Chronicles the rise of Google+, Google's deep integration of Plus into all its products, and best practices for brands

1. Google+ (Revisted)
A Year After Launch
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2. G+ Lift-Off
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3. G+ Launched to Much Fanfare in June 2011
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4. Google Made a Number of Acquisitions to Bolster
G+
Oct. 2011 Nov. 2011 March 2012 June 2012
Social Media Analytics Automatic Friend-Sorter Mobile Development Lab Social Media Platform
$15M $100M
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5. G+ Business Pages Launched in Nov. 2011
Since launch,
brands like
H&M have
gained 1M+
followers
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6. G+ Users & Brands
Were Off to the
Races
 G+ continued
to rapidly grow
 By April 2012,
Google reported
170M G+ users
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7. Google’s Recent G+ Focus
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8. Google Is Deeply Integrating G+ Into All Its Services
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9. G+ Search Integration: Search Plus Your World (Jan.
2012)
 People & Pages: The SERP prominently
features G+ Pages of both people &
brands
 Personal Results: When logged in, the
SERP shows the searcher’s personal G+
content, including content from G+
friends
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10. G+ Search Prominence
*Screenshot taken in Jan. 2012 10

11. AdWords Integration: Social Endorsements
 Advertisers can link their G+ Page to their AdWords ads so that Google
can show +1 endorsements
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12. Local Integration: Google+ Local (June 2012)
 Business listings that appear in the organic SERP’s
Google Maps packs now funnel searchers to the
G+ Local page instead of the Google Places page
 By placing the local channel exclusively within G+,
Google will inevitably drive more G+ traffic & awareness
Map links to business’ G+ page
G+ page shows below the map
Latest G+ post displays on the SERP
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13. YouTube Integration
 G+ users can share YouTube
videos & playlists in their
G+ Streams
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14. Google is All In With G+ (June 2012)
 Google Senior VP of Engineering Vic Gundotra told The Verge:
– “Google+ is at its heart about building one seamless experience”
– Google’s services don't have an “engagement problem”
– Google product teams have come together to tightly integrate G+
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15. What’s a Brand to Do?
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16. Because G+ is already deeply integrated in search
(especially local) it should be in all brands’
performance marketing toolkits . . .
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17. Capitalize on G+’s Search Visibility
 Create a G+ Business Page!
– Claim your vanity URL once Google open it up to all brands
– Get your account verified
 This will increase the likelihood that you’ll achieve “free” SERP visibility, at least for brand terms
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18. Dominate the SERP with 3 Targeted Messages for
Brand Terms:
1. Paid Ad: Promoting 70% off summer sale with sitelinks
2. Organic Listing: Evergreen messaging around the site’s positioning
3. Google+ Listing: Real-time Google+ posting promoting a slipper sale
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19. G+ Local Best Practices
 Ensure that your Place pages have been claimed
 Align location-level URLs to these Place pages so that qualified
traffic will click through to the appropriate local page with the
intended content
 Be cognizant of social activity happening at the location-level,
including reviews and photo uploads from the G+ community
 Continue to manage, update and keep local listings fresh and
accurate
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20. Encourage Participation!
 When a searcher sees that other searchers—particularly their
friends—have +1’d a result, that result is perceived as more relevant
and will get more clicks
– +1s increase CTRs 5–10% on avg. (Google)
 The more people who +1 your brand or content, the more likely
searchers will see G+-enhanced results. Advertisers should:
– Create likable, sharable G+ content
– Put the +1 Button on all content
– Focus attention on influencers who are likely to spread content
– Create two-way conversations, not one-way content blasts
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21. Marry Social & Search
 Because your G+ content will show on the SERP, anything you do on G+
must be consistent with your overall search strategy
– What is your message?
– Where are the keyword opportunities?
 G+ is helping paid, owned & earned channels become more deeply
connected
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22. Thanks!
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