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Creative Ways to Benefit with Google+ Hangouts on Air

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Google+ Hangouts on Air are all the rage right now. If you haven't participated in one directly, you've likely heard the buzz about them somewhere. Mom It Forward has been focused on the Google+ space since spring 2013, hosting Hangouts on Air and figuring out how best to use the platform.

Whether your a brand or a blogger, you have worked hard to build a community of engaged fans that consistently look to you for outstanding content. Your communities look forward to the ideas, projects, thoughts, and insights you share on your sites as well as in all your social spaces. Why not take it up a notch and deliver your content on a much more personal level - through a Google+ Hangout on Air. Utilize this relatively new platform to connect with your fans as well as to reach new audiences, all while developing an even better richness for your brand.

CreativeWays

Have you ever considered hosting your own television talk show? Google+ Hangouts on Air provide you just that opportunity with a platform that free and easy to use.

Why Google+ Hangouts on Air?

While Hangouts on Air (HOA) are limited to a collective panel of 10 participants, they are broadcast live to YouTube, as well as to your Google+ profile or Page, all to an unlimited audience. Unlike webcasts, Hangouts run off of Google platforms so it's easy for most people to participate, watch, and engage. Additionally, once the live Hangout is off-air, the broadcast remains as an archived video accessible on your Google+ profile or Page, as well as on your YouTube account.

6 Ways to Use a Google+ Hangout on Air:

  • Tutorials: Share step-by-step instructions for a project you're working on. Utilize a Hangout and skip having to type out and photograph the process. Producing a live tutorial is a much more effective way to get your information out there, with far less effort on your end.
  • Interviews or Panel Discussions: Interview a celebrity or an expert in a field of interest. Organize a panel of guests with varying  perspectives and discuss hot topics relative to your brand.
  • Connect with Your Community: Host an informal chat and encourage questions from the audience and let the community guide your content. Hangouts on Air can be carefully planned or can be impromptu and casual as well.
  • Host a Book or Product Launch: Announce a new product, project, or book. Hangouts are a fun way to involve your followers in anything exciting going on within your company. Use a Hangout to spread the excitement through your community.
  • Teach or Coach: Teach or coach your audience and the archived video that's created once you're off-air will prove beneficial to any fans that were not able to join live. Perhaps you have your own area of expertise and your content would be helpful for your followers. Not all Hangouts need to include guest panelists.
  • Host Satellite Parties: Celebrating an anniversary or a special accomplishment. Invite community members world-wide to join in the fun. You could even add a giveaway element for your audience!

Concerned that your typical audience isn't active on the Google+ platform? Don't let that deter you. Hangouts on Air are hosted on Google+ but can be promoted and maximized in most other social platforms that your followers are already present and comfortable.

 

G+Quopte

Don't make your already engaged audience come to you, nor expect an immediate conversion to Google+. Simply maximize what the platform offers you as a brand and share the content in the places where your followers already reside.

Still not convinced that Hangouts on Air are for you? Read through this amazing post from Branded3 that spotlights 6 innovative ways that Hangouts are being used by everyone from major brands to rock bands.

With social media and marketing professionals predicting the importance of both video content and Google+ presence in 2014, why not kill 2 birds with one stone and dabble a bit in the platform. The more you play around with Hangouts the less intimidating they will be and the more you'll begin to familiarize yourself with the extensive options they can offer.

Did you catch the first post in our Google+ series last week?

 

Have you ever participated in a  Google+ Hangout or Hangout on Air? What did you like about it?

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