Despite the fact that Google is absolutely crushing the search engine industry with its 67 percent market share, its social media offspring, Google+, is feeling precious little love from the digital marketing community. While many webmasters are rejoicing in Google’s struggles to carve out a piece of the social media pie, the facts suggest that online marketers may be ignoring Google+ at their own peril.

According to a recent Forrester report, Google + is a more effective marketing channel than Twitter, and is second only to Facebook when it comes to social influencing power. The report concludes that Google+ users are twice as engaged as Twitter users, and that Google+ is being used on a monthly basis by 21 percent of the adult population with access to a computer versus 19 percent for Twitter.

How Google+ Can Improve Your Marketing Efforts

Once Google makes an investment decision, such as expanding into social media, you can bet that they’re going to do everything in their power to make it a success – and nobody can seriously question Google’s ability to finance plenty of power.

Another fact to keep in mind is the increasing importance of social media signals in confirming a website’s authority. There is simply no way that Google is going to be maneuvered into relying on third-party social data to fuel its search engine ranking algorithm; Google will continue to invest whatever it takes to establish Google+ as a viable source for social signal juice.

• Google is the undisputed leader in online searches, and by adding Google+ to your digital marketing, you’re tapping into that reservoir of power and influence – especially as Google rolls out new features and functionalities to Google+.
• Google+ helps you build the type of social signals that can impact your search engine rankings. The Google+ platform includes important social tools such as Google Hangouts, Google+ Circles, and various Google social communities. After all, who knows better what Google wants to see than Google?
• Google+ offers responsive design features that allow your images and videos to adapt to the different screen sizes used by your audience.
• New photo editing features enable Google+ users to present an improved graphic image of their content, which means better engagement with website visitors.

How to Integrate Google+ into Your Marketing Campaigns

• The best place to start is with an optimized Google+ profile. This is critical to making the connections with people who will form your circles. Include a good cover photo, and use the about page to provide a snapshot of what you’re all about: personal data, information about your business, interests, and skills.
• Create an editorial calendar, and post regularly to your Google+ profile. As with any social media network, focus on providing interesting and relevant tips and ideas as opposed to turning your profile into a sales page. Devote the time to read other users’ posts and leave insightful comments wherever you can; all comments should be signed with your Google+ profile link.
• Use Google+ authorship to build your authority and readership; this will translate into improved search rankings. By including your Google+ profile link in each of your blog posts, you’ll increase your trust rating and attract more readers.
• Use Google+ to market your business to your local community. Your local page can be promoted through your Google+ profile by adding your business category information as well as your business phone number and location.