Google Plus Etiquette – The Do’s and Don’ts

A lot has been written about Google Plus and how people should use it, but in truth it is still a platform many people are still trying to get to grips with. It’s yet to really, fully establish itself (although it does have somewhere in the region of 20 million + users) but Google is tying it in more and more to many of its existing platforms. I personally love it and think it offers some key advantages over platforms such as Facebook andTwitter. Having become quite a big user of the platform i have learnt quite a lot and today i wanted to provide a round up of mine and others view of how to use Google Plus.


Guidelines on Posting Messages

As with any social space the key thing is to be yourself while being mindful of others. Audiences on certain platforms prefer certain types of content and communication methods and Google Plus is no different. If you are posting four or five things within a very short time period then this is going to annoy people. Why? Well, because you will dominate someones stream. This is probably the single quickest way to piss someone off on Google Plus. So avoid this at all costs.

The other big consideration is who you share your posts with. Google Plus is great because it lets you segment the people you share specific posts with. This means you don’t share things that won’t be of interest to certain people in your sphere. Remember if you are going to make your posts public then they will very much be this. Anyone can comment them. If you are tagging people in those posts makes sure you ask them. As they would also get public comments and responses.

A hotly debated feature of Google Plus is the ‘notify people about this post’ feature. If you select this then everyone in your selected circles will be notified. This is ok if it is a post for close friends but i would avoid it for any other audiences. This is another thing that will annoy your followers. You can also turn this feature off by click here.

Do’s: be yourself, share relevant posts with relevant circles, be creative, be respectful

Don’ts: notify every user of new posts, share all posts with all circles, post large number of posts in short succession, don’t be offensive, don’t post private pictures publicly
Guidelines for Re-Sharing

Re-sharing is a slightly trickier affair with accreditations and privacy. If you are re-sharing something that is already in the public domain then it is good practice to tag the post with some like ‘via +originalpostername’ and also provide a comment or opinion. This lets people know why you re-shared it and the original poster know that there stuff is being shared in good faith.

The area where caution is required is when you are considering re-sharing a post by a friend or someone in your circles who have only shared their post with specific audiences. There maybe a reason why they limited the post to certain circles, for example privacy. As a result you don’t want to be re-sharing this publicly as this would then mean anyone could see the post. It is sometimes difficult to remember this but is very important.

Do’s: Consider using +1 rather than a re-share where appropriate, re-share interest posts to interested circles, always accredit the original author

Don’ts: Don’t re-share private posts of others publicly, don’t re-share stuff without accrediting the original author
Etiquette in Hangouts

This really comes from my own experiences of hangouts but might not be applicable to all of them. The first thing is to ensure that you mute your microphone when not talking. This is because background noise can really disrupt a hangout and annoy other users. If you are not actively participating in a hangout you should also make sure you logout. This is because spaces on popular hangouts are limited and someone else can benefit from being involved. Other things include testing your camera and microphone before you login. This video about Google Plus Etiquette as posted by +Katerine Graman rounds it up nicely.

Do’s: Test your cam and microphone before hand, share your ideas, mute your microphone when not talking

Don’ts: Have loud music or noise blasting in the background, but in repeatedly, talk out of context
Check-ins

This feature doesn’t seem to be heavily used yet but i suspect it might do more with the recent changes to Google Local pages. If you have not come across these before it is when someone shares their current location through Google Plus. The FourSquare platform is currently much better at this but anyway the key thing here is to ensure that you only share your location with friends. Not everyone is going to be interested in your movements, especially people who don’t know you.

So as you can see there is nothing here that isn’t common sense. However people do often fall down on the smallest things. The main one i experience is over posting. I have unfollowed a number of people because of this. I could adjust my stream settings but frankly its not something i can be bothered to do for one person. If you want to read some other great posts on this i would recommend checking out JAANA NYSTRÖM’s post, Don’t Feed the Animals posts or Axel Kratel’s. All interesting reads and helped to form the basis of this post.

http://www.maynem.co.uk/blog/google-plus-etiquette-the-dos-and-donts/

How Social Media Can Boost Sales

As we all know, the sales manager is a major part of any organisation. It is their responsibility to ensure that all of the sales quotas set by executive management are met and that the business delivers its targets. The responsibility on the sales manager’s shoulders can be intense. Thankfully, sales managers are typically former sales people who have been promoted to a managerial position, so they know what hard work is needed from the bottom up. When they encounter any problems, they can use their personal knowledge, experience and know-how to can solve them.

The sales manager has to know their sales areas well and be on hand to assist the sales team when required. A crucial quality of any sales manager is the ability to motivate his/her team. To encourage hard work and dedication, sales managers often establish leader boards and hand out prizes to the best sellers. The role of sales manager is always evolving and many sales managers are turning to social media to create competition within their department. Using social media to create competition is easy, all you have to do is:

1- Create a Facebook page

2- Get your employees to unite on the page

3- Set up internal competitions, sales targets and post how employees are competing

4- Interact, upload pictures/videos of the development

By following the tips above, you could motivate your staff in a more social and interactive way and encourage them to get involved more, which could in turn lead to more sales!

The competitive sales and social environment

Traditionally, ‘sales’ is a very competitive environment. Sales personnel are known for trying every little trick in the book to get one step ahead of rival companies. The emergence of social media has improved and updated the work of a sales executive by providing sales departments with a plethora of resources and vital information.
Websites like LinkedIn allow sales managers to research and analyse companies in various different ways. They can use LinkedIn to introduce themselves to potential clients, gaining direct access in a way which would never have been possible without the internet. The sales manager now has the ability to connect with individuals without any geographical barriers. By asserting your position, you can display your credibility and establish key contacts. Physical meetings can subsequently materialise as a result of your initial social media strategy. As a result of these wider markets, an increase in sales is inevitable.

The Alternatives

There are other social network sites such as Twitter which have become extremely important to all sales managers. Twitter is a rich source of information, often showing users the trends and fads of the moment. Any self-respecting sales manager uses Twitter to keep up to date with what is going on in the market, as well as their own existing client base. Companies often display information which is useful to a sales person, such as the details of an upcoming event or a project that they have undertaken, on social media sites. By following certain companies and organisations on Twitter and Facebook, sales managers can stay informed and up-to-date, putting themselves in a very strong position to sell their services or products to potential clients.

Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook are generally used as sales aids as opposed to direct selling tools. It is the responsibility of the sales manager to attract customers to the main website by encouraging their followers with interesting facts about the company and keeping them informed of the latest events.

Various strategies can be used by sales managers to assist them in their roles. Some might opt to create videos and integrate them on the company’s Facebook page, allowing them to speak directly to the customer and humanising the company as a whole. This strategy will create interest and make the organisation stand out from the rest.

In Conclusion

Social media helps the company to engage with their customers on a human level without the hard sales tactics seen in the past. Sales will ultimately increase as a result, as followers who are passionate about the company tend to post complimentary messages on the site, messages which are then viewed by other potential customers.

Social media is proving to be much more than a flash in the pan and we will certainly see many more sales managers embracing it with enthusiasm.

What has your sales job involved and how has social media affected you?

Please leave your comments below.


Jenny Beswick