In the past week titans Google and Facebook have come up with additional ways for users to add their personal opinions into the mix of search. Facebook has introduced a new Questions tool that enables individuals and brands to ask questions of their network. Google is introducing a +1 feature to their adwords platform that will enable Google profile owners to add a +1 to the business ads and pages they endorse. Think of it as a Facebook “like” button, but for Google. How can these changes impact your business?
Google Plus 1
- On the PR and marketing side, we’ll see more businesses soliciting plus ones, much in the way we currently see a solicitation of “likes” on Facebook. An example would be a business tweeting or posting something along the lines of “plus one us and get a discount on services…”
- Google believes the plus one feature will be a benefit to companies using Adwords because they suspect +1 has the potential to boost adwords campaigns.
- A +1 to a company search listing will also show up on that company’s ad campaign, providing double duty for those brands looking for +1’s across marketing channels.
- Downfall of +1 – Individuals must have a Google profile to add their +1 ranking and at this time Google’s profile user base is far behind those of networks the likes of Facebook. It will be interesting to see if Google changes this tactic as more businesses warm to the +1 game.
Facebook Questions:
- Facebook Questions provides users a streamlined way to ask questions of their friends and get a direct feed of answers.
- Think of the word-of-mouth potential if a user asks where to find the best deal on a car and your business is the most suggested? It’s a marketing goldmine.
- Here’s the beauty for business – Facebook Questions also enables businesses to ask questions of their followers. In this way Facebook Questions can help a company do everything from test a new campaign or get instant feedback on a product to instant polling for internal use.
- Facebook Questions downfall – While the question feed can spread word of mouth goodness about your brand, it can also help perpetuate a negative image if a person who answers has had a bad experience.
For a better explanation of both new tools, check out Susan Etlingers post about Facebook Questions and Jolie O’Dell of Mashable for Google +1.
Do you think search tools like Google +1 or Facebook Questions will help or hurt your dealership?
Update: Found this quick presentation on slideshare. Thought it would be a nice addition.