Yesterday I wrote a post on SA’s Digital Agencies & Their Facebook Timelines – at the time I wanted to do a post on SA’s Digital Agencies & Their Google+ Pages, but wasn’t able to simply because so few agencies have taken the time to create a Google+ Page, which blows my mind away and I’m going to tell you why, but before I do, I want to have a quick look at yesterday’s post in relation to Google+.
It’s somewhat upsetting to see that of all the agencies listed yesterday, only 7 are on Google+ of which only 3 are actually doing anything there.
I love South Africa and am an eternal optimist, but when it comes to Digital Marketing and similar, we’re quite far behind the International market. International agencies have burst onto the Google+ scene for one simple reason: Google owns it.
Think about it:
- Where does everyone search? Google.
- Does Google take real-time search seriously? Yes.
- Does Google own Google+? Yes.
- Would Google prioritize Google+ results over Facebook & Twitter? Yes.
- Would Google see a topic of discussion on Google+ as important? Yes.
So, if you create a Google+ Page for your company and you create discussion around a topic such as “digital marketing cape town” and the discussion gets busy, lots of people interact and good knowledge is shared, what do you think is going to happen? This isn’t rocket science, Google’s going to give the discussion credit, it’s real time, it’s relevant and it’s real. Now, if you’ve linked your website address to your Google+ Page, what do you think’s going to happen? Google’s going to look at your Google+ interaction, see that it is good and I bet my bottom dollar that Google will push some extra points over to your website. In fact, this isn’t even a thought process, I’ve seen the results of people who get this correct and they’re incredibly positive.
Here’s another thought: If someone comes along and adds your Google+ Page to their circle and your Google+ Page is heavily related to “digital marketing cape town”, what do you think will happen when this person searches for “digital marketing cape town” in Google? Yes, that.
Getting a Google+ Page going is really easy, you can follow my creating a Google Plus Page tutorial or spend some time Googling. I honestly cannot believe that so few local agencies aren’t taking Google+ seriously. ROI and conversions from places like Facebook and Twitter are incredibly low, this isn’t news, we’ve read article after article after study after study on how awfully those social networks perform when it comes to getting a return on investment. Google+ doesn’t just have the social network side, it has the Search Engine Optimization side so investing your time in Google+ is two-fold rather than just one.
There is such a MASSIVE GAP in the local market to capitalize on this, go and create your Google+ Page, add some photographs, be creative and pop us a comment below in the comments section when you’ve done so!
It’s actually funny. Google has given people a way to specifically get stuff included in their index, bypassing the wait time for their bots to index your site – but nobody’s there yet. Instead everyone (locally, at any rate) is still doing old-school SEO.
Still, that means that the switched-on agencies will get a head start :)
We have one! But admittedly it took me a while to find it again, haven’t done much with it in a while. https://plus.google.com/114316927842758033466
Google+ is just still so…. I dunno… bleh?
I am all for your enthusiasm Chris, but this post leads me to share my sentiment of the untold danger of living on the cutting edge. My disclaimer is I don’t think that Google+ is the cutting edge, but I would say South African brands that adopt Google+ now would definitely be early adopters. Using the latest, greatest anything can be very risky business for agencies/suppliers and the main complications are money and education. Every social media platform you ‘turn on’ needs to be monitored and maintained, sometimes by several people. The money for that has to come out of a budget that was allocated to something else a year ago. The risky part with all this is needing to know about the unseen pitfalls. With each new article or case study on imod or Mashable we learn about brands that have done it wrong or simply could have done it better. For a supplier or agency to live in a space where the next case study of “what not to do” could be about them is a risky proposition. We must also be sure each tactic aligns with strategy.
So I am all for the enthusiasm and questioning why some people are not there yet, but to do something to fill a gap isn’t always the right thing for all parties.
@Nick – For sure, if it was just another social network I’d probably stay away just like I’ve shown absolutely no interest in Pinterest, but because this is Google, because Google are the search kings and because the usage graphs point heavily at North-East, I don’t just see it being just another thing, I see it being a crucial area to invest time as search results are changing, but Google will always (said carefully) be the search giant. I would go as far as saying that it would make more sense to move resources (time, money, staff, etc.) from Facebook to Google+ – that way you don’t need to worry about additional resources. This isn’t just another thing, this is an important thing and the trends show this strongly.
@Wogan – WELL SAID, that’s exactly the point I was trying to get across.
@Nick – Nice idea of putting the team members right there at the front, I like that. I do agree, Google+ is still a little bleh and it’s odd to operate compared to what we’re used to, but there’s a serious gap and we’re all perfectly capable of learning how to use these tools.
Totally agree on the search benefits. But my one concern in swinging resources to G+ is simply that there is not a big enough audience there yet. For agencies, yes, but for consumer brands, no.
That said, I do expect the mighty Goog to be able to push their audiences towards their platform. But mass market uptake in SA still seems a little way off to me.
I completely get the fact that Google owns Google+ and therefore it’s imperative for SEO.
But if we’re really honest with ourselves, then we’ll admit that Google+ is exactly where Facebook was in 2007. I personally yearned for more South Africans to talk to on Facebook and it just wasn’t happening. So perhaps we should look at timeframes when we speak of adoption. The old adage holds true here: “Rome wasn’t built in a day”
@Arthur – good point. And social networks are like nightclubs in a way: they have their heydays, and then the traffic moves somewhere else. Even it does take a longer time frame in some cases.
I hear your point and agree that at the moment there isn’t much of a stage, but like any market, those who get in first usually reap the benefits when the time comes. Google owns so many web properties, Google Maps, Google Calendar and so forth, they’ve got such a massive audience they can work with in terms of pushing and pulling into their network. On top of that, Facebook and Twitter really don’t cater for business as much as we all think, Facebook’s for stalking old friends and Twitter’s for short bursts of information. Sure, there are cases where these networks have worked well for businesses and will continue to do so, but at the end of the day they really don’t appear to be useful to small brands. That being said, everyone knows LinkedIn’s about business, but almost too business focused, Google has the opportunity to swoop in and cater from all angles, getting it right the first time because they have the audience and they have all the feedback. That’s the main reason why I’m pushing in this direction.
I just feel that Google has the audience, resources and competition to do what they need to do to get ahead. Google isn’t trying to create another Facebook or LinkedIn, Google’s trying to create a middle ground, that’s plugged into all their other properties, including Android.
SEO and search wise, essential, and what a great way for a business to get in who doesn’t have a have budget to tap into all the networks at once.
I put my money down right here – watch this space :)
Love those last 3 sentences. I’m starting to read “What The Plus” tomorrow to see how the agency’s clients can benefit. I’m also thinking of writing a bit about this topic on my own blog after I;m done reading it.. linking to this post specifically as the spark.. Shot Chris
My pleasure Arthur, I’ve enjoyed looking into Google+
Btw, I found a trophy article on this topic that I think everyone should read: http://www.ewebmarketing.com.au/blog/authorrank-and-the-future-of-seo/
Funnily enough, I was in a meeting just yesterday with the chap who handles my SEO and Adwords and he was recommending Google +. So this is interesting reading, thx Chris. As a small ad agency (positioned as This country’s smallest ad agency), I’m following a number of conversations pertaining to social media with a view to ascertaining which platforms would work best for me. My gut feeling? LinkedIn and Google +. But heck, I may be wrong. There are so many divergent views out there, it can get horribly confusing. Sometimes, it’s best to go with one’s gut feel. But I’d appreciate your thoughts if you will….
Hi Gerard,
In a situation like this, I feel it’s best to liase with your SEO and Adwords chap, I presume he’s commissioned and therefore he should be able to provide you with substance to fuel his recommendation of going to Google+ | At the end of the day, it really depends on what your product/service is and who your target market is and where those people are positioned and so forth..