Google+ Circles for your Ecommerce Site
We’ve talked about Google+ before. We’ve outlined the potential for your ecommerce site. We’ve outlined the reach and search engine presence it can bring you. What we haven’t necessarily covered is the specific tools that it brings to the table. More specifically, Google+ Circles and how they can help you market your product to specific segments of your customer base.
If Google has done nothing else right with Google+ (not to say that the other features are horrible because quite frankly, it’s very well done), one thing it has done flawlessly is their Circles feature. They’ve done this well enough that Facebook eventually followed suit by revamping their “Lists”, also known as Groups. You know something’s good when the industry leader has to copy it.
Anyways, on to the feature itself and what it means to you:
1. Categorize your followers simply and intuitively
All you need to do for Google+ Circles is create the circle, and then drag the people you want into this category. Google+ adds some flare with a nice graphic of the person spinning into the circle, but that’s all there is to it. It takes literally 5 steps to add someone into 4 groups. Create Circle, drag person into circle 1, 2, 3, and 4. Simple.
2. Segment your posts to target specific circles
Having a sale on women’s clothing? Create a post on Google+ and only allow the female followers in their own group see it. Having a Valentine’s Day Sale (hint, hint) coming up? Create a post and only allow people in a “Relationship” circle can see. Have specific business news that doesn’t pertain to your customers? Post a message to your “business contacts” so they are kept in the loop without bothering customers with news they don’t care about!
3. Zero in marketing on a specific circle
Once you have your circles set up and filled, you may notice one circle has fewer followers than another. This can help you know where you stand within these market segments. If you notice you have more men than women following your page, figure out a marketing strategy to get the ladies out there more interested in your company.
Google really has a solid product here. You can utilize this to break away from the pack and get noticed on a more customer centric scale!
Be sure to follow Cart32 on our own Google+ page!
Chris Stewart
Chris graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelors of Science in Information Technology Service Management. He has also received certification in the ITIL v3 Foundation framework. Chris has been a part of the Sales and Support team since December 2010.