An Early Overview of Google+ as a Content Marketing Platform

Ramon Ray the Smallbiztechnology.com Team

• An Early Overview of Google+ as a Content Marketing Platform
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• The True Cost of Employee Mobile Devices
• What the UK Cell Phone Hacking Means for You
• 5 Social Media Management Platforms To Choose From

Rex Hammock of Hammock Inc. released his e-brief (free download) evaluating Google+ as a potential content marketing platform and “business” social network. Google+, if you haven’t yet heard, is Google’s new social network, which offers a variety of features that would be useful to conducting business. Hammock outlines how Google+ is different from other social networks, and what that could mean to small business.

Hammock said in the e-brief that Google+ could really position itself by focusing on the aspects of social networking that appeal to business executives. Facebook Pages, for example, has never done well for business-to-business services, and Facebook has that association as a place to goof off rather than conduct business. However, Google+ still isn’t Facebook, which may not necessarily be a good thing.

Hammock also said that social networking for business should mean increasing productivity and efficiency. Google+ has the ability to do that, especially with features like Sparks and Hangouts (really don’t like that name) that could be used to make business more productive and more efficient. For those who want to utilize social media for business purposes, Google+ could cut into that time that’s now split among Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Hammock also remarked on an early drawback for Google+ and business users: no support for Google Apps for Business. Granted, Google announced that Google+ will have business pages before the end of the year, but it’s not the same as integrated with all those wonderful apps. This lack of of support also initially alienates the employees at three million companies who have Gmail accounts, but not the type that works for Google+.

To conclude, Hammock offered six predictions for Google+. To learn more about Google+ as a business tool, please feel free to download the e-brief at the top.

1. Google+ will be a big success as a business-oriented product – even an enterprise employee-to-employee product.
2. Google+ will attract adult consumers who think having a Facebook account is ridiculous.
3. Google+ won’t have much impact on Twitter or LinkedIn.
4. Google+ is a bigger threat to Facebook than any other social networking player, but more so in the business-to-business area than in the consumer area.
5. Google+ will be a big hit with small businesses.
6. Google+ has the opportunity of being the most open social network if it allows users to be part of the Google+ network using their own identities, not the identities that Google owns and controls.

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The Facebook Marketing Bible August 2011 Edition Is Now Available

The August 2011 edition of the Facebook Marketing Bible: The Comprehensive Guide to Market Your Brand, Company, Product, or Service Inside Facebook is now available.

The Facebook Marketing Bible has enabled thousands of marketers, social application developers, publishers, and entrepreneurs to navigate and get the most out of the increasingly sophisticated marketing opportunities on Facebook.

The web edition of the Facebook Marketing Bible is comprised of detailed resource pages, comprehensive how-to guides, and case studies analyzing today’s most successful marketing and advertising campaigns on Facebook.

Now that Facebook is nearing the 700 million monthly active user mark, there’s never been a better time to reach your target audience through marketing on Facebook.

The August 2011 edition includes updated coverage of the following topics:

• How Facebook Pages Can Use “Invite Friends” to Gain Fans, a guide to engaging your Page’s most dedicated fans while growing your overall fan base.
• How to Sync Your Facebook Page Updates With Your Twitter Profile — and Why You Shouldn’t. How do Facebook and Twitter differ, and when is customization needed? This guide compares and contrasts the unique strengths of each platform and shows you how to get the most from both.
• Commenting for Facebook marketers, a guide that shows you how to make the most out of public, and highly visible, conversations with your fans on Facebook.
• Bringing the storefront to your Facebook Page, a breakdown of key features for storefront applications that bring sales transactions directly to your Page.
• Our guide to the Facebook Send button that details Facebook’s latest addition to its social plugins.
• Facebook applications versus offsite integrations and what works best for marketing your business or brand.
• Our detailed style and strategy guide to Facebook’s Like button that helps you identify the right design for your off-Facebook content site.
• An overview of Graph API metatags and how they enable you to maximize the value of your implemented Like buttons.
• Facebook Applications, Social Plugins, Connect and Instant Personalization – details on how to use the wide variety of options available for engaging Facebook users.
• Updates to Facebook Questions, and how recent changes to this user-facing feature will affect your approach to brand marketing through this ‘no-cost’ channel.
• Strategies to help you navigate Facebook’s recent major Page redesign, whether you’re representing a major brand, small business, or public figure.
• Facebook’s expanding options for advertisers, and how any advertiser can get more from new features like Sponsored Stories, self-specified landing tabs, and more.
• The latest featured Facebook’s campaigns that show you how other brands are testing Facebook’s evolving marketing opportunities.
• New frontiers in brand and performance marketing on Facebook, including opportunities within social games.
• Facebook Places and Deals, the company’s evolving location-based feature that presents new marketing opportunities for businesses both on and offline.
• Facebook Groups, a new way for users to connect and collaborate with others who share their interests and affiliations, and new ideas for marketing with Groups on Facebook.
• Facebook’s latest advertising guidelines updates and what they mean for advertisers throughout the ecosystem.
• Audience growth and engagement, including best practices for holding on to fans, keeping marketing channels open, and re-engaging your audience on Facebook.
• Plus, comprehensive walk-throughs of Facebook’s tools for advertisers, web content publishers, and Page administrators.

Learn more about the August 2011 edition of the Facebook Marketing Bible at FacebookMarketingBible.com.

Table of Contents excerpted from the full August 2011 Edition

Recent Featured Facebook Campaigns

• Alamo Rent A Car, National Geographic Channel and Fox
• Craftsman, Unilever and FarmVille Chinese, American Express and El Pollo Loco
• Bucca di Beppo, Bissell, Bank of the West and the NBA
• Coca-Cola, Qatar Ariways, Clearasil and Esurance
• Marriott Resorts, The National Guard, Discover Boating, Bravo, and Nike

Building Your Brand through Facebook Pages

• Facebook vs Twitter – What’s Different, What’s The Same And Why Smart Marketers Use Both
• Page Destination Tab Ad Campaign Strategies
• Facebook Pages and Public Profiles
• The Profile Page – A Walk-Through

Designing Your Facebook Page

• Facebook Page Redesign 2011: Marketing Stategies and Best Practices
• The Wall Tab for Making Pages Dynamic and Viral
• How to Choose a Landing ‘Tab’ for your Facebook Page
• Adding Custom Modules to Your Page

Communicating Through Your Facebook Page

• How to Sync Your Facebook Page Updates With Your Twitter Profile — and Why You Shouldn’t
• How to Get Facebook Users to Like Your Page: The First Step to Engagement
• How Your Business Should Reply To Facebook Comments
• Demographic Targeting for Status Updates
• How to Avoid Having Your Page, Open Graph Object, or Application Unliked, Removed, Muted, or Blacklisted

Growing Your Fan Base and More Ways to Promote Your Facebook Page

• How Facebook Pages Can Use “Invite Friends” to Gain Fans
• How Brands Can Advertise within Social Games
• The Basics of Status Updates for Pages
• Increase Engagement and Insight through Status Tagging
• How to Grow Your Page’s Audience through Page Invitations
• SMS Subscription Service for Pages
• Branded Virtual Gifts on Facebook Pages for Viral Advertising

Advanced Strategies for Facebook Pages

• How Top Brands Conduct Ecommerce on Facebook: Best Practices
• Facebook Ecommerce: What Features Are Important in a Page Storefront Application
• The Best Facebook Page Strategies and the Pages That Use Them
• Strategy: How to Promote Your Page in 6 Steps
• Marketing Strategy: 4 Reasons Why Marketers Should Invest in Pages Before Groups
• 10 Key SEO Strategies Every Facebook Page Owner Should Know
• 8 Best Practices for Retailers on Facebook
• Marketers Actively Bidding for Generic Facebook Pages

The Facebook Open Graph for Marketers and Content Publishers

• The Like Button Style Guide: How to Pick the Design That’s Right for Your Website
• How to Choose Open Graph Tags That Maximize the Value of Your Like Buttons
• Facebook Connect Integration Best Practices from the Platform Showcase
• Implementation Options: Like Button
• Facebook CTO Bret Taylor Discusses the Open Graph

More Ways to Market on Facebook: Questions, Places, and Deals

• How Pages Can Use the Relaunched Facebook Questions Product
• How to Create a Deal with Facebook Deals
• The Places We’ll Go: How marketers can use Facebook’s new location features
• Facebook Questions – A Walk-Through
• How Marketers Can Get The Most Out Of Facebook Questions
• Groups and SEO – a Quick Overview

Advertising on Facebook

• Page Destination Tab Ad Campaign Strategies
• Sponsored Stories Ads: Walk-Through and Marketing Campaign Strategies
• Facebook Ads: Read Before You Get Started
• Facebook Ads – A Walk-Through
• The Facebook Ads Manager
• Facebook Self-Serve Ad Types: Page Ads
• Facebook Self-Serve Ad Types: Event Ads

Ads Targeting on Facebook

• 10 Powerful Targeting Methods Facebook Ads Every Performance Advertiser Should Know
• Friends of Connections Targeting
• Facebook Ads: Language Targeting
• 4 Connection Targeting Tests Every Advertiser Should Run
• From Keyword Targeting to People Targeting: Understanding Performance Advertising with Facebook’s Tim Kendall
• Time Scheduling

Tools and How-Tos for Marketers

• Facebook “Insights” Metrics Dashboard for Page Managers
• Using Third Party Tools to Manage Your Facebook Page
• How Page Owners Can Restrict Content for Underage Users
• How to Export Your Facebook Page Updates to Twitter

Policies, Privacy, and Guidelines to Watch

• Promotional/Sweepstakes Policies for Facebook Pages
• The Future of Sharing on Facebook: A Hybrid Public/Private Model
• Facebook’s Guidelines for Promoting Pages Outside Facebook

Join the Facebook Marketing Bible at FacebookMarketingBible.com

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