By Cheryl Salazar, The Partner Marketing Group
By now I hope you will have created your Google+ page for business and your personal Google+ profile. There are a few more things you should do that will help you make the most of your newest social property:
- Assuming that your business profile is complete and you’ve claimed your Google Places account so you can connect with local customers, add your Google+ badge to your website. The addition of this badge to your website helps you establish a link between your profile and your website.
- Go one step further and add the Google+ sharing button to your website, especially if you have a blog. This enables your readers to share your blogs on their profiles and extends its reach more than you could ever have dreamed. This is important because whatever is shared on Google+ is instantly indexed by Google, helping you make the most of your social media property.
Once you have your profiles set up, your circles organized, and your sharing buttons in place, make sure you use your Google+ property to engage with your customers. Here are a few ways you should be doing that on a regular basis:
- Ask your customers for reviews of your business. Reviews for local businesses are a great way for you to attract new customers and for you to show up in organic search. Once you’ve provided a service to a customer, send them an email with a link to your profile and ask them to provide you with a short review. Personally speaking, this is often what pushes me to buy from one business vs another.
- Publish a survey that you’d like them to participate in. Surveys are a great way for you to keep a pulse on your customers and to tackle the unhappy ones immediately. Don’t ignore the feedback that they’ve provided. Share it internally with your employees to ensure they’re always staying on top of issues or are prepared to address any concerns.
- Create a community where you can invite relevant groups to join, contribute, or discuss business issues they may have. If you want to build credibility and a name for yourself in an industry or within a local community, joining and participating is a way to you to make valuable contributions – not just for yourself but for the benefit of the group. All you need to do in Google+ is select ‘Home’, click on ‘Communities’ and then join one that suits your business.
Final piece of advice when it comes to social media. Publish frequently and with care. Be smart about when you post, to whom you post, and use a tool such as Butterfly Publisher to organize your postings.
