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The Social Networking wars took a turn on June 28, 2011 when Google announced the launch of its social network Google+ on beta. Little over a month, Google+ now has already touched a massive 30 million members mark, making it the fastest growing social networking siteever, although,it has a long way to go before catching up with Facebook's 750 million.
As a late starter Google+ has had the advantage of watching and learning from other networks to come up with a solution that integrates the best from them – the two-way communication of Facebook and the one-way broadcasts of Twitter. 'Circles' allow you to create groups within your list of contacts so that you can share only relevant information with each Circle, unlike Facebook where you share with all contacts who are 'Friends'. 'Sparks' allow you to follow your interests, just as Twitter does, but you can also share this information with Circles. In addition, 'Hangouts' present the facility for group video-chats with your Circles. Then there is the +1 button that has been integrated with Google+ to replicate the 'Like' feature on Facebook. This has already started playing a key role in search results on Google.
Based on their experience with other social networks, brands want to leverageGoogle+early on as it can be the nextgame-changer in this space. Google announced that Google+ for business will be launched by the end of 2011 and has requested companies not to set up personal pages until then. OnlyFord Motor Companyhasbeen allowed to maintain a test account.
Google+ could potentially be a superior network than its competitors for several reasons:
1) Improving search ranking through +1
At present, Google has 92% of world's search share. With the full integration of the +1 button with Google+, brands can get recommendations from customers at a click, without them having to visit the business page and leave feedback or comments. Furthermore, with the integration of +1 to search engine results, more recommendations could also improve the brand's search rankings.
2) Creating Circles according to demographics
With the option to categorise contacts into Circles, brands will be able to share information that is relevant to a particular segment of customers. A good example of this would be a car company promoting a compact to its 18-24 customer segment while sharing information of its luxury cars to the 35+ segment.
3) Keeping customers engaged through promotions
Whether it is through strategic partnerships using social gaming or direct promotions for clicking on +1, there is a great potential for keeping customers engaged with fun activities. In the past, Frito Lay has used its Facebook page and Zynga'sFarmVille to break a Guinness World Record for getting the maximum number of 'Likes' in a 24-hour period and rewarded the first 24000 users who liked the page and registered for the prize with a coupon for a bag of chips.
4) Integrating Google+ with other Google products
Google+ in conjunction with Maps, Latitude, You Tube, Offers and other extensions can throw up a lot more exciting prospects for marketers. Using Maps and Latitude along with Google+ could facilitate coupons and offers to be sent to customers when they check in at a location. Similarly, group-buying could be encouraged using a campaign linking Goggle Offers with Google+ and the search engine.
5) Digital Advertising
By collecting data from Sparks, marketers would be able to spread their advertising mix better between conventional and digital media. Integration with Google TV or You Tube would further enhance this. Integration of products like Google Reader can further enhance the usability both for the Google+ users, as well as the marketers as they can target the ads depending upon the taste of the users.
Google Adwords will have a new future. Integrating the demographic component of Google+ with the search (including +1) will offer a lot of new opportunities. Search is already Google's strength, but when marketers will be able to target their ads to the specific demography as they do on Facebook along with the powerful feature of search, they will get a dynamite combination. And this can give Google+ a definitive edge over Facebook.
6) Social Games
Google has also pleasantly surprised many users by announcing the launch of social games on Google+ so early. This feature has started rolling out slowly and steadily to Google+ users. Google has taken special care of privacy and information overload in this aspect. Like, if you want others not to know about your gaming activities you can control it and in the same way you can choose from whom you want to see their gaming activities, making it a truly opt-in service.
And certainly, Google can have new revenue potential and can give real competition to Facebook in this space. Even brands can expect interesting offering from Google in terms of placing ads in the games or allowing brands to launch games around their brand experience.
7) Analytics
Google Analytics already has a head start in terms of monitoring site traffic, online user behaviour and ad performance forAdWords and other online campaigns. By using this in conjunction with Google+, brands would be able to monitor performance of various campaigns and be better equipped to use their advertising dollars more effectively.
The prospect of Google+ removing Facebook from the top spot seems unlikely at least for a while. For businesses and brands, which are interested in exploiting early-bird opportunities, the ideal approach right now is to get familiarized with the way Google+ works and have their social networking strategy in place in anticipation of the roll out for the module for business.
No doubt Google+ is still in a pilot stage and will have to deal with several teething issues, including those related to privacy. There will also be Facebook's competitive strategy to counter with as it tries to maintain its leadership position. While the world waits and watches whether Google+will succeed or not, thesocial Networking space will certainlyget shaken up and for marketers and brands, this will herald a new way of doing business.