Google Buzz, Sized Up

Marketing Professionals are trying to size up and evaluate every potentially relevant new marketing channel the web produces. The purpose of this blog is to help marketing professionals cut to heart of what they need to know about Google Buzz.

Facts

  • Google Buzz was released February 2010.
  • It’s a Social Media tool geared for sharing information, including photos and videos.
  • Currently, a person must have a Gmail (Google Mail) account to use Google Buzz. This may change in the future.
  • The biggest differences Google Buzz has over Facebook:
    • Fused to your Gmail email address
    • If you are mobile, Google Buzz has some additional functionality based on your current location
    • Makes is easier for people to engage in ongoing discussions
  • There are currently major privacy concerns with the way that GB makes a user’s connections public. Read more about these privacy concerns on Wikipedia.
  • The percentage of those who actually Google Buzz is currently unknown. GB was immediately available to Google’s 170 million users. Facebook has 400+ million users.
  • Gmail demographics according to Quantcast show the audience is very general with the exception that 51% of users are between the ages of 18 and 34 and 23% being between 35 and 49.

Opinions

  • There are drastically, mixed opinions about Google Buzz’s long-term impact from “Facebook-killer” to “another me-too product”.
  • Many people aren’t sure how they would maintain all these channels. People seem generally tired of too much noise from Social Media networks. I believe that, like anything else, people will evolve how they perceive and use Social Media tools and must optimize the quality while generally lowering the frequency of their posts.
  • I believe that Google Buzz will help evolve Social Media, but is not the “end-all”.

Recommendations

  • Like anything else, understand your purpose and objectives clearly before investing much into Google Buzz.
  • If you are selling a product or service customers typically buy again and again, Google Buzz may be worth testing and measuring.
  • See if and how “competition” is using Google Buzz by using the 3rd party, public search engine http://buzzzy.com.
  • Like other Social Media venues, Google Buzz should be approached much more as a way to engage your target audience, than an announcement center.
  • There are many ways in which Google Buzz may evolve. Check on it from time to time.

Conclusion

If we boil it down: Google Buzz is Social Media channel with the potential for marketers to engage their target audiences. It has the potential to become a big, fast, but that is yet to be seen.  With Google Buzz just released, there is very little data available.  There may be greater opportunities for some business types over others. For example: a classy local restaurant may have much more potential leveraging Google Buzz with their location-specific sharing features for reviews and recommendations, than a company whose target audience buys once in a blue moon (like with heating and cooling systems).

The big question is: How can your company/product/service be share-worthy?

We’ll continue to publish “Sized Up” blogs to keep you in-the-know. We love constructive criticism. Please share your feedback on how this blog could better summarize Google Buzz for marketing professionals?

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