According to New Media Trend Watch, 74% of Britons have an active Facebook account and more than a third of UK consumers are using social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to specifically interact with brands.  

More recently though, Google+ has been growing in popularity. According to the Huffington Post, 625,000 people are joining Google+ every day – surely it is time for more brands to get on board?

Socialbakers.com reported last year that Google+ had overtaken Twitter in the growth of brands. Fashion house H&M’s Twitter following increased by 88,598 in 2012, whereas their Google+ following increased by 287,312. So, why is Google+ jumping ahead when it comes to the growth of brands?

Although the layout is similar to Facebook, Google+ has some key advantages for marketing, making it a dream platform for brands on the rise.

Google+ allows you to segment your connections into circles; brands can then organise these circles as desired which makes targeted marketing easier. The interface is interactive and easy to navigate while being enjoyable to use.

Similar to Facebook’s ‘like’, Google has ‘+1s’. More +1s on your page lets Google know that what you’re sharing is being read and shared. Google+ profiles and pages can have a significant impact on search rankings; so provided you’re sharing interesting and relevant content, you could be onto a winner. The Google+ Sparks feature gives users instant access to information to share, without leaving the page – unlike Facebook.

Google+ status updates and posts are indexed straight away, thus increasing the possibility of your Google+ network seeing your content in their search results. Also, don’t forget to add links to your other social media profiles, bringing them up the search results as well.

This is just the start; Google+ has so many other features to be explored. The only question left is: will consumers see your brand there?