Content Creation

The Guide to Getting Started on Google+

CopyPress

March 3, 2014 (Updated: February 8, 2023)

A few weeks ago, I started to manage the Google+ page at CopyPress. At that time, I only had basic knowledge about it and simply knew the pros and cons of using the social network to create branding possibilities.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been able to dig deeper and get a better idea of ways to leverage Google+ for brands. I formed multiple strategies and tactics to increase brand exposure to lead our company (as well as yours) to success.

If you’re setting out to create a Google+ brand page or multiple pages, follow these tips on getting your marketing plan started on Google+ and maximize the impact of your efforts. 

Before You Speak, Join Other Conversations

Joining communities is not only a great relationship and expertise-building strategy, but also a way to meet key influencers within your industry.  Google+ users are more likely to add you into their circles or follow you if you keep joining discussions, answering questions, leaving comments, and sharing good follow-up content.

When You Do Post Original Content, Respect the Niche

After you’ve spent some time responding to others, you can start posting your own content. When it comes to branding strategy on Google+, you have to be careful about what is shared to each community.  Make sure you focus on the target audience and only share something they’d want to read in that specific niche. If you stray too far off topic, moderators will remove your posts and even block you from the community. This will ruin your brand awareness and your reputation.

Maintaining a good reputation for your company by sharing only the best content that caters to each audience’s specific wants and needs is the key to increasing your brand awareness and gaining recognition by industry influencers and potential customers.

Mention and Follow Niche Influencers in Your Post

Looking for niche influencers in Google+ is a crucial step to reaching your audience. Tagging them increases the probability that they will reshare your content to their massive followings – thus increasing your brand exposure.

Give the influencers a shout out within your posts and start following them to start building the relationship. If you +theirname, they will receive a notification and link to the post. This also makes it easier for them to add you to their circles, to start following you and sharing your posts. This is the start of a beautiful relationship.

Post the Text with an Interesting Image

Google+ has18 new features focused on photo and video functions. This update indicates how our tastes have changed in the social media era. Almost all social networks are image-driven and focused now.

On Google+, images can be used to support a message as well as engage your audience. From a marketing perspective, one of the keys to creating sharable content is adding unique images that people want to share. Remember, the more times your content gets reshared, the wider the exposure of your brand.

The size and quality of your image plays an important role when you share your content on Google+.  First of all, make sure the images are creative and relevant enough to your post. On top of that, try to upload your own images because these are usually shown bigger than the default setting one.  Last but not the least: don’t forget to add a URL to description to drive traffic to your original website. Use this as a checklist before you hit publish on a post.

Google+ Hashtags are a Different Species Entirely

Hashtags on Google+ are similar to those on Twitter. Using them is a good way to make sure your content is found in search and can help you join conversations about specific topics. However, there’s a slight different to those on Twitter.  First of all, of course you can include as many hashtags you want in the Google+ posts, but keep in mind, quality is always better than quantity. First and foremost, make sure that they are relevant to the topic.

Google+ has been building out its own hashtag system. Google Plus Daily suggests using three hashtags, because the first three that are shown at the top of each post and have a larger impact on what posts show up and what other posts are related to.

On top of that, the Google+ auto- hashtags are meant to improve your content experience. Google+ stream automatically suggests hashtags for posts and shows you the related posts and similar topics by clicking on them.

However, not all systems are perfect. Make sure they are relevant to your posts, otherwise remove them or turn the “add related hashtags from Google” setting off. Sometimes it’s better to have more control over your posts.

Whether you have been using Google+ as a marketing tool to reach your targeted audiences or building relationships with the industry influencers, there are a ton of opportunities out there waiting for you. Good luck!

CopyPress

CopyPress writer

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