Sean Reichle

What is Today?  Today is the day social marketing has come into it’s own.  No, not because you’re on Facebook, and there’s ad’s there.  And not because a tweet told me so. You may have heard of a new service by Google called +1 (plus one), maybe not. It was quietly announced as a new service similar to so many other social network sharing and bookmarking services such as Digg’s digg button, or Facebook’s like button.  So how is this different?  Connectivity I decree.  Another service Google has recently launched with much more fanfare is their new “offers” service.  Not heard of it either?  Don’t worry, you will soon!  Google Offers is a new group purchase marketing engine or “Group discount marketing” similar to the likes of Groupon.com and LivingSocial.com. These services are gaining huge traction in many consumer markets and becoming a sure fire way to market just about anything.  Discount products and services is almost a niche in and of itself.  Pair that with location based subscriptions and local business can deliver offers to a whole new customer base instantly.  This is gorilla marketing at it’s finest.  A single deep discount offer can woo millions of users in a day and these engines can market different offers to every region, every day.

It’s not new, none of this is.  These group discount websites have been around for a couple of years now so why am I taking the time to write this?  Well, it’s all about to change.  With Google launching it’s new “Offers” service, timed perfectly with it’s social “Plus One”, it’s likely to explode in a kind of “where did that come from?” market snap.  The real crux in Google’s position lies in it’s search. It’s first value proposition has finally matured into a social offering.  Links, products and services your friends +1, will be featured on your search results.  Google’s new offers service will allow smaller companies to break into new markets just like Groupon has done, but when they do, their +1 service will spread your choices to your entire Google contact list.  I know what your thinking… “Sean, who really uses Google contacts anyway?”  Well my friend… every Android smart phone user.

Consumers will be immersed into the influence of  friends without even knowing it, so I’m obviously not writing you this to give you a heads up on what you’ll eventually be choosing on your next Google search.  I’m writing this to tell you that if your not in Google places, it matters.  If your not using Google apps for your entire organization, it will have an impact on your bottom line. Google’s value proposition in social is so seriously poised that their services might just be the smartest single move any small business can make to launch themselves into success in darn near no effort at all.  Just one thing, have a fantastic “Offer” for the world.

Word of mouth marketing, has just been googled.