Idea today from Mary Henige, director of social media and digital communications for General Motors, from the 2011 Midwest Social Media Summit.
General Motors uses Google+ to distribute the right news to the right groups of people.
Step 1: Set up your Google+ Brand Page (Here is General Motors’ Google Plus Page)
Step 2: Set up your circles (journalists, bloggers, staff, etc.)
Step 3: Distribute extremely rich and interesting news to those circles affected most.
Here is General Motors Google+ post on November 7, 2011:
Welcome to GM’s Social Media Newsroom on Google+. We are using Google+ to grant greater access to media and online publishers. From hangouts with leaders to a more tailored and rich way of delivering information in real time, Google+ has the potential to change the way we engage. We welcome your feedback regarding what you’d like to see here as we explore this new channel together.
This is the first example I’ve heard of a brand using Google + in a creative way, targeting personas with different sets of content.
Very nice (and useful).
4 Comments
Interesting to learn what big brands are doing with Google+, but honestly, I thought ALL Biz users were distributing content (and listening) this way…it’s one of the most compelling features of Google+. Maybe this is a “female” thing…since Mary mentioned it, and I’m doing it as well, and you, a man, found it creative. Women are much more used to projecting different images (different personas) to different core audiences: businesswoman/mother/daughter/PTA Mom versus men traditionally feeling more comfortable just being who they are…one image.
Thanks Lynn…the difference here is that GM is deciding to use Google+ as a newsroom only, for media purposes, not just to share good content. But love your comment.
Joe, thanks for the nice post. I enjoyed your Midwest Social Media Discussion yesterday. Too bad we didn’t get a chance to chat before I had to leave.
Lynn, I do think I have good women’s intuition, but that’s not what’s in play here. As Joe mentioned, since we have many web channels for GM, we thought about the best way to use Google+. Since most of our channels target consumers, we thought we’d use G+ to target news media, bloggers, etc., with focused and rich content and discussions. Like everything on the web, we’re learning and adapting. I hope that helps.
Mary Henige
@maryhenige / @GM
Thanks for stopping by Mary. Loved your presentation. Let’s catch up sometime soon.