Google+...Relevant?

Every time I visit my Google+ account (Fridays, typically) I end up first viewing my full stream. The tinge of excitement I feel when I see fresh content, comments and +1’s quickly fades away when I realize that none of the updates are actually coming from my Friends. These updates are all from the Social Media “elite” playing up their personal “branding” to each other. Honestly, the only one I can take seriously is Tom Anderson, the creator of Myspace.

Then I switch to my Friends’ stream. The same image album of my friend’s trip to Portland that I viewed last week has an 86% chance of STILL being at the top, above the fold and Google+ relevant. As the realization that nobody in the “real world” (not a social marketer) has accepted Google+ into their lives hits me, a single tear drop runs down to my chin (that’s not true, I don’t ever cry about Google…on Fridays).

So this leads me to the question, “What will it take for the masses to adopt the better platform [Google+]?”

The answer I came up with leads me all the back to 2007, the year in which “The Facebook” overtook “Myspace - a place for friends”. From what you remember you might think that the mass migration was all about functionality, a sleek look and the added features that Facebook offered over Myspace. Although that may have something to do with it, I think there is a larger picture here that we need to look at.

Specifically: this one.

In 2007, at the height of Myspace’s popularity and active users, it had a staggering 110 million users. Facebook overtook Myspace the following year and hasn’t stopped growing since. Compare that with Facebook’s 2011 users (700 million), and you see that the job Google+ has in store for itself seems a little less do-able without elbow grease.

So Google+ has a high bar to clear—that’s understood. But there is another difference between the two landscapes that I believe to be far more important than volume of users: user demographics. It’s one thing to have to climb a 110 million twenty-somethings hill; it’s quite another to climb a 700 million everyone including your grandma hill. This is the key difference. Myspace did not allow you to plan your family reunion, did not allow you to connect with your employers, and most certainly didn’t allow your grandmother to comment on your graduation pictures.

Is Facebook too big to fail? I think so.  But the bigger question for Google+ is: does Facebook have to fail? If I’m a strategist at Google+ (c’mon - everyone has a price), I’m going with “no”, and planning out exactly how to make Google+ relevant in a Facebook culture.

Google+ Pages may very well be the key. If enough companies begin to connect and offer value to consumers with Google+, it may be able to operate alongside Facebook. Since the release, this is not the case. Hangouts may turn into a big thing for your company’s social media marketing strategy, but I wouldn’t send a large amount of resources to it in the coming months.  I will be interested in seeing how Google plays the hand out.

From a social media marketing perspective: Google+ is not ready for your strategy.