October 4, 2011

Google+ & PR: What Does It Mean For You And Your Company?

Posted on the Tech Affect blog on September 30th by Sandra Fathi

Earlier this week I gave a workshop of Google+ & PR for PRSA-NY. The class was particularly timely due to the expected announcement in the very near future, of company or brand pages on Google+. Public relations professionals have seen the rise, and fall, of a variety of social networks over the last four to five years but there has never been a social network that was initiated by a company with so much clout, such a significant user base, a global presence and as deep pockets as Google. It’s not just that Google is a financial force to be reckoned with – it’s the sheet proliferation and infiltration of Google apps and Google services in the everyday lives of businesses and consumers alike. Google+ is not starting out building a user base from scratch – it’s already light yearsev ahead of its predecessors in awareness and adoption in a broad spectrum of services and products. That kind of power positions Google to be a significant player in the social media landscape – if not to become the dominant player that leaves its competitors in the dust.

What most folks have not yet discussed, are the implications for businesses and consumers after Google+ takes over the world of social media. As Google leverages the rich information and data it will be able to collect from the interactions and interests of Google+ users, it has the power to change and improve existing Google services as well as push Google into new business categories. Some of the many possible outcomes we discussed in our session included:

• CRM – Google+ could become your next CRM tool
• Search – Google+ could be the primary source and influencer for Google search results
• Advertising – Google+ feeds the data monster for Adwords and more
• Advertising – Google+ is the new targeted advertising platform
• Personalization – Google+ knows who you are and customizes all Google services and searches
• Shopping – Integration of Circles into shopping and opinion sites
• Privacy – Forfeited for services and content customization