While Google+’s numbers continue to grow, it appears that brand engagement has faltered, at least according to a new article from Reuters. Of the top 100 brands that Reuters analyzed, 72 had a Google+ page, but roughly 40% of brands have never posted content or have done so infrequently. McDonald’s, one of the largest advertisers hasn’t even made a single post on Google+ to date as they are “not active” on Google+.
One of the biggest arguments that brands are making as to why they aren’t participating as much on Google+ is that their customers are all on Twitter and Facebook. According to Reuters, the average U.S. visitor to Google+ spent 6 minutes 47 seconds on the site in March while visitors spent more than 6 hours on Facebook. Warby Parker founder Dave Gilboa told Reuters that customer engagement on Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest was “orders of magnitude higher” than what the brand saw on Google+.
An additional source of frustration for brands is that the platform hinders creativity. Custom tabs and pages can’t be created on Google+, something that many large brands take advantage of on Facebook. The stunted Google+ API was also referenced as an issue for many marketers looking for custom solutions.
For more information see the full Reuters article.
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