by Alisa Leonard, VP, Strategy and Planning, iCrossing

1. What means for you
Alisa Leonard
Vice President, Strategy & Planning
iCrossing

2. The basics…

3. Streams
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 3

4. Circles
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 4

5. Sparks
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 5

6. Hangouts
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 6

7. So what does it mean for marketers?

8. Perspective
1 Google+ is not another social destination site
Google+ promises to continue to enhance the
2 relationship between search & social
Combined with use of +1, Google+ promises to drive
3 greater bought, earned & owned media synergy
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 8

9. Not another social destination
Building a social web
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 9

10. Laying the foundation for a social web
• Focused on creating a social
layer – social data that could
permeate nearly every
Google product
• Social identity, content and
activities connected across
web services– from Google+
to Search and Maps
• This means a more
customized, user-centric
web experience
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 10

11. The new social CRM – hyper customization
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 11

12. Search + Social
Algorithm + Human Interaction
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 12

13. The question for marketers:
Can you improve your short- and long-
term natural search performance by
becoming active in Google+?
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 13

14. The answer:
Yes. The backbone of search & social
synergy is content & social signals
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 14

15. Sparks – social content
• Similar to “most shared”
stories in LinkedIn, “most re-
tweeted” in Twitter
• Tends to rank and display
content based on social signal
velocity
• Users can subscribe to topics
at keyword level
• Expected to become a signal
for web search in the future
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 15

16. +1 – social signal
• The +1 appears to be
Google’s primary social
signal
• +1’s live in Google+, Google
Search and now your
owned spaces
• Aggregated +1’s increase
visibility in search & social
• Driving +1’s requires better
content and active
engagement
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 16

17. Content best practices
• Editorial Insights. Develop a content program based on search and
social insights that cater to your target audience (segments).
• Customization. Customize editorial programs by Circle segmentation;
create multiple editorial calendars that map messaging to audience
segment.
• Ritualized Content. Communities respond best to ritualized content;
identify top topics and content formats that receive the most
interaction and create recurring content events (e.g. “Tuesday Tips”).
• Publishing Primetime. Monitor and measure when content posts
receive the most interaction and adjust publishing schedule to
maximize social signals.
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 17

18. Community management best practices
• Call & Respond. Use questions and calls to action when posting
content, respond and comment proactively to encourage dialogue
(social signals).
• Balanced Diet. A community must have a “balanced diet” of content
and conversation. Community managers should turn published brand
content into consumer-centered conversations.
• Escalation. Establish a clear path for escalation so that no comment
goes left unanswered or ignored. Unanswered comments lead to
mismanagement and lost opportunities.
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 18

19. Bought, Earned & Owned Synergy
An illustration
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 19

20. The relationship between Google+ and
the +1 means that a consumer’s
social graph could be connected
with actions across natural search,
paid media, and web content
(Let’s see what this could look like)
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 20

21. Bought + earned
A paid media program using +1 could extend its reach through
targeting a user’s social graph who +1’d an ad, and capture
audiences in a social database (the +Page) for ongoing messaging
and engagement beyond the paid campaign
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 21

22. Amplified earned: search + social
All of that brand content and engagement shared through the +Page
in turn creates visibility in natural search (“flooding the zone” with a
SERP containing all brand touch points – from site to social)
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 22

23. Earned + owned
• A customer that +1’s content (or a product) broadcasts a recommendation to friends,
generating earned media impressions and word-of-mouth
• Additionally, that customer may be asked to join the brand's +Page circles (capture for CRM)
• Your site content benefits from improved search visibility from social signals
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 23

24. In summary
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 24

25. Remember the 3Cs of Google+
Content. Success in Google+ is predicated on quality,
1 frequently published content.
Community. Building community is crucial– it impacts
brand engagement and how content moves and spreads
2 across the web (including how visible it becomes in
search).
Customization. Google+ will offer more flexibility and
3 customized brand engagement with specific audiences
due to the Circles feature.
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 25

26. Get started
• Get personal. Set up a personal account and familiarize
yourself with the platform until +Pages are launched.
• Asses your current social media programs. Are your
programs centered around content and proper engagement
techniques? Are you thinking about your current social
programs in a holistic manner with search?
• Talk to us. iCrossing’s Live Media Studio and award-winning
SEO team have developed Google+ best practices and
starter programs.
COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 26

27. Thank you!
Alisa Leonard
Alisa.Leonard@icrossing.com
@alisamleo
“We Build Connected Brands”
iCrossing