Google+ Redesign raises questions for marketers

How many social networks are there today? Tumblr, Reddit, Vimeo and FourSqaure – it’s easy to lose count; in fact we lost count long ago. The endless stream of different social networks don’t worry marketers too much – it’s those with large amounts of users that matter.

Of course, this is why you will see almost every company in the world on Facebook or Twitter – the two titan social networks. But good things always come in threes so what sits just behind the big two? Is it Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn?

While these social networks are prominent players in the online world, you may have assumed by the blog title that Google+ does in fact have the third-largest amount of users of any social network in the world.

It had more than half a million users as of December last year and is hoping to attract even more after it is given a substantial redesign.

Google’s reasons for doing so also act as lessons for many marketers.

Right off the bat, Google will make its social network fluent with all devices – for the reason that consumers are accessing the web all day through a plethora of different devices. Google+ will now remain consistent throughout. They are basing this on a study by Google in 2012 which revealed that “90% of people move between devices to accomplish a goal”.

The “goal” may be Q-scanning a product in a shop and researching similar products on the laptop at home, or glimpsing an email on the computer in the morning and sitting down to read the whole thing on the train with a tablet.

Questions Arise: Has your business taken the use of multiple devices into account? Is your website accessible by and designed for all devices? Is yourdesign consistent across all platforms?

You should consider that many consumers are accessing information across several different devices – sometimes even at the same time! Some people now browse sopping on their laptop whilst glancing at Facebook on their smartphone.

Questions Arise: Are you making the most of visual content? Are you displaying products, services and other content prominently with high-resolution images?

With the frequency of content being viewed on mobile devices, viewers are far more likely to stop and observe with a high quality photo or image.

With last year’s visual revolution, marketers learned that the more visual content used – the better the response. This is likely to be why Google+ will allow some videos to stretch out to fill the entire screen.

Similarly, the size of cover photos has swelled, so every page will be far more visually important. Furthermore, Google+ will be laden with animated features and increased photo options.

Questions Arise: Are you using keywords effectively?

Whether it is plain text, image or video, keywords are hugely important for SEO, lead generation and referrals and should be featured frequently and prominently on each. Know the keywords which are important in defining your business, and let them be seen/heard/watched.

With hashtags acting as a means of categorising content on Twitter, Google+ will now adopt the same; and in fact, this social network will automatically add hashtags for you.

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Observing social media updates can raise questions for marketers everywhere and are crucial for keeping us at the top of our game.

We like to think of ourselves as social media watchdogs, so we’re always observing the trends so that we can stay on top of the global marketing world.

How do you see Google+ changing the way you live and work? Have your say here by leaving a comment below. Or, join the discussion on Facebook or Twitter.

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