Travis Wright says, “Google+ is unofficially officially dead. Now, what? Google’s Bradley Horowitz announced on Google+ last month that the platform will be split into two new services: Streams and Photos. “Photos” are self-explanatory, and “Streams” are going to cover just about everything else. If you’re fond of Google Hangouts, don’t worry — the video/messaging service survived the fallout as a separate offering. However, Hangouts is just about the only part of Google+ that has a clear future. It seems to be full-on transition mode for Google, with Google+ seemingly “still... [...]

Eric Enge says, “Google+ seems to be the social network that people love to hate. The industry almost has an internal clock about when to print the next article about Google+ dying. So what’s the real story here? Is Google+ going to die soon? Should you invest time in it? I will outline the way I look at it in today’s post, and while I will bring in many discussion points, bear in mind that for Google it’s all about the data. Whether or not Google+ lives or dies will be determined by its utility as a data source, because data is money for Google”. 10 Key Factors That Will Determine... [...]

Traffic is the lifeblood of your online business. If you have a good offer then without traffic, you have nothing; with traffic, you have a going business. Nate Landau has developed a simple way to use Google+ to get loads of free traffic, traffic from people who subscribe to your Google+ account and (because Google search ranks Google+ well) traffic from searches. The marketer’s dilemma is “How do attract traffic from Google+ correct without alienating my friends and followers?” Landau has tackled that thorny problem in his new training, Google+ Marketing Secret 2.0. In Landau’s... [...]

Martin Beck says, “What does Google+ have that Facebook doesn’t? Starting today, Google’s social network is giving pages and profiles the ability to create and post polls. That’s a feature that Facebook took away from users in 2012 and Pages last year. The Facebook “Ask Question” polling feature is still available on Facebook Groups and some major media partners have access as well, but it’s not generally available to Pages to the dismay of many small business owners. There’s a long tail of complaints about it on this post in the Facebook help community. When it eliminated... [...]

Eamon Amett says, “Understanding the risks to your personal reputation is the first step in reputation management. Once the risks are understood, the next step is to proactively manage your reputation online. Social media is one of the easiest places to make mistakes with regard to managing an online reputation, but it is also one of the most effective places to proactively manage reputation as well. It is important to remember that anything posted on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are out there forever. Even if you immediately delete a status update on Facebook or a Tweet... [...]

Dan Virgillito says, “When talking about social media marketing, discussions often focus on decisions about promoted tweets and Facebook ad campaigns. But how much do you consider Google+ to drive marketing ROI? I’m not talking about crafting an eye-catching author bio, promoting your Google+ page, or increasing your circles – although those matter, too. Rather, I’m talking about an aspect of Google+ that is often overlooked by social media marketers… Google+ Communities. Google+ Communities offer a great opportunity for marketers to engage, network and promote businesses. With over 150,000... [...]

Mandy Edwards says, “To use Google Plus or not use Google Plus. That is the latest question. Google Plus is one my favorite platforms to use. There is a wealth of information there, but many think it’s a ghost-town. This week’s Q&A question was simply, Is Google Plus worth my time? There is a great debate in the social marketing world about whether or not Google Plus is still of value. The platform was (slowly) trucking along until their main-guy left this past Spring. Soon after the “Google Plus is DEAD!” posts started to be published all around the web. It was like Chicken Little... [...]

Chuck Sharp says, “Many businesses have already realized the value of Google+ in their marketing efforts, especially since it’s owned by the world’s most popular search engine company. As part of the Google+ platform, users have access to Google+ Hangouts, which enables videoconferencing capabilities for up to ten people. Google+ seeks to create a social media community where groups of people meet to interact, whether through status updates or video chats. Instead of hosting one-on-one video chats through Skype, professionals can invite clients, colleagues, or potential customers to... [...]

Mark Traphagen says, “In the early days of television, many shows had sponsors that not only got their brand name in the show title (“The Kraft Music Hall” or “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom”) but also in all the advertising on the show. In fact, sometimes the advertising would be in the show. (Suddenly one character might breathlessly tell another how Geritol had put a spring back in his step.) Wouldn’t it be nice if your brand could own its own show and build in the advertising? Expensive, right? No, you can do it for free (excluding production costs)! Google+ has introduced... [...]

Megan Ritter says, “Sometimes it can be difficult to choose the right social network for your business. Sadly, you can’t make this choice based solely on the popularity of a network, because each social site attracts a different kind of audience. When it comes to marketing, it’s important to know your audience, as well as know how to reach out specifically to them. Pinpointing the right market for your message on social media can be an especially difficult task for B2B companies, as there are few networks where businesses tend to socially connect with one another. Thankfully, recent... [...]