Friday 11th November 2011 by Elena Goodrum

A few weeks ago, we had to stop and catch our breath – so many new things happening in the world of social media! And still so much more to come...

And now Pages for Google+ has launched. So what does this mean for you right now?

We usually advise people to exercise a bit of caution before rushing into a new platform – you should ideally invest time and energy into social media websites which match with what your audience is doing at this moment.

But alongside that we recognise that sometimes an emerging platform will have such a huge potential, like Google+ has now, that you have to consider an eventuality where it may be necessary for you to engage in this space, and that by not taking action now you may lose the opportunity to secure your Page, Profile, or whatever it may be. In moments like these, we suggest that you:

• Complete your profile and add a photo
• Secure your vanity URL (Currently not available for Google+. Keep an eye out so you can secure it once available.)
• Put up a friendly holding message which directs people to the social media spaces where you’re currently engaging – encourage people to go ahead and add your Page, and reciprocate as you usually would.
• Add research of this new platform to your daily tasks. Find articles detailing the features of the platform, and opinion blogs about how people are using them. Use your own personal profile or create a test account to explore the platform itself and Circle/Follow/Like as many other brands (and people!) as you can. Watch and learn how the platform is being used.
• Keep a close eye on your audience. Are they talking about the new platform? Are they using it? How are they using it?
• Stay aware of the demographics – at the moment, Google+ is predominantly male.
• Monitor your topic/area of interest on the new platform – subscribe to Groups, hashtags, Lists, Sparks, Pages, etc. to observe how your field is unfolding in this new space.
• Participate in the new platform – only by participating can you understand and explore the true potential of how you can use the space.
• Think about how you can use the features of the new platform, and the limitations it may have, and differences from other spaces. For example, in Google+ how can you use Hangouts for the work that you do? Note that they do not allow brands to run contests, sweepstakes, offers, coupons or other types of promotions directly on their pages. They also do not permit multiple admin users at this time.
• Look at your overarching business objectives and ambitions, just as you would for any other social media space, to see how the features of the new space can help support and further the work that you do.
• Choose your moment to jump in, if appropriate.

Now if you’re really eager just to get on with it and start using the space, and if you've got the time to go ahead and start exploring and experimenting, then by all means do move forward! In this case you wouldn’t want to put up a holding message. Just get in there! Capitalise on the excitement and energy of a new home to talk to people online.

Let us know if you need any help, or just want to talk about it.