Will brands benefit from Google+?
Duncan Southgate, global brand director at Millward Brown, on the excitement surrounding Google+…
We have already seen brands benefiting strongly from their presence on Facebook (see Millward Brown’s value of a fan). If Google+ pages can attract and retain similar followings, I’m sure they will be a welcome addition to the social media marketing arsenal.
To attract followings, Google will need to make signing up easy (new search and display ad units and easy brand searching within Google+ for example).
To retain followings and allow brands to engage meaningfully with their users, they’ll then need to provide a slick content delivery platform (seamless integration of photo and YouTube video content will be givens; Hangouts will definitely add a cool new USP, particularly for retail and automotive brands; video chat could be a real opportunity for customer service departments to become a company marketing vehicle).
If brands are automatically categorised as a separate circle, I imagine users will appreciate Google doing that separation work for them. Controlling the amount of brand exposure in news feeds will be a delicate task, but one I’m sure Google will handle sensitively (think sponsored vs. natural search links).
Our research shows that the main things consumers want from brands via social media are the latest brand news, competitions and offers. If Google can somehow help categorise or label those content types, brands and consumers may well benefit from that new shared common language.
Once a community of fans has been built, the ability to target those fans and friends of fans with other ad units across the Google and YouTube network will be highly desirable. Marketers will also be hoping for easy integration of Google+ within Facebook and Twitter.
Regardless of functionality, the excitement surrounding Google+ will definitely generate an initial wave of interest. Brands are no doubt jockeying to be first out of the blocks, and I’m looking forward to seeing their creativity unleashed. Let the new social media fans race begin!
For more Millward Brown thoughts on Google+, see here and here.