Part 8 (1/2)

The day I sampled was pertinent to Michael's core business. One of his key compet.i.tors threw in the towel. He stated his continued support of that same s.p.a.ce. He pointed to a.n.a.lysts' remarks to strengthen his position. But more interestingly and more telling, he also spent time in a Hangout (probably talking about this), and he stuck around to thank some people for their partic.i.p.ation in it.

Michael shares almost entirely Dell-specific information. I checked a few other days and found most of the posts related to his business. In contrast to Jennifer Cisney, I know nothing about Michael, except that he is clearly pa.s.sionate about his business (and one would hope he is) and that he is active in Google+.

Neither of these approaches is wrong, by the way. I think Michael's approach makes him seem accessible, and I see his interest in features such as the Hangout as sure signs that he intends to use this service for company communication that goes off-script, or at least enables some candid interaction. I find it encouraging and exciting

Scott Monty (Ford Motor Company).

Scott's the head of social media for Ford. He handles this primarily in a communications role, like the ”people's PR,” in my perspective. On the day I visited Scott's stream, he did the following: * Reshared the +Ford Motor Company account's breaking news.

* Commented on the difference between comments on Facebook and comments on Google+ in reaction to the news. (He thought Facebook had more negative opinions.) On another day, Scott did the following: * Shared a local event's news * Pointed out a compet.i.tor's bad news On other days, Scott partic.i.p.ates with the community, asking for thoughts and advice, shares information that strengthens the use of Google+, and spreads general good will. My take on Scott's use is that he does a lot to promote Ford in a positive way and discusses other industry news in addition to local Michigan news, which helps create local pride, something that certainly matters to Ford.

The majority of the information he shared were links to other articles, but he also created unique posts, especially when posting questions. Like Michael Dell, Scott goes to the community at Google+ to get its take, although Scott tends to comment back and forth with people on his posts, whereas Michael tends to do that in video only (from what I could see).

Bill Gerth (Social Media Lead at Comcast).

Bill has inherited the mantle left by Frank Eliason, who famously put Comcast on the social media map for his work on Twitter with @comcastcares. I've spoken with Bill a few times on Twitter but had not seen his Google+ profile. Because Comcast did so well (and got so much positive media attention) for its Twitter work, I thought I'd see how Bill uses Google+.

Over the course of several days, Bill shared articles about social media and an interesting photo or two. He twice pointed to Comcast in those several days, helping people by reminding them to upgrade their Xfinity TV applications. Overall, his information was interesting for social media types, but it's clear he still does most of his ”work” on Twitter and not on Google+.

The Biggest Content Difference (So Far) on Google+ for Business Users.

Looking at another dozen business professionals using Google+, at this point, the biggest difference is that most people share more personal or indirectly related-to-business posts on Google+ than they do on other social networks.

On Twitter, Jennifer Cisney is @KodakCB, and her stream is quite actively sharing the Kodak story. Her Twitter avatar and background are branded Kodak, and most of the tweets relate to her business.

On Twitter, Michael Dell is @MichaelDell, and his background is branded with pictures of his company's products. He tweets nothing but Dell-specific or PC industry-specific information.

On Twitter, Scott Monty is @ScottMonty, and his avatar and background are branded Ford. He shares a lot of customer service and communications help. He talks conversationally to people answering Ford Motor Company product and service questions. He's personable but still sticks closely to Ford topics.

On Twitter, Bill Gerth is @ComcastBill (also @ComcastCares), and he is 100% customer service-driven. His entire stream reads of @replies to customers with issues he's helping to resolve. All tweets that I observed over a few days were work-related.

So then, what should you do? Should you stick to mostly personal information on Google+? Should you keep your business on Facebook and Twitter? Should you alter your content strategy for Google+?

Although everyone's mileage may vary, I have a sense of what might work to blend that personal touch with a business agenda. The following sections include some ideas for building a stream on Google+ that might help you build the relations.h.i.+ps that can lead to business. These examples are for different types of businesses.

Restaurant Owner.

If you're in the restaurant business, you want to show that your place is the place to be. Your goal is to attract people, to show them what your restaurant is about, and to entice them to come down. Now, most restaurants stuff their social network streams with coupons and offers. Why? Because that's how they advertise in other media. Well, here's a chance to do something new. Try these ideas: * Post photos: People want to see your place and want to see happy faces and delicious dishes. (When shooting photos of people, always ask for their permission to post them on the web.) Showing off your great meals help people see what they will get when they come in.

* Share video: Interview the chef (if she is the kind of person who would sell your restaurant), your best bartender, or whoever can help you sell what makes your restaurant better. Make the video's duration under 2 minutes. Upload it to YouTube, and post it to your stream for people to get an even better flavor of the restaurant.

* Share local news (positive, mostly): You'll hear me say this a lot for businesses that have location in mind. Be the hub of your community. This shows people that you care about more than your restaurant.

* Share posts: If you know any other local Google+ users, share their posts occasionally, especially if they promote something of their own or sharing an accomplishment. The more you help them celebrate themselves, the more they'll come to interact with you when the time is right.

For a restaurant, you don't need to post too many new things each day. Between two to three posts a day total (including sharing other people's news and stories) is probably enough. However, you need to pay close attention to the comments on items you post. People will interact with you, and how you approach commenting back and forth can have an impact on how people perceive you and the restaurant.

Community Manager/Developer.

A common role in companies these days has to do with embracing and engaging the community around company products and services. Different companies treat this role differently. Kodak, for instance, has Jennifer Cisney as its Chief Blogger, which is ultimately a community role. Scott Monty is Ford's head of social media, so he has a community role for at least part of his responsibilities. It's handled differently at Dell and Comcast, where many people have their hands in the community and it's a shared function. No matter how your company does it, the following are some ways you should approach creating content for your community: * Talk about your community. If you're Ford Motor Company, show people who are excited about their Focus Hybrids. If you're Kodak, show off photos your users have taken with your products. Talk about them, not you, though.

* Post information that's useful to that community. If you create project management software, share articles about better ways to manage meetings. If you're a soap company, share posts about how to make an at-home spa experience.

* Share photos of community members. If you host face-to-face events, make a point of asking permission to post photos of the event on the web, and then share photos from your big unveiling party or your customer appreciation day event. The more people who see themselves, or people just like them, the better.

* Share how-to information about your products and services. If you sell cooking supplies, offer recipes. If you sell legal services, maybe you can share best practices about how to prepare for a meeting with your team.

The number of posts for a community manager type should be more frequent than it might be for most other roles. This is because the community manager encourages community engagement. However, a caveat exists: Don't post garbage. If you have nothing interesting to post, don't waste the attention in people's streams.

Comments by community manager types are usually the bread and b.u.t.ter of experiences. If you look at Scott Monty's posts, you can see that he engages a lot of time in the comments section. On Facebook, I observed that he was equally as active. On Twitter, Bill Gerth and the @comcastcares team is quite active. They use it as a customer service channel.

Comments show your buyers that you care about their opinions. Comments give your customer a voice. They allow you to speak off-message and yet bolster the message. They also show a very human side to your business, and this is worth its weight in gold.