Good-Bye to another social media: Google+ to close down

Yes, even the “big” dominant media like Google recognize when it’s time to let go.
Hard to believe that it was only 7 years ago when Google decided to challenge all the social networking sites by launching its Google+.

If you are still active with Google+ you will have a few months to make your last postings before the social network is closed down. Google claims it will close in August 2019, but to be safe, I recommend quitting sooner than later.

So why did this giant company decide to call it quits? Several reasons. For one, Google+ had issues with its privacy bug. Hundreds of thousands of users had their data exposed to third-party developers back in March. But like Facebook, Google would not report the problem immediately because they didn’t want to bring attention to any regulatory scrutiny that could damage their reputation.

If you want to believe Google’s reason, they saw a big drop in usage and engagement, saying, and I quote “90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds”. Yeah, that’s another good reason!

From various sources I’ve read, it is safe to say that Google+ and +1 buttons will have no impact on rankings going forward. I hope that means Google Search will no longer look to see if your business was an active user and we can finally be ranked by our social networking, postings, podcasts, backlinks, etc.

Another reason you should feel ok, Google has admitted that today they do not use personalization in search. What that says is Google+ would show your personal assets, photos, emails, etc. that were based on your Google+ account directly in the search results. If you recall, Google suggested that searchers take their social conversations to Google+. It was a way Google was trying to drive more conversations to their social network.

With all the pressure Google put on social network users to post on their network, the more people rejected being told they had to do this or their rankings could be affected. Some businesses caved in, others chose to not be bullied. Another example you might remember. Google My Business. That name was replaced by Google Places, which later was replaced by Google+. Do you see how Google was trying to manipulate us?

Maybe this should be a lesson that all businesses can learn from. Don’t force something to work when the market isn’t buying your product or service. Look around and see how to better serve customers than make them want what you offer.

Get a “Tune-Up” of your social networks to see how they can be more effective for your business. Give George Carson a call.

Which do you prefer, Social Media or Email?

There has been a lot of discussion about social media replacing email. I doubt this will happen. At least for now. Email might be reconfigured over the next couple of years, but I think email is here to stay. Is your pr marketing strategy focusing on email or social media? If you are choosing one over the other, then your pr marketing strategy needs to be revised. It is best to keep both marketing strategies to have a successful marketing plan. email and social medi

 

I read several different articles claiming that social media networks are replacing email. One in particular describes how everyone at a company is assigned an email account, but a movement to stop employees from using social networks at work is on the incline.

 

Another good article by a WebPro writer, Chris Crum, created a list of reasons why email is not going to be replaced by social media. These are just a few of his reasons:

 

1. People still send hand-written letters via snail mail, even though they could instead make a phone call, send an email, text message, or status update.

 

2. Nearly all sites on the web that require registration require an email address. Some are starting to integrate social media into this process (through things like Facebook Connect), but that is still a very small fraction, and they typically still allow for email information as well.

 

3. Email notifies you of updates from all social networks you are a part of (provided your settings are set up that way).

 

4. We haven’t seen any evidence yet that Google Wave really is the next big thing and will catch on a large scale.

 

5. Email is still improving. It hasn’t screeched to a halt with the rise of social media. There is still innovation going on, and integration with social media. Look at how Google is constantly adding new features to Gmail. Look at the new Yahoo Mail.

 

6. Even social networks themselves recognize the importance of email. Never mind that they update users about community-driven happenings via email. MySpace (still one of the biggest social networks) even launched its own email service recently.

 

The next time you are told by your pr client to not use email as part of the marketing strategy, just pass along this short list. It may not convince them, but at least you pointed out reason why it is important to keep email in the plan, at least for now. If you need help in deciding on the direction to take, or need help with a successful social media campaign, give George Carson a call today at 949-477-9400.