How Do You Use Google Hangouts for Marketing?
Google+ is proving to be a business-friendly vehicle to communicate internally within your business and especially valuable as a means of reaching customers.
As it continues to grow and innovate, you gain more useful tools to help you market your business in this new arena.
Here are 7 Google Hangouts Tips you can use for your business:
Remote Meetings
Google Hangouts can slash the cost of travel for out of town meetings. With a Hangout you can put up to ten people together in a brains storming session from ten locations around the country, or ten desks within your building.
They are recorded, so in the event you have a late comer, (isn’t there always someone who arrives late or has to leave early?) they can reveiw what they missed without necessarily having everyone wasting their time repeating material already covered.
Conduct Market Research
Use Google Hangouts to interview customers about what they like and don’t like about your products or services from the privacy of their homes or offices. A hangout makes it easy for them to participate, and thus easier to get practical insights without the expense of formal “focus groups.”
Feedback
Like market research, gaining feedback from customers about a recently released product or your ideas for something new can go a long way in how you do business. You might want to offer customers a discount code if they attend any of these Hangouts.
Customer Service
You no longer have to limit your interactions with customers to a wall post or email. Getting some face time with them gives you the opportunity to look them in the face and handle any issues or complements head-on. Customers love knowing that there is a person on the other end of that screen and that you are ready to listen!
Brainstorming Sessions
These are informal meetings with your coworkers or even customers about ways to improve the business and products. Everyone gets a chance to voice their opinion and mention new ideas that benefit the company as well as the customer. (Customers will be especially excited to be included in these types of Hangout sessions!)
Make Big Announcements
Are you launching your new website? Opening a new brick-and-mortar location? Changing up your business hours? Start a Hangout session to get customers talking about it. You might also consider offering a sort of “door prize” as an incentive for more people to join the conversation.
Increase Engagement
From time to time, it is a good idea to just have a casual conversation with your customers and followers. Hold a wacky talent contest on the Hangout. Discuss kids, families, work, local sports teams. Engage them in a friendly debate about the best TV show or new book that you’re reading. Spend some quality time getting to know your customers outside of the sales arena. These are the people that make your business a success, so show them that you care!
Google Hang Outs are the emerging new vehicle for marketers to get their message to the public. But it takes some know how.
Here is a great resource you can use to get up and running with Google Hangouts in no time.
