What is Google Post?

What is Google Post?

what-is-google-post

At 1:06 AM today (a Sunday) I received an email from “The Google Search Team” encouraging urging me to “create content”. I found this intriguing for many reasons.

At a glance, the email says, “Now that you’re ready to start publishing, make sure your content has what it takes to grab peoples attention.” Yikes! I wonder what this is?

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Now at first I simply assumed it was another sneaky tactic to push users into engaging with Google+. I didn’t need or want Google+ the first time it came around and I’m wary that in Google’s tenacious race against Facebook, they will push and push and push until they win.

But as I read further, the more perplexed I became. This is something more.

Less promotion, more information. If you have a promotion or an event, mention it. But present it as part of a larger conversation—industry insights, audience engagement, etc.

Publishing on a regular basis keeps your audience engaged. Also keep in mind that your posts will be live on for only seven days.

If you have an upcoming event, publishing about it right before it begins tends to draw more attention. Or use the scheduling feature to create posts ahead of time.

Generally, people interact more often with animated GIFs than they do with static images.

Boost awareness of your content by sharing it via a link or directly to a third-party service like Twitter or Facebook.

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This email copy is directed towards business owners. I don’t use this email account for a business listing, it’s just an email account. But I do manage clients using Google tools such as Google My Business and Google Analytics, So I wonder what happens when I click the blue button which leads to https://posts.google.com/author/

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Businesses can now publish content directly on Google.

Imagine that! Google Businesses can post directly to Google – Promotions, GIF’s, etc… and after 7 days they self-destruct. Literally like a mini-billboard to catch the attention of prospective customers. And yes – the blue button directed me to the Google My Business dashboard for one of the dozens of clients I manage.

My Takeaways:

+ Google is very intent on getting onto the social radar of business owners with this snapchat-facebook-twitter hybrid offering.

+ This is likely a precursor to an opportunity to pay to promote posts to a wider audience. 😉

+ This falls in line with two of my predictions for 2017: Google+ will be essentially re-launched and the need for customers to visit businesses websites will diminish.

+ This is experimental and might not stick around past Valentine’s day.

Is the new Google Posts something you’d want to explore and engage with as a business owner? Let us know what you think.