Land Grab

While Google+’s 40 million members is still relatively small for a social network, many greenhouse businesses have wasted no time scrambling to set up their own pages there.

“When our IT manager told us that Google+ was available, I made sure to get set up and also secured our page,” says Rebecca Gebeshuber, sales and marketing coordinator for Van Bell Nursery (plus.google.com/111527182701340867863/posts). “I keep up to date on tech news via Twitter, so I was aware of the rollout within an hour or so of it happening.”

Warren Downes, director of Downes Wholesale Nursery (plus.google.com/10577993906 3123295872/posts), also has a page on Google+.

“I have watched Google’s other social media attempts, which did not really grab my attention,” he says. “Google+ changed that. I really like the layout. Downes Nursery can display its products in a crisp, clean looking display. I also like the circles – I can split my subscribers (customers) as different groups, as they are all not looking for the same thing.”

Search engine optimization experts say the land grab is a smart move, since greenhouses and other businesses with a presence on Google+ are expected to move up higher on Google search engine returns. And Internet marketing analysts say some of the new social network’s more innovative features – like “Hangouts,” which enables a group of people on Google+ to video chat simultaneously – make Google+ too promising to ignore.

Understand the network
The social network, which launched last summer, is Google’s answer to Facebook – which now has 800+ million members, and represents an ominous threat to Google’s advertising revenue base. While there are marked differences between the two animals, both share a core mission: to provide a virtual meeting place where millions of people can socialize using chat, posts, photo and video exchange, and other Web communications tools.

“I like that you can be informal on Google+ – as I feel compelled to be more formal with e-mail marketing and other forms of advertising,” Downes says. “With Google+, I can just have an idea and throw it up in a matter of moments.”

Businesses continue to be rabidly interested in how activity on social networks can be parlayed into increased sales and brand recognition. Plus, they’re also fixated on ways they can extract the most mileage from word-of-mouth product and service recommendations that are popping up across social media in the millions.

On Facebook, for example, legions of members have been signaling their endorsement of a product or service by clicking a ‘Like’ button – a nod that became immediately coveted by businesses the moment it surfaced. With Google+, members offer the same kudos by clicking a +1 recommendation button.

Ali Husayni, founder of Master Google (www.mastergoogle.com), a search engine marketing firm, says that Google’s +1 recommendation button makes forging a business page on Google+ “absolutely essential.”

Besides seeing marginally improved search engine rankings short term, Husayni indicates businesses that establish a presence on Google+ may very well see significant sales gains as Google+ grows beyond its critical mass, and more people begin using the +1 recommendation button to exchange recommendations for goods and services on the network.

In fact, Husayni says Google’s increasing reliance on word-of-mouth recommendations when ranking search engine returns could dramatically alter the way company Web pages get found during the next few years. Instead of seeding company Web pages with carefully selected keywords and key-phrases to attract traffic, SEO experts may need to find ways to ensure their clients have as many recommendations from Facebook, Google+, Twitter and other social networks as possible, he indicates.

“My initial thought is that Google is shifting the power from SEO companies toward networks and circles,” Husayni says. “It’s kind of like the past, when word-of-mouth was more important than anything else. We’re almost moving in that backward direction, but on the virtual world of the Internet.”

Don’t let others control your brand
Web security experts are also urging companies to set up shop on Google+ to ensure that their company names are not snapped up by a competitor or some other – much in the same way squatters appropriated the brand names of global corporations during the dawn of the Web.

Experts say businesses that take a wait-and-see approach to establishing a presence on Google+ could get burned. Currently, anyone can stake-a-claim to a business name on the Google+ social network – whether or not that person is in any way associated with the company.

Bank of America is still smarting from that hard truth, after pranksters quickly put together a parody page of its brand in early November. The rogue Bank of America page – which looked very authentic – openly mocked homeowners facing foreclosures – as well as those who would come to their aid.

The unauthorized Google+ presence went up complete with the Bank of America logo, links to the company’s real website, as well as a legitimate address and telephone info. One of the snarky posts made in the name of Bank of American hissed, “Big company party in foreclosed house #2340087 tonight.”

Granted, Google is enabling companies to formally verify their presences on the Google+ network. You can find a tutorial on how to verify that the company page on Google+ has, in fact, been created and maintained by your company, by visiting www.virante.com/blog/about/about-mark-traphagen/.


Embrace “hangout” features
For Web video marketers, being able to take advantage of Google+’s “Hangouts” feature – which enables a group of people to video chat simultaneously – is another key reason why your greenhouse brand should have a page on Google+. Uses for hangouts can include video chat customer service, video chat focus groups and other more traditional company-to-customer and company-to-company communications that can be greatly enhanced by real-time, interactive video.

“The hangout feature has some great potential once Google+ has more users,” Downes says. “I could see it used to conduct webinars, tutorials, etc.”

With just a webcam and a typical computer, users can quickly join a Hangout chat with a group of friends, colleagues, business partners or customers. In practice, the video chat appears on the user’s PC screen as a giant image of a chosen participant displayed front-and-center. Smaller thumbnail videos of others participating in the chat run along the bottom, and can be swapped in-and-out of the main video stream at will.

“We’re just learning the ins and outs of the Hangouts feature to communicate with our team as they travel,” says Gebeshuber. “Being web-based is a huge plus – our team travels so much throughout the year. But we can still feel connected. There are some great tools for syncing to your iPhone, so our reps will always have the information they need at their fingertips.”

The feature also allows you to put a face to your business.

“For you and me, this means we can now hang out live with the local bike shop, or discuss our wardrobe with a favorite clothing line, or follow a band on tour,” says Vic Gundotra, vice president of engineering for Google. “For businesses and brands, Google+ pages help you connect with the customers and fans who love you. Not only can they recommend you with a +1, or add you to a circle to listen long-term, they can actually spend time with your team, face-to-face-to-face.”

Set up your page
Fortunately, if you’re looking to set up a Google+ page for your greenhouse business, the logistics are painless. If you’d like to plunge in and see what all the fuss is about, simply sign into your free Google account, click and follow the prompts.

You can also get some additional background first with a webinar from Buddy Media at www.buddymedia.com/products/conversationbuddy/google-plus. The webinar shows you how to get the most from a Google+ business page – although the tutorials include a pitch for the company’s social media product, Conversation Buddy.

And SEO Inc., a Web marketing firm, has put together a fairly thorough white paper on maximizing Google+ for business, which you can find at www.seoinc.com/seo-blog/google-pages-for-business-download-free-whitepaper.
 

Bottom line: there’s really no downside to establishing a business presence on Google+ – only opportunity and potential.

Joe Dysart is an Internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan. Reach him at (646) 233-4089 or joe@joedysart.com.