Part 8 of Spencer Wade's ongoing series. A must read for anyone using communities

Part 8 of Spencer Wade's ongoing series. A must read for anyone using communities

Originally shared by Spencer Wade

Your Brand & G+: Using Communities to Promote, Engage, and Influence “Pt. 8 Using Circles to Strengthen Communities”

One of the most useful, and underutilized, features of Google+ is the Circle function. Circles allow you to create subsets of people connected to your brand. This can be defined as segmentation, which we discussed in our last article, taken to the ultimate level and utilized for a different purpose.

What are circles?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljvFCIuN8I8

Where segmenting your brand’s Community into smaller, more-targeted Communities allows you to hyper-focus your message to that Community’s membership, using Circles allows you to segment even further for the purposes of sharing content and updates with a selective group. This also enforces the “velvet rope” mentality we’ve already discussed.

Use circles on Google+
https://support.google.com/plus/answer/6320407?hl=en

Circles can be segmented in countless ways depending upon whatever criteria you use to differentiate prospects. You can start with any idea you have: existing customers, power users, specific demographics, target markets, etc. The goal is to create channels you can use to effectively and efficiently communicate with a select portion of your Community membership. And do so in a much more personal and memorable way than traditional methods.

Find & add people to circles
https://support.google.com/plus/answer/1047805?hl=en

Circles can also be an ingenious way to track different types of content. Simply include the creators of content you feel would benefit your brand in a Circle, and invite them to join your brand’s relevant Community. Even if they decline, you have made an introduction, and can work from there to cement a relationship moving forward. It’s all about networking – even for the influencers. This is an excellent way to expand your network in whatever vertical your brand competes in, so get started working with Circles in your Communities today. I assure you there are benefits far beyond what we’ve touched on here.

Pro-Tip: It’s also an excellent work-around for the restrictions Gmail has in place for group emailing!

See you all next year!