For the digital marketer, it may seem as if keeping up with internet marketing and social media trends and strategy should be a job entirely separate from developing inbound marketing strategy around the trends, right? Lately, it seems as if updates and changes are being made to social networking sites faster than marketers can keep up, and in order to stay ahead of the eight ball and keep your brand in front of consumers, you have to be sure that you are keeping your strategy and inbound marketing activities up to date.

Here is a pro tip: When it comes to social media, always pay attention to Google.

What Google Says, Goes

Google has been a front-runner in search since the beginning of the Internet. With its own web browser, social media network, and more, have you considered that Google is nearly half of the Internet? This means that when Google makes a decision, you can bet that it is going to have some sort of impact.

For a long time, Google was trying to break into social media. Competing with social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter can be a challenge for any Internet company – even Google. In 2011, Google threw its name into the social media hat with Google Plus. Initially by invitation only, the social network borrowed ideas from social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. After it proved successful, Google Plus opened its Internet doors to the public and welcomed people to join circles and share their stories.

As of January 2013, Google+ surpassed Twitter, and only Facebook stands in its way when it comes to social networking sites. As the second largest social networking site in the world, Google+ has 359 million active users. Countless circles, thousands of hangouts and “plus ones” later, Google is looking to add another line on the network’s resume: the social media giant that is YouTube.

Enhancing The User Experience

The goal of Google has always been to create a positive user experience. Whether it is by creating new search algorithms to bring increased relevancy to users or to facilitate increased mobile usage of hangouts in Google Plus, the team at Google is always working hard to bring the next “big thing” to the Internet.

With that in mind, Google has taken ownership of various services, one of which is YouTube.

• Every second there are 46,296 YouTube videos being viewed all around the world
• YouTube has 800 Million+ monthly unique visitors
• YouTube is the second largest search engine – larger than Bing, Yahoo, ASK and Yahoo combined
• 72 hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube per minute
• Four billion hours of video content is video each month on YouTube

Since YouTube is owned by Google, how can the Internet giant make the service better, while utilizing the resources of social networking sites? This is where Google Plus comes in.

• YouTube is now linked to Google identities
• Your Google identity is your YouTube identity. This means that it will appear on your channel – if you have one – and shared content such as any videos you’ve uploaded, comments, and playlists you have
• There are two types of identities: Google+ profiles and Google+ pages
• Everyone who comments on YouTube from this point forward will be required to have a Google+ identity of some form

Now that you understand Google’s acquisition of YouTube, how do you think this may impact your insurance marketing strategy?
Be sure to check back, we’ll offer some social media and marketing strategies that you can implement to create a way for your agency to benefit from a Google Plus and YouTube merger.