A Few Reasons to Join Google+
The newest social media platform making headlines is Google+. Maintaining a level of exclusivity, users can only join the network by receiving an invite from an existing user. While it can be daunting to jump right into a new social network before learning the ins and outs, Google+ is growing at a phenomenal rate and offers features that make it a unique and powerful social and professional networking tool.
With Google+, venues can take advantage of Circles to separate clients from customers and share the most relevant content with each group.
While Google+ does not yet offer a tool for businesses, as a venue administrator or owner, you can share specific pieces of information with individuals in a circle interested in your message, say, reaching band contacts with opportunities to play, thespians for auditions, or patrons with special offers. Another notable benefit of Google Circles is that it facilitates separation of one’s professional and personal content. As an individual user, you can share certain content with only families and friends and other content with your professional network keeping personal information private.
ThunderTix allows venue owners to create coupon codes for specified amounts. Ticket sellers might incorporate this into Google Circles by putting fans into circles based on their interaction and participation with a band or music genre and offer coupon codes to these circles of fans. Those fans share with their own circles and inspire viral advertising directly to potential buyers.
Another great reason to use Google+ to market to your clients and customers is that the algorithm used by Google to determine website placement in search results takes social media sharing into consideration. The more your content is shared on Google+, the higher it will likely appear in search engine results.
Not only is Google+ a great tool for sharing content with your audience, it also includes a powerful video conferencing app called “Hangout.” While other video conferencing services exist, Google+ takes the service to a whole other level by offering it for free and supporting up to 10 users at once (Skype recommends no more than five).
You might ask, “But is anyone even using Google+ yet?” This infographic puts the growth of Google+ into perspective with the growth of Twitter and Facebook. While it might not be entirely fair to compare the networks because they were created at different times under very different conditions, the numbers are still huge. In 16 days, Google+ has grown to include more than 10 million technically-savvy users.
With lots of choices in social sharing, venue owners can get lost in deciding which platforms offer the greatest reach. Google's stellar growth, historic knack for greatness, and great new features all point to a strong thumbs up for our venues.
We encourage you to share your thoughts on Google+ or any social platform your venue has used with success.
You might also be interested in:
A Guide to Facebook Pages: Checkins, Statistics, Deals
3 Ways to Maximize Your Venue’s Reach on Social Platforms
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