This post originally appeared on the Content Equals Money blog.
Google+ business pages are just now becoming available…but while they get the kinks worked out, here is what you can do:
1. Internal information disaggregation
The most talked about aspect of Google+ is Circles. Circles allows us to quickly and easily identify groups based on our relationship to them. For an individual, this allows us to identify family from friends from coworkers. It also allows us to go deeper, identifying close friends from occasional friends from acquaintances. Or, from a business perspective, your entire company, the various groups you are in, the administrative team, departments, etc. Often, when sending out information, you need to include certain people depending on what the information is. Using Circles, disseminating that information becomes much easier.
2. Developing employee-employee connections
The other great benefit will be that your employees can begin utilizing those information disaggregation amongst each other as well. Circles allow them to keep the groups they work with informed of what is going on. Rather than having millions of emails flying in and out of the cloud, or even worse, having to deal with a listserv, Google+ can allow for quick an easy sharing of updates to just the people who need it. The greatest reason for not using tools like Facebook and LinkedIn, is that it’s relatively difficult to send updates to just a particular team of people or just internally to your organization. You also have the ability to develop “hangouts” for groups not in the same place to hold virtual meetings on the go. And, the same chat features available in other Google products work with Circles, meaning you have a consistent experience from one Google product to another.
3. Developing employee-client connections now
Individuals on Google+ are still connected to their Google profiles, their contacts, and all their other Google data. This means that many of the employees within an organization will already be developing connections with clients as they grow their social network. By accessing those connections now, you will make connecting clients to your company’s page much easier when that feature is released. And, in the meantime, you build up an activity level among employees and clients as another way to communicate and show you are activity in your digital community.
4. Familiarizing your company with the system
Of course, there’s also a lot to be said just by having employees familiar with the systems Google is offering. If employees are already working within Google, connecting with each other and with clients, then you will be ready to develop your company’s page and have people active on it right from the get go.
By starting now, you can get ahead of the curve and show your company is on the fore-front of advances in technology.
