A report from the Digital Marketer suggests that Google+’s integration with Gmail makes it a competitive necessity for any small business relying on either social media marketing or email marketing.
According to Digital Marketer’s Ryan Deiss, the fact that Google+ alerts appear in the tool bar on Gmail accounts means that prospects browsing their inboxes will see new social content. The reverse is true as well, as anyone browsing their Google+ account can turn to their inbox with a single click.
Deiss suggests that some small businesses have been hesitant to add Google+ to their social media marketing mix, as many are already trying to keep up with and measure ROI from Facebook, Twitter and other platforms.Yet, no other social platform is so seamlessly integrated with a popular email service – most recent figures from comScore peg Gmail accounts at 260 million.
Additionally, Google+ is becoming increasingly popular. ContentLEAD reported that Google+ now has more than 62 million users, and the company expects its user base to surpass 400 million by the end of 2012.
A separate ContentLEAD report further illustrates the potential value of Google+, as integrating social and email campaigns is proving effective in terms of driving engagement and click throughs. Email marketing campaigns that include social sharing capability draw 115 percent more clicks than those without the feature.
