Social media networks have become influential when it comes to customers’ buying decisions and tendencies to buy. Many potential customers consult social media reviews, recommendations, and blogs prior to purchasing a particular product. With this in mind, small businesses must also take advantage of social media networks in order to gain leverage in increasing leads and converting customers.
One example of a powerful social media network these days is Google+. Essentially, Google+ enables businesses and individual users to connect their multiple Google accounts, such as Gmail, YouTube, and Google Calendar, to create a more convenient and wider platform for socializing and connecting. Another feature that makes it helpful for small businesses is that they can connect to local customers in Google+ Local.
How beneficial is Google+ Local for businesses?
First of all, Google+ Local offers customer reviews and recommendations that enhance brand popularity. Users can write a review on any business page on Google+ Local and can also rate pages with a score of 0-3.
The good thing about user reviews is their credibility to other users. Reviews, whether good or bad, can easily influence the buying decisions of other customers and their opinions of your products and services. The idea is for small businesses to encourage good reviews from their customers on their Google+ Local pages.
In addition, Google+ Local also highlights places and brands recommended by Google+ connections. If a potential customer searches for burger joints in your area, and a number of their connections on Google+ recommend your burger joint, then it will definitely appear at the top of their search results. Higher recommendations would mean an increase in search rankings on both Google’s universal searches, as well as local searches on Google+.
Finally, Google+ Local offers a Zagat system, where Zagat scores and summaries appear on search results derived from users’ reviews. Summaries include points from users as well as ratings from poor to perfection on different dimensions like customer service and product offers. If your business carries a high Zagat score, that will easily influence potential customers’ buying decisions.
There are a number of benefits Google+ Local can offer to any small business. To help you maximize the advantages of Google+ Local, contact a reliable social media agency that can assist you with creating your profile, optimizing your website and Google+ page, and interacting and connecting with customers.
