Despite going up against the behemoth of Facebook, Google+ is showing no signs of giving in. Google+’s latest venture – company pages – expand and enhance social relationships with business stakeholders. And video is the latest trick up its sleeve.
Whether speaking with customers face-to-face, or touring behind the scenes, there’s no doubt of the benefits of video. Burberry has a custom video to introduce visitors to its Google+ page. Zen Bikes has a tour. And of course, there’s the potential to merge with your YouTube channel and have a feed.
Let’s not forget Hangouts – up to 10 people can drop in and out at any time, chatting with your sales manager, or your marketing officer, or your CEO – the choice is yours. Whether they’re held for customers to showcase a new product, or for retailers to promote partnership working, or for customer service purposes, Hangouts can work for you. Be creative – think outside the box. Got a popular speaker coming up? See if he minds a hangout between speaking slots. Don’t forget to check out the extras either – now you can share documents, draw and doodle and screenshare too.
That’s not to say it’s got everything – e-commerce features are still absent, and the search facility for hangouts excludes business names (you need an exact url). Also, YouTube is currently the only supported video platform.
But we see big things for Google+, especially in video – keep watching!