In my field, I'm a late adopter. I only joined Google+ on Wednesday, and I'm still getting my feet under me (please don't ask me about Hangouts yet). In comparing this social site to Google's other attempts at social networking, though, I think the search company got it right this time – not just in the way Google+ works, but in the way they're marketing it.
To be fair, I can't say that the company took a substantially different approach in marketing Google+ than it's taken in marketing its other products. And some of the factors I'm thinking of as “marketing” actually pertain more to the nature of the product itself. Even so, I think I can distill some ideas that you might find worth using in your next website marketing campaign.
Let's start with the product idea itself. From a user's perspective, it looks as if Google examined what is actually working for people and thought about how to make it better. But they thought very hard about how to make it better. Thus, Google+ looks a lot like Facebook, but functions differently – and better – in some very important ways. It also combines features from other social networks, such as Twitter (you can follow people, for example).
That's not marketing until you consider the next steps. Google tested the product in-house, and then reached out to early adopters for beta testing. They knew who the early adopters were, because they know who writes about them – and where they stand in Google's own search results. High-ranking websites carry a certain amount of influence, after all. This is why Search Engine Land has been on Google+ for months.
When you reach out to the bloggers in your field, it's potentially a double-edged sword. They'll tell you what you got right, but they'll also tell you what you got wrong. That's actually a good thing, especially if they're willing to get access to your product in exchange for a limited-time non-disclosure agreement. Let them participate in shaping your product, and you know you'll be serving not just their needs, but the needs of their substantial audience.
Once you do let these early-adopting bloggers start writing about your product, they're going to generate plenty of buzz within their own audience. This is where Google got something else right, which they've done before: rather than immediately opening Google+ to everyone, they gave their early adopters invitations to spread to their friends. Google did that with Gmail, and this immediately created a demand; the very fact that you couldn't just join the service, but had to receive an invitation, made it special.
This tactic worked with Google Plus, but it wouldn't have worked as well if there weren't so many people blogging about it – and blogging positively, almost gushing about the new social site. Indeed, one somewhat meta post from Search Engine Land even talks about how excited everyone is about Google Plus. Who could pass up an invitation to an exclusive club that all of the active members you know about seems to love?
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