Google+ For Business and Adwords: A Dynamic PPC Duo

A short time ago Google released Google+ pages for business, giving businesses the opportunity to create corporate pages and communicate with their customers on the Google+ platform.

In November, Google launched “social extensions” in Adwords. This new feature of the pay per click platform gives your business the potential to improve the performance of your ads on the Google network while also increasing the social following of your Google+ page at the same time!

Why Bother?

When “Social Extensions” are activated there is an increased likelihood that users will see recommendations of friends and family that are in their Google+ circles. If a user can see the recommendations made for your ad or your Google+ page from people they trust, this can instill trust and communicate the integrity of your business.

This stands to have a big, positive effect on your ad’s performance – especially if you’re actively engaging your customers on your Google+ for business page.

An added benefit is that utilizing social extensions will cost you no more than running your PPC ad as usual. You will not be charged when someone +1s your ad, only when they click on it.

Boosting Up Social Extensions

To take advantage of social extensions, create a Google+ business page. Then, log into your Adwords account and view your Adwords data on a campaign level. Here, you can activate social extensions. Doing this will tie all of your ads back to your business’ Google+ page.

What Does It Do?

There are two types of social extensions in Google: “personal” and “basic”. “Personal” refers to the “+1” recommendations made from people within a specific customers’ circles. “Basic”  applies to the +1’s given to your ad and your page by everyone else across the web, whether connected to that particular user or not.

When a customer makes a search query while logged into their Google account, your ad will display as per usual with a “+1” button beneath. But if you’ve activated “Social extensions”, that customer can now see all of the “+1’s” that have been made to both your ad and your business’ Google+ page by both people they know and all users across the web.

Will It Stick?

Social extensions are a new addition to Google, so it’s fair to expect a few hiccups in the initial months while users get used to the idea and Google irons out the details. However, if we are patient, the ability to track these +1 recommendations has the potential to influence user behaviour in a very good way.

Google is making a very serious push to get more people interacting with their platform and integrating business is just another step towards that end. At the end of the day, it’s a free feature that could really improve your campaigns. If you’re not already running social extensions – what are you waiting for?