All brands should be on Google+ suggests content marketing expert

Google+, Google’s struggling social media network, is being hugely underused by marketers looking to build their brands through content, a content marketing expert suggested today. Giving an online seminar this afternoon hosted by Digimind, Andrea Edwards, a former IDC, Microsoft and Novus executive, and executive director of the Asia Content Marketing Association, said that more brands should be thinking about Google+ because of its benefits to SEO. “Seventy percent of businesses are on Google+, and wrapping yourself with Google wherever you can is so important,” she said. “When I started at [content marketing firm] Novus Asia, I launched them on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, but it was still low down in the Google search results. I set up a G+ page and Novus instantly moved to page one.” “That’s one example, but the more important stat is 70% of businesses are there because Google is the SEO God,” said Edwards, who now runs content marketing consultancy The Digital Conversationalist. Google+ has been widely derided by critics, with a Business Insider article from last year pointing out that despite billions of Google users, active use of G+ is very low, while a piece in Forbes wondered last year if the platform had died. In a typically impassioned talk, the Australian stressed the importance of quality over quantity in content marketing. Publishing one good piece a week is better than posting five mediocre posts, she said, adding that Google “will still like your content” if posted less frequently. Edwards: ‘The focus of content marketing should not be about selling, it should be about inspiration’ Edwards said that a common mistake content marketers make is to confuse social media as a destination rather than a channel, and try too hard for content to drive a sale. She added: “You can’t do content marketing if you don’t have a destination.