Disclaimer: This article will be divided into two sections. The first section will be more-a-less ranting about the state of the social media industry and how it affects all of us in business. The second section will be a practical look at why—despite the ranting—you shouldn’t ignore Google+ Pages. So if you don’t have a lot of time, or are sensitive to blunt and cranky ranting, skip to section two.

Why Google+ Pages Should Make You Cranky

It’s no secret that Google is competing with Facebook Pages (if you don’t know what Google Plus Pages even is, read here). Over three months ago they launched Google Plus. Before that, they gave a college go at social media integration with Google Buzz. The former is replacing the latter and the reviews have been mixed. There are strong opinions and features to back the yay’s and nay’s on both sides. It’s like the iPhone vs. Android, or Firefox vs. Chrome. No matter which way you want to slice it, from maps to email, Google wants to be the digitally institutional standard of awesome everywhere.

This frustrates me to no end.

Why? It’s just another glaring example of how fragmented the social media industry is. I don’t care what anybody says, nobody really knows the full application possibilities of social media for brands and marketing. Yes, there are pockets of geniuses that happen to stumble upon viral greatness. But anybody tells you that they’ve figured it all out is lying, selling you something, or a combination of both.

Right now, I consider Facebook, Twitter and a blog the holy trinity of social media. From there you can add options like Youtube, Four Square, Flickr, Yelp, Linkedin and all other social web offerings with their own features, functions and fickle audiences voraciously ingesting content on iPads, netbooks, smart phones and of course the desktop computer.

Coming up with an integrated strategy for all digital channels is not easy. Integration can be accomplished by anybody, but it’s not for amateurs or the faint of heart. It requires organization, discipline, and commitment. People have a hard enough time getting one digital channel optimized let alone three—or nine.

And if you’re the kind that thinks of just linking all your social media channels to distribute the same content in different forms, think again. Twitter content does not make good Facebook content and vice-versa. Not to say you can’t link for efficiency, but each channel requires a unique approach. But I digress.

Enter Google Plus Pages.

Google Plus Pages is basically the yin to Facebook’s yang. They’re intended serve the same purpose, but are very different. The primary difference being Google+ works with a concept called “circles.” This gives the user ultimate control of who gets to interact with them and how, which can be quite lacking in Facebook.

The whole “+1” function is a completely different animal to the “Like” button. For example Google’s +1 button will not automatically subscribe anyone to a brand page. Of course not. That would be too simple. Instead, Google is introducing a new button that brands or publishers can use to allow visitors to join a “circle” in one click.

I’m not going to get into how it all really works (still exploring it myself). There are plenty of great resources on the web that will teach you how to get your business up on Google+ Pages. The point is we now have yet another digital channel to manage. But what gets me even crankier is our next topic.

Why Google Plus Pages Should Not Be Ignored

First off, Google is not going away. They are an institutional monster that plans to devour all in its path on the way to universal domination. So you can either get the monster working for you, or pretend it’s not in the room while a competitor figures out how to use it against you. So with that being said, let’s look at the benefits of Google+ Pages.

Benefit 1: A Billion Searches a Day On The Top Search Engine

Google is the number one search engine. This means that whatever Google thinks is worth ranking will get ranked. Google’s relationship with Twitter is done. No more indexing tweets. Google already doesn’t index everything on Facebook and I don’t see the two getting cozy ever. Already, there are reports from the field that Google+ content is doing very well in the search engine rankings. Regardless of whether you feel this is fair practice, it’s a reality that can only be ignored at your own peril. So if you rely heavily on SEO or SEM strategies, start working on your Google+ Page right now.

Think about it. People search because they actually want to make a transaction. That can’t be said for all social media. So integrating Google Plus Pages with your search engine spending has the opportunity to catch people right at the moment of highest receptivity for a brand message or offer. This is by far the number one reason Google Plus Pages cannot be ignored.

Benefit 2: Everybody Has a Facebook Page But Not a Google+ Page

Where Google rules the realm of search, Facebook is the largest social network. However, being on Facebook is not always an advantage. You can get lost in the clutter very easily. There are pockets of social media users who are rejecting Facebook completely. Facebook is a great tool to organize people you already know and share stuff you collectively enjoy. But Google Plus is proving to be a unique opportunity to connect with people, that aren’t in your social network, based upon common interests and purpose. So if you are trying to reach a niche untapped audience, Google+ Pages seems to be the place to be in the near future.

Benefit 3: You Can’t “Buy” Fans

This is a mixed benefit. Google will not be generating any revenue from Google Plus Pages. This means you can’t technically advertise except by using Adwords. This is, in my opinion, incredibly smart on the part of the company. It keeps things honest and integrated with search. Right now, there is a lot of gamesmanship out there to drive likes, followers and subscribers. By eliminating advertising and changing the way fans can join circles, it will be interesting to see how much value a Google +1 is worth compared to a Like on Facebook. Google Plus only has 40 million users compared to Facebook’s 800 million. But that might not necessarily be a bad thing if the value is really there.

So there you have it. Google Plus Pages is definitely yet another sign of more social media fragmentation. But if you can get Google Plus Pages rocking for your brand, any crankiness will be totally worth it.

What do you think of Google Plus Pages? How has your experience been with Google Plus? Will you be migrating from Facebook or doing both? Please comment and share your perspective.

Please join the Full Frontal ROI team in welcoming Ed to our team

Related articles

• John Haydon: You Finally Have a Google Plus Business Page… Now What? (huffingtonpost.com)
• Google+ Pages; The War Hots Up (umpf.co.uk)
• 20+ Helpful Google+ Brand Page Resources for Freelancers (freelancefolder.com)

As social media and social media accountability move to the forefront of the marketing conversation there is an equal shift to the importance of having the right social media tools in your wheel house. In the last year, the discussions around social customer relationship management or social CRM have been inching towards center stage. I think most of us are in the same boat in that we hope social CRM is a customer relationship management system on steroids that includes the social conversation.

18 Use Cases of Social CRM

“According to Gartner, social CRM will be a $1 billion subsector of the CRM market by the end of this year. The various sites, blogs and communities that comprise this arena represent the fastest growing areas of the Internet. Further, it now reaches more people than email, according to Nielsen Online.” Source

Here’s my dilemma…what EXACTLY is Social CRM to you? I’ve been playing with some tools that claim to be social CRM and I’ve come to the conclusion that in the rush to get to market it’s possible that these tools focused on way more of the social than they did the CRM part of the equation. And for some companies that may be all they need. It’s also legitimately difficult to play with a true social CRM system because the backbone is your existing CRM system so most of what we are hearing about are tools that have built something that kinda…coulda…might be social CRM.

But my vision of social CRM is very different. I imagine being able to look up a customer record within our existing CRM system and being able to see their most recent posts in my online community, on Twitter or public Facebook pages and integrate that information with any kind of customer service complaints or service requests whether on or offline. I don’t necessarily require that everyone in the organization be able to “engage” with tweets or status updates within the CRM, but I want them to have the insights the information would provide. I imagine creating a prospect record and it automatically populating their online activities so I can see their digital footprint on our website. I would be able to see what information they found valuable and what path they came to our company from.

This information would be hugely insightful so that service people could provide better service and so sales people could provide a better sales experience. That would be awesome and help the company deliver on their promise to deliver great service. Eventually I will want people to be able to engage with the information where it was placed, but most of us are still in the stage of proving this social media stuff even has merit and value so I can personally wait for that.

But there is still a piece to the equation that is missing…ROI. With all the hoopla about how social CRM can improve the engagement experience some of the products I’ve seen completely missed the boat on the revenue part of the equation. I get it. Customer RELATIONSHIP Management system. And engagement is managing the relationship. Sure, but let’s be honest. To understand if that relationship management actually works it needs to be connected to the bottom line. It’s hard to find a traditional CRM today that doesn’t hold customer transaction information and the revenue associated with those sales. So how could it be possible to call a product a social CRM tool and not contain customer sales data? If you ask me, you can’t.

Social CRM is still in its infancy and with all the products that are rushing to the market to try and capitalize on the $1 billion in revenue that is up for grabs it is important that as marketers we call their bluff when we see it. Don’t accept a social CRM system that isn’t a CRM system, because that’s just a social monitoring and engagement tool.

Ask yourself, what CRM system am I using today? Does this social CRM tool do ALL of that and add in social insights? Can I measure how those social insights impact things like service levels, conversion rates, costs, or revenue? If not, your social CRM might not be CRM at all. The great news is that because these tools are so new we all have the opportunity to help guide the direction they go.

So this is your chance. What does social CRM mean to you? What features does it have? What MUST it do? What features are NICE to have? Which tools are BS and which tools are the real deal? Drop a comment and let’s chat about it. Let’s create a list of all the features that we feel make a social CRM system…CRM and a CRM system…social.

What's the Difference?

Have you been wondering what’s so great about HootSuite’s new freemium model? Are you wondering if it’s worth the investment? Are you upset about having to pay for something that used to be free?

Read the full post on Social Media Examiner

I caught up with Amber Naslund, Director of Community for Radian6, at South By Southwest Interactive 2010 to ask about social media measurement. I came up with 7 questions to help take the mystery out of social media measurement.

 
After you watch the video leave a comment below and let me know which category Amber fits in and why…

1) Houdini – all smoke and mirrors

2) Miami Vice – definitely trendsetting

3) CSI – Crime Scene Investigator – so smart with social media measurement that NOTHING gets by.

This interview was conducted for FolkMedia.

Leave a comment below.

The big question all marketers are asking: “How DO I Measure Social Media?”

There have been many, many discussions around social media measurement especially over the last year. For some reason, nailing down the best way to measure has evaded us all. Most of the challenge is a result of having metrics that can be compared from one company to the next.

Without that, it is hard to say if what you are doing is good, bad, or ugly. This is exacerbated with a certain level of fear of measuring social because it can be difficult to correlate something like Twitter followers to new business.

This is certainly an understandable fear. Just remember that social media is just a tool in your marketing tool kit. If you measure social media using some of the same measurements you’ve always used, it will start to make sense and be easier to justify your efforts.

There are 5 categories in the social media funnel.

Exposure

This is just like the exposure you’ve been measuring for years. Essentially, you are choosing metrics which measure your reach. How many people are listening to you or talking about your brand? To actually measure this it is a combination of your normal web analytics, your Twitter followers, your Facebook fans, and running a search for your brand mentions. I use Radian 6 for this, but you could also do a Google search and look at growth in the number of returned results but this isn’t as accurate.

Influence

This is prefaced by saying that this category of measurement is a little harder if you don’t have Radian 6. By measuring the number of mentions for industry key words against the number of times your brand is mentioned with those key words you can get a measurement of your share of voice in the industry. You can also get a report on the top influencers from your industry. Finally, sentiment, while still imprecise, gives you a general measurement of whether people say you suck or you rock.

Engagement

This is fairly easily measured by tracking the number of clicks you get on the links you post, the number of times your messages are shared or retweeted, how many direct messages you get, and how many comments you receive.

Action/Convert

Is any of this contributing to the pipeline? Measure the pieces of content that tie to your sales process whether it be a white paper, webinar, lead generation form, pitch or proposal.

Sales

Oh, the elusive white horse. How much money are these efforts generating? If you’ve measured this far, you can measure what translate into dough.

Retain

The step many forget. Don’t forget to follow these customers and look at their repeat business and retention rates.

Remember, social media is like the almighty assist. It can help add more opportunities to convert business, but at the end of the day it is just putting leads in the funnel. Your normal sales process is responsible for converting those leads.

This post was written as a guest post for FolkMedia.org

Restaurant Patrons Go Digital

Many small businesses are wondering how they can participate in social media to help grow their business. The one industry that can easily jump into the mix is the restaurant industry. Many small businesses are grappling with the challenge of not having enough staff to manage social media. Restaurants have a great advantage here, they can let their patrons do the work. With so many web-enabled phones on the market restaurants can take advantage of buzz that is created by their patrons in a few simple steps. Here are 3 simple tips for restaurants to capitalize on social media.

1) Reward your patrons for online reviews

Promote discounts to patrons who post reviews of your establishment while dining. From Zagat to Urban Spoon there are many review sites that consumers look at before deciding where to go for their next meal or happy hour. Offer a reasonable discount if  patron can show you their review before they close out their tab. This allows you to immediately know whether or not they are satisfied, and if they weren’t you still have a chance to make the customer happy before they leave your restaurant. An opportunity that is priceless if you want them to return again. Further, you will increase the number of reviews of your restaurant on these highly trafficked sites making it a great opportunity to generate more future business.

Tip: Be prepared with how you will handle negative feedback. Sometimes it is difficult to hear, but it is the only way you will know how people really feel so that you can fix it.

2) Offer Tweet Up specials

A Tweet Up is when a group of local Twitter users decides to get together and meet in person for a few drinks. Many times these social media junkies will tweet about their experience and upload photos of themselves and others at the event. Because they surely mention where the event is being held, this is great publicity for you. You probably already have a list of happy hour specials that you regularly cycle through take it a step further by offering a Tweet Up special. The key is to make sure that your Tweet Up special is exclusive to those who are actually attending the Tweet Up and not anyone there for happy hour.

Tip: Those who are actually attending will be more than willing to show you a tweet they have sent about the event as proof for a good deal, if so desired.

3) Create a FREE check-in shot

Have you heard of FourSquare or GoWalla? Well your patrons might have and there is a little competition happening to check in at businesses you frequent so that you can get points, badges, and rewards. After you check in patrons can add tips for others who check in after they do. The reason this is great for the restaurant is that when someone checks in they can share their location on Twitter and FaceBook letting all of their friends know where they are. Personally, I’m a FourSquare fan and within our group there is a friendly competition to become Mayor at our local hot spots something that can only be achieved by checking in more than anyone else.   What does that mean for the business owner? A competition for repeat business…Sweet.

Tip: Create a shot that you give to people who can show their check in for free. You could call it the GoSquare, the FourWalla, or some other creative name you come up with.

If you really want to join in on the fun create a Twitter account and FaceBook fan page for the restaurant. Post your specials and events for the day and upload photos of all the fun people are having. There is no better way to become the local hot spot than to give patrons lots of ways to tell their friends how awesome you are.

The Value of a Beer...hanging with @JBluhm et al

Using social media tools you can expand your network with people you know and those you don’t know. I’ve connected with friends, former classmates, family members and others via FaceBook. I’ve connected with former colleagues and peers via LinkedIn. I’ve met other marketers through LinkedIn groups. I’ve followed and been followed by fellow marketers who I probably wouldn’t have ever met naturally thanks to Twitter. I see people connecting with new people all around me online. I’m curious about whether it is increasing or decreasing traditional in-person networking.

Are people hiding behind their computers and not getting into the real world to really meet others? Is the value of traditional networking associations declining? I don’t think so. I think it is even more important than ever to continue traditional networking activities. But the business reality is that the recession has led to shrinking reimbursement policies at companies for membership in local networking associations and business travel for conferences. What are you doing? Are you attending conferences and networking events? Is it status quo at your company or are you paying the bill on your own? Or just dropping out? Are you still meeting others at local tweet ups and meet ups?

As individuals are working to create their online personal brand it is equality important to step out from behind the computer screen and continue to meet and learn in person. Personally, the in-person connection with those I’ve met online has been invaluable. It helps to transition a follower into a friend and friends into followers. It lets people see a whole other side to who you are.

While you are growing your online network, don’t forget the basics. Take every opportunity to meet those around you face-to-face. If you met online, step offline and meet in person to learn what happens between tweets, status updates and blog posts. If you met in person, connect online and keep up to date on what is going on with each other between events.

Regardless of where you met, get out of your every day environment and share a beer, a cup of coffee or a couple of sodas…have a laugh…and share your stories. Get out from behind the computer screen, out of the office and join networking associations, attend tweet ups, meet ups and the like. Use the opportunity to deepen your relationships and develop new ones.

What are you doing? Has social media decreased your traditional networking efforts or expanded them? How are you prioritizing your time between online and offline events? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.