set up shop on Google+? Click through the slideshow below to see the 10 best business tools for Google's social platform.

More Plus Than Minus Your business probably has a Facebook presence, and there's a good chance you're active on Twitter, as well. But what about Google+? You might be suffering from social media exhaustion, but keep in mind that a comprehensive social strategy embraces all platforms, and Google+ is a vibrant, active online community. In short, it's one platform you shouldn't ignore.

OK, reality check. We're not going to pretend that Google+ is running neck to neck with Facebook, nor that it will anytime soon.

Google announced in July that its year-old social network had 250 million users, which certainly looks impressive on paper. More than a few analysts, however, have questioned Google's rosy growth numbers. In May, for instance, RJMetrics pulled publicly available data for a random selection of 40,000 Google+ users, and found that engagement was pretty tepid. For instance, 30% of users who made a public post never made a second one. And the average post had fewer than one +1 (similar to a Facebook "Like"), fewer than one reply, and fewer than one re-share.

Engagement might have improved since them, but it's clear that Google+ is no Facebook. McDonald's Facebook page, for instance, has 22 million "likes." Its Google+ page? Just under 16,300 +1's. It's obvious who's lovin' it more.

Then again, Google+ is a platform with a lot of business marketing and cost-savings potential. Google continues to enhance the social service's business features, including video conferencing and collaborative work tools that are particularly useful to enterprises that run Google Apps.

How can followers and fans on social sites help your bottom line? Well, they're much more like to buy your products or services. Consumer electronics chain Best Buy, for instance, benefits enormously from its Facebook presence, according to Forrester research.

"Being a Facebook fan of Best Buy increases the odds that a customer will purchase by 5.3 times; the next closest influence factor is having researched consumer electronics, which only increases the odds of purchase by 1.4 times," analyst Josh Bernoff writes in an April 2012 blog post.

Interestingly, this pattern is the same for every behavior and brand. "For example, having a Walmart nearby doubles the odds that you'll consider buying there, but being a Facebook fan of Walmart increases those odds by more than a factor of four," Bernoff writes.

The same sort of dynamics, combined with the power of Google search, should pay off for organizations that establish a presence on Google+ and grow with it. Has your business set up shop on Google+? Click through the slideshow below to see the 10 best business tools for Google's social platform.

ABOUT THIS SLIDESHOW

Consider these great ways for businesses to get started with Google's social network.





DIGITALISSUE

In This Issue:

The Customer Really Comes First:

Social media make the customer more powerful than ever. Here's how to listen and react.

Spackle, Duct Tape, And Social Media:

The right tools can help smooth over the rough edges in your social business architecture.


BRAINYARDRESEARCH
The State of Community Management
The State of Community Management documents a comprehensive set of lessons learned to help define this emerging role and give you the tools to be successful in your social initiatives.
Enterprise 2.0: What, Why and How?
This paper is an introduction to Enterprise 2.0 ‐ why it is one of the most crucial concepts to understand in business today and how you can begin to take advantage of E2 in your organization.
Guide to Understanding Social CRM
This paper presents the foundational components of Social CRM and lays the groundwork required for your company to build and maintain long and valuable customer relationships.
VIDEOGALLERY
Hearsay Social Brings An Enterprise Focus
Hearsay Social's CTO and co-Founder Steve Garrity gives the Valley View judges the 2-minute elevator pitch, and discusses why his company's social enterprise software stands out.
Hearsay Makes Business More Social
Some of the most innovative new enterprise technologies come from start-ups, but doing business with them can be risky, given their unproven products and short track records. With Steve Garrity, Co-Founder and CTO of Hearsay Social.
Highlights: Microsoft Introduces New Office and Windows 8
Highlights: Microsoft Introduces New Office and Windows 8
SLIDESHOWS
Facebook's 2012 Highs And Lows
2012 brought big ups and downs for Facebook, and for the companies that have bet some of their business on...
The BrainYard's 7 Social Business Leaders Of 2012
The editors of The BrainYard picked companies large and small that are exploring the potential of a unified social business...
10 Great Social Features For Microsoft SharePoint 2013
Social computing will play a big role in Microsoft's upcoming collaboration platform.

Sign up to the BrainYard email newsletter

*Required field

Privacy Statement