In June, I wrote an article outlining how I had quadrupled the number of followers of one of my social media clients. While reviewing their page stats, I realized that their follower count has since doubled.
That’s right, I just doubled my client’s Google+ followers in just 3 months.
In June, the page received nearly 32,700 views over the previous 30 days, with 2,170 being the most on one day. Content I shared on the page received over 470 actions (shares, comments, etc) in that same 30-day period. Follower count was just over 3,000.
Over the month of September, the page received nearly 35,400 views, with 1,692 being the most on one day. Content I shared on the page received over 759 actions (shares, comments, etc) in that same 30-day period. Follower count was nearly 6,200.
Needless to say, I was happy to see the difference. This is proof that the steps I outline in my 4 easy steps to take each day to build Google+ engagement actually work:
- Search for people I want to engage with. Add them to my circles.
- Comment on, share, or +1 their content.
- When people follow me, I follow them back. I add them into appropriate circles and publicly thank them.
- When someone comments on, shares, or +1’s my content, I thank them by doing it to their content.
Now, there’s one slight catch. I actually didn’t follow steps 1, 2, or 3 in the list above.
Early on in the summer, I reached the maximum limit of people you can circle on Google+. For the 2.5 years I’ve been managing this Google+ page, I followed those 4 steps religiously. Unfortunately, Google+ doesn’t allow you to circle more than 5,000 people at once, so I can no longer follow steps 1–3.
As such, all the growth I’ve experienced on this page has been through following the last step. Well, mostly.
There are two other things I do to increase engagement:
1. I post a weekly, visual shoutout.
Every Friday, I create a post that links to everyone who has +1’d, commented on, or shared my content, or has mentioned me in one of their posts over that previous week. It’s a way of thanking them for their engaging with my content. I also include an inspiring quote or a breathtaking public domain image to make it stand out on their feed and prompt them to share it.
2. I share relevant content
Other than resharing content reciprocally as mentioned above, I also curate content related to my client’s industry. I share that content, which attracts engagement from my followers.
Improving social media engagement is simple: engage with others and they’ll engage with you.
Would you like to see results like this on your company’s Google+ page? Contact me, and I can help you out.
