Google + – Why building your circles is the key to success
After a redesign in April 2012, Google+ is gradually increasing its presence in the vast array of social media. One feature of the social network that stands out from other platforms are ‘Circles’. What are the purpose of Circles? Ultimately to organise people and share information with the relevant target audience. Google state that Circles help you organise your connections “according to your real–life social connections”, therefore enforcing the social aspect that some social media sometimes forget. Creating Circles Google embrace simplicity, reflected in their latest redesign of G+. It is simple to search for people or brands then drag and drop them into the relevant Circles to group them as you wish. ‘Google is working hard to introduce new algorithms to match users based on friend connections and interests, ensuring that it can continue to boost engagement on its network.’ reported The Next Web. Targeting Circles can allow businesses to specifically target content to the appropriate users. Therefore, in theory, people only see the information that is relevant to them and they aren’t exposed to irrelevant posts which could cause annoyance. This could be likely to increase the chances of sharing and interaction. Sharing As well as sharing content with people in your Circles, the Circles themselves can also be shared. So, if you were to create a specific Circle containing news sources for a particular field, then this could be shared with another Circle of people who would be interested and find it of value. Transparency Circles can also be used for businesses to display their employees publicly and to communicate with them. The employees Circle implies transparency online and can make the experience more personal for users. Building Circles and being connected to a large number of other people’s Circles is one way to try and get your business profile ‘verified’. The advantage of this is that as usernames cannot currently be secured on Google+, duplicate pages can be created by anyone. If a page is verified then it demonstrates authority given from Google. Join in Targeting Circles effectively with interesting and engaging content can give people a reason to want to share and involve themselves, therefore boosting your profile. Integration with your website, blog, or other platforms can increase awareness and encourage users to add you to their Circles. The introduction of the Facebook style cover image provides more of an opportunity to personalise your Google+ profile and make it more attractive so it catches the attention of passers by, possibly provoking interaction. Search Earlier this year, Google launched “Search, Plus Your World”. When Google+ users are logged into their account then their Google search results will be enriched with relevant information shared on Google+ by their connections. Influencers Each post on Google+ has the option to view its ‘ripples’, in other words how the post spread through the platform from user sharing and re-sharing. This assists in the identification of key influencers that you might wish to add to your circles and interact with. Google+ Circles are an integral asset to the platform for building relationships, sharing information and improving transparency. For brands, building their Circles is one way to try and get their page verified, therefore increasing authenticity and making it easier for the page to be discovered. Each time Google+ updates or redesigns, the usability and functionality improves. So what is next for the platform? Jennie Stamp is a Social Media Executive at Yard Digital in Edinburgh
Quality of fans & followers versus quantity
The phrase quality over quantity is nothing new – even in business – but the first thing to point out is that even if you do follow this old adage you will have to preach hard to almost everyone you meet that that is the right approach. It’s human nature that we want answers, quantifiable results, etc. The modern marketing world is dominated by ROI (return on investment) stats but social media works best in ways that are more difficult to quantify. There are methods that claim to help evaluate improvements in brand awareness, customer opinion and loyalty but even those are difficult to relate back directly as a result of social media. So many people turn to the number of followers and fans as a symbol of how well they are doing in social media terms. As we pointed out back at the start of this guide – B –Buying fans and followers – there are plenty of places offering you the chance to boost your follower and fan numbers if you are prepared to part with some cash, but that’s like holding a party and inviting loads of people you don’t know and who don’t know you. Sure some will come, curiosity for many others just looking to see what’s in it for them, others because they have nothing better to do. In which case they are of very little value to you as the party host and you are highly unlikely to ever see or hear from any of them again. The same is true of this un-natural fan or follower. Quality of fan and follower should be your focus and that means someone who appreciates what you are doing, is likely to be inspired to spend some money with your business and hopefully may even want to spread the word about how good you are. One fan telling their own set of 500 fans how great you are is likely to be so much more productive in the long run than you just buying in 500 fans. Better quality fans can be advocates for your business by spreading the word, but also can be your ear to the ground. The chances are they are already your customer. Their opinion could be an indication of how other customers are feeling too, so if they make suggestions or start grumbling…pay attention. Use social media to get to know your customers not just to gain statistics you can show off without meaning. An example of why quality of followers over quantity works, is the celebrity twittersphere. Almost every pop-star, football player even politician has a Twitter account with 10,000 or more followers, yet very few actually interact with those fans who have chosen to follow them. In fact, often they are the worst Tweeters and people to follow. If they tweet at all, it is usually inane references to their unreal lives. The fact that most celebrities with large numbers of followers only themselves follow a handful of others on Twitter, also shows they don’t care for the interaction, it is more self-promotion and while it has worked for some Twitter is more about relationships than just one-way PR. The better quality your follower the easier you will find it to interact with them – there will be more shared ground and knowledge and desire to interact. Your aim should be to develop relationships, interact with your followers and become an influencer over their habits. That will help drive sales back to you and that will also help improve your status as a social media guru.
Buying fans and followers?
Think again if you want to build a business What’s the point? Sure, you can buy bulk fans and followers but that’s all there is. You will pride yourself with the enormous number of accounts (!) following your timeline but how many of them will ever read a line you write. What are the odds that any of them will reply to one of your posts, share it with their friends, talk about your business or buy one of your products? Close to zero. You can invest a lot of your time into writing unique content and then sharing it on your social media accounts. But then you might be disappointed to discover your paid fans or followers have no interest in what you’ve spent hours working on. Genius! If you’re paying money for a person, you know that that person is not really interested in your business. They will NEVER visit your website, recommend you to their friends or try your services. They are just there because you paid them to be. Connect with people that are interested Try to find those people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer and treasure the ones who already prove that they care. Make the effort to connect to as many people as you possibly can and ensure that they’re keeping an eye on you. Share original content, ask people questions, listen to them and then talk. When you buy people, you only get to talk because no one is actually listening. How to find them Finding people that are interested in your brand is easy if you are able to create a unique experience that they can’t find anywhere else. Consider running contests to show appreciation to the ones that are already your fans. They will spread the word and other users will want to be part of your community. A contest is a perfect approach to building exposure and getting people to talk about you. However, make sure the contest is targeted because if you offer a free iPhone in exchange for a Like, you might find that you’re home alone once the contest is over. Instead, offer them an experience that they want to be part of. If you start your social media journey by buying people, you will get no results and end up wondering what’s the big fuss. On the other hand, you can attract those interested people by: Publishing original content Running contents that require them to get involved other than clicking a Like button Interact with them on different topics Ask questions Get to know them online Organise events to meet them offline All you have to do it get them to want to be your fans or followers. When you’re building a brand with a playful and interesting personality, people will definitely want to at least stop by and say hello. Now that the ball is in your court, engage them and get the conversation going.