A lot of businesses today are getting into Google+, but are they really realizing its maximum potential as a lead generation tool?

Google has bestowed a gift to the marketing community in the form of its highly efficient social networking and content platform. In fact, it is so multi-functional that marketers, even after quite some time, are still discovering new ways to utilize Google+ in any business-productive means they could find.

In an article posted on his website, Marvin Shervington, business consultant and marketing psychologist, shares a whole new method of using Google+ which he calls Circlecentric Marketing. The principle primarily revolves around moving the relationships a company or brand has with their fans/existing customers toward the centre of nested, or concentric, circles.

Similar to movement down a sales funnel, through every interaction, people can be moved from an outer circle toward an inner circle, hence deepening the psychological relationship and in essence moving them to a point where there can be a ‘sales conversation’.

According to Shervington, there are five ‘levels’ of Circles:

Circle 1 – outer circle

This happens when the ‘follow’ button is pressed, and means people have put you into their circles and will receive content in their stream.

Circle 2

Once someone ‘follows’, the brand can also see who has circled them and can then circle back – in turn, they will see they’ve been circled. They can also research on the person’s profile to see what other circles to add them to as well. If for instance someone was key target audience, then adding them to a circle where one can communicate more intimately may be an appropriate next step.

Circles 3 a/b/c

Here we’re categorizing the different nature of interactions for different people. Using circle management techniques, a person can be made to feel more and more listened to e.g. +1ing their posts a) every time they post (have them on notify) b) daily c) weekly etc

So instead of just expecting people to relate and engage with your content, you step outside of that to engage on their content. Pay special attention to your active engagers and return the favor.

Circle 4

Private community – this content is not seen on the web, and can lead to an increased level of intimacy. This could be a small, select group of people that you engage with at the high e.g. private posts, increased one-to-one engagement and exclusive offers etc.

Circle 5 – Inner Circle

Either form of community could have an inner circle where the individual can be invited to events, including hangouts and hangouts-on-air. The value of this is huge.

If you are a business, wouldn’t you like to get face-to-face with your customers for 30 minutes?

The nature of the Inner Circle will be determined by your business, but ultimately, this is where the magic really happens.

Read the full article at: Google Plus for Business – Circlecentric Marketing