Google’s recently released brand pages were a most anticipated event for many of the leading brands engaged in social media activities. Now that they’re here, does it matter? Not surprisingly, there are advocates and naysayers, some early adopters and others wondering what exactly to do.
Rush In to G+?
Launching a new social property should be done within the confines of an overall social strategy, so brands considering a G+ page is a “must do” should think before they act. First, see if having a G+ page aligns with strategic imperatives, such as connecting with early social adopters, since G+ is still pretty much only used by savvy social actors. For many brands, it might just make sense to grab their page for now, like paying for a list of domain names for a new micro site, to ensure the brand “owns” the space in the event plans make it worthwhile optimizing in the future. Ideally this asset would be placed within the brand’s ecosystem, connected to the strategy, but differentiated and used as its own asset. Currently, we’re seeing that very few brands are doing this. Most are simply replicated efforts on Facebook.
But even in simple ways, some brands are differentiating. Among some of the first to adventure into G+, Ford took an interesting approach, creating a simple, yet focused stab at engagement that is not a mirror image of its’ Facebook page by filling it with rich media posts. This type of content does well on G+ as the Posts are the primary engagement method. Ford isn’t’ the only company with a differentiating approach. Pepsi’s page is focused around the enjoyment of the brand in connection to music, and Rovio’s Angry Birds page is encouraging followers to vote on their favorite plush character. No matter the approach, don’t forget whom and how many of the current users of G+ are active users. Brands should ask themselves, “Is your consumer one of them right now? Are they likely to be G+ users within the next six months or a year? Why?”
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