Using Google Plus Hangouts for your business is a no brainer! For years business owners have been using the rising Social Media sites – Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube and Skype to increase their online presence. These social networking sites have helped savvy businesses to grow their businesses and brands through online interaction and video sharing.
1. Connect With Your Customers on Google+ Hangouts
Marketing is not just about bringing in new customers; it’s about retaining the old ones. With Google Hangouts you can keep them up-to-date on new products, a new service, and enhancements to their current service. You can show them ways to save money, and introduce them to all your products. You can also allow them to get to know you on a more personal level, and learn to trust you even more.
2. Hold Private Consulting Sessions on Google+ Hangouts
How convenient would it be to stay in your office and still speak face-to-face with your client? Being able to hold a private consultation with clients who are a distance away, and have them interact with you as if they were in the same room – that’s what Google Hangouts can do for you.
When working on a long-term project you can stay in touch with your clients, and work out any kinks as you go along. They can see you and your expressions, and trust you are dealing with them in an open manner. Clients like to look you in the eye when speaking to you – “reading you” so to speak. A hangout offers you that opportunity.
3. Conduct Team Meetings Online via a Google Hangout
Let’s face it, conference calls leave a lot to be desired. There can be distractions, which results in miscommunication and lack of focus. Telecommuters, or those working at a different location, will feel more a part of team if they are able to participate face-to-face, in real time. This enhances communication, and allows them to not be included, but engage in the discussion.
Think what it would be like to mastermind or work on a presentation together, instead of relying on instant messages, emails and phone calls. This saves travel expenses, but also saves valuable time and misunderstandings.
4. Hold a Press Conference with Google Hangouts
You don’t have to have a publicist, be super star, or even be a big corporation to hold a press conference. You can have a small, limited audience, and allow them to ask questions about you or your product. If you have a big announcement, why not get the message out? With Hangouts you can announce to the world your new CEO, new employee, a promotion, an award, or the release of a new product or website.
Grammy-winner Taylor Swift hosted a Google Hangouts live chat press conference to announce the release of her new single. When her recording was released on iTunes, it soared to the top of the charts faster than any other in history!
5. Put on a Webinar with Google+ Hangouts
If you have always wanted to share your expertise or products, and make them available to a larger market, Google Hangouts is the way to go. You can create a webinar, where people can ask questions and interact. You can put participants in silent mode as you make your presentation, and then open up for questions, add others to help with the presentation, and even add photos to your presentation. Google records Hangouts, and you can stream it immediately to YouTube, share it with select people, or archive and edit as you wish.
Best of all, it comes as no financial risk. Previously, webinars were expensive to put on. Not with Hangouts! It is free, and simple to use. No need for a lot of technical knowledge. Google has a free video chat plug-in they prompt you to download and install with your first Hangout. There’s no need to sync up with your recording hardware, and it’s easy. It takes about 30 seconds to install. This lets you use video in Hangouts, Gmail, iGoogle, another social network owned by Google.
Google Plus Enhances Your Web Presence
Not only will you be visible to more future and current clients using Google+, which will increase your website traffic, but Google likes to have their products used and shared, so although they don’t actually come out and say it, if you were to use Google+ Hangouts to promote your website you will most probably see other benefits, including an increase in search page rankings.
How have you been using Google+ and other online social networking sites to increase your web presence?
