How to Create Opt-In Notification Circles on Google+

Practical Tips and Steps

First thing you must understand is that the average Google+ user hasn’t heard about opt-in 

circles and doesn’t know anything about them. So before going into details about how to 

subscribe, you should start by explaining about the basic concept of the opt-in circle. Don’t 

make the explanation to long, but do give your audience enough information about your 

plans. So here are the steps I’d recommend:

Briefly explain about what you’re doing:

“Hello friends! I’m creating a blog notification circle here on Google Plus! The idea is that each time I share a new post on my blog, I’ll send out a notification to this circle letting them know about the post.”

What’s in it for me?

As an initiative for subscribing, a cool thing you could do (but really don’t need to if you have

 great content) is promise to share exclusive giveaways or posts with that circle alone, or at 

least before your share them with the rest of the world.

Call to Action – Tell people how to subscribe (in a simple way!)

“If you’d like to be included in the Blog Notification Circle and be the first to know about new 

posts & tips – simply +1 this post and you’re in!”. Don’t forget to mention that people can 

opt out of the circle at any time. An alternative for this is sharing the post and then quickly 

adding a comment on to that post saying: “+1 this comment to be included in the notification 

circle!” and then disable new comments on the post.

Create a Dedicated Image

This worked great for me in my last notification circle, so I’d highly recommend using an 

eye catching bill consolidation design that clearly describes your goals and call to action.

Disabling reshares and comments on the post leaves only one option – +1’ning the post 

(is that English?!). Keeping the subscription process simple makes it easier for people to 

understand what they need to do in order to subscribe. When comparing this to a mailing list 

signup form on a website, I always find it easier when I’m asked to only fill in my Email 

Address and hit subscribe (rather than name, family name and so on).

Add all subscribers to your Opt-In Circle (Yep, this step is important…)

Great! So you’ve followed the above steps and people have asked to join your notification 

circle? Now it’s it’s time to add them to the circle! Head over to “activity on this post” either by 

hovering over the profile thumbnails at the bottom right of the post, or by going to the drop

down menu in the top right corner and selecting “activity on this post”. Next, hover over the 

names of people who’ve +1’d the post and add them to your “Notification Circle”.

Doing this one by is definitely possible, but rather time consuming. So be sure to check out 

Circloscope chrome extension and premium version which allows you to add multiple profiles 

from any post to your circles at once.

Send out your first post!

When you send out the post make sure to tick the “also send email to” box, and you’re 

all set. If you don’t do this, you missed the whole point and your subscribers won’t be 

notified about new posts.

Important things you should note

Even though it’s rare – it’s possible that even if you’ve done everything right, you won’t see 

the “Also send emails to …” checkbox. If this happens it’s probably because most people 

who’ve asked to opt in aren’t following you, and in that case Google+ will not allow you to 

send emails, and this is done to prevent spammer from bombarding your email with spam 

messages.

The solution for this is the following – determine which people in the circle are not following 

you (this can easily be done using Circloscope) and then do one of the following things: 

Reach out to the non followers in order to explain the situation and ask them to follow you. 

Unfortunate, but remove the non-followers from your notification circle. After doing that you 

might need to create a new notification circle in order to refresh the backend system.

I’m repeating this because it’s important – let people know that they can opt out at any time. 

It’s also a good idea to occasionally send out a message to your notification circle alone just 

to ask and make sure they still want to be included.

Conclusion

Google+ notification circles are great in so many ways and can easily become a part of your 

marketing tools. When writing your opt-in post remember to keep things clear and offer a 

simple way for people to subscribe to your circle. Think twice before you share a post with 

your notification circles and never send spam. Remind people of the option to opt-out and 

most important – share great content. If you do – people will never even think about opting 

out.

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7 Ways to Improve Your Social Media Engagement

#1: Use Facebook to Highlight Employees and Reach Out to Fans

Your company is only as good as your hardworking employees—so don’t be afraid to highlight them.

SEOmoz uses Facebook photo albums to highlight their employees.

The SEOmoz Facebook Page does an excellent job of this. Two examples in particular really jump out.

The “Then and Now” photo album: Employees provided photos from their youth along with recent photos of themselves. This is a great way to show fans the human sideof SEOmoz. Plus, the baby pictures are adorable.

SEOmoz does a wonderful job of featuring employees, like in this “Then and Now” photo album.

The “What are Mozzers listening to?” photo album: All it took was snapping photos of employees with their headphones on and asking them what they were listening to. The result is an inside look at company culture.

The MLS team Seattle Sounders FC creates Facebook Events and invites their fans.

The MLS team Seattle Sounders FC creates Events for both their games and promotional events like player meet-and-greets.

Is your company holding an event that’s open to the public?

Then create a Facebook Event so followers can RSVP and add it to their calendars. This is a feature that is often overlooked by businesses—even many professional sports teams don’t create Facebook Events for their home games.

To get your juices flowing, here’s a short list of the types of gatherings where a Facebook Event could be perfect:

• Seminars
• Webinars
• Open houses
• Charity events
• Conferences

In the example below of the 500px Facebook Page, they use Facebook to feature their fans.

For the photographers who are lucky enough to be featured, it means tremendous exposure to the Page’s almost-300,000 fans. As for everyone else, this type of post makes them feel part of a community with the possibility that they could someday be featured.

As a photo-sharing service, 500px is a natural fit to share user content on their Facebook Page.

Social media gives companies the ability to easily recognize their customers and fans.

Depending on your company’s niche, there are numerous ways to feature your customers and fans. For example, you can highlight contest winners orencourage users to submit their own photos and videos.

#2: Get Personal on Twitter

Get creative by using video to connect on Twitter.

You can use Twitter Vsnap to send personalized videos. Vsnap is a tool that allows you to record a video message with a maximum length of 60 seconds. Use this to send a personal video message to a follower on Twitter.

Every new follower Vsnap gains on Twitter is sent a personal video message through the service.

Making these short video messages personable is easy. Look at your target’s Twitter bio to see if something interesting jumps out and use this to craft your message. Or say thanks to someone who shared your content or became a new follower. Or answer a question someone has about your company.

Businesses have already found several creative uses for Twitter’s Vine app, which allows you to take 6-second video clips.

These short videos can be fun to watch and encourage viewers to connect with you further.

Your Vine videos don’t have to only be about your products. Here are some other uses your company might want to consider to connect with your audience:

• A tour of the office
• Individual Vine videos for different teams
• Encouraging customers to Vine about your business

Let people know who’s tweeting.

Have you ever noticed companies who include the initials of the person tweeting at the end of each tweet? Or companies who include the Twitter handle of the person(s) tweeting in their bio?

Both of these strategies are a great way to make a branded Twitter account feel a little more human and the interactions more personal.

Time lets you know who is responding to their account on Twitter.

The TIME Twitter account includes information on who is authoring the account’s tweets in the bio section.

Be part of the conversation.

Don’t ignore people who take the time to tweet to your company.

The Whole Foods Market Twitter account makes it a priority to respond to tweets.

Sometimes just acknowledging a tweet can make someone’s day—potentially making that person loyal to your brand for a lifetime. If you take the time to tweet, take the time to respond to complaints, compliments and questions in a timely manner.

Use humor to make your followers laugh.

Old Spice is known for their quirky marketing and branding, and it shines through on Twitter as well.

You never want to force it, but humor can be an effective way to make your company seem less robotic. And with the constant stream of information on Twitter, breaking it up with a laugh is always appreciated.

#3: Use Google+ Circles, Communities and Hangouts to Create Valuable Conversations

Create and share Google+ Circles your followers will find useful.

One Google+ feature that is sometimes underutilized is the ability to share Circles.

Your company can become a resource for users looking for more people to follow related to your company’s industry. After sharing the Circle on Google+, you can copy the link and share it in a blog post or on Twitter.

This is an example of a recent Circle featuring almost every speaker at SMX West.

Furthermore, this allows your company to connect with the people in the Circle you’ve created and build your audience. They may see the Circle you’ve made and decide to share it on their own profile.

Here are some examples of the type of Circles your company could create and share:

• Industry leaders
• Speakers at conferences
• Favorite writers

Get active in the right Google+ Communities.

Google+ Pages are able to take part in Google+ Communities like any other user: Pages can create, join, moderate and participate.

Chances are there’s already a Community that fits your company’s industry. If so, join the discussion. If not, make a new Community and invite others to join.

Use Google+ Hangouts.

With Google+ Hangouts, your Page can start a video chat with up to nine people. This is a great opportunity to connect with your audience.

This Google+ Hangout with chef Nigella Lawson isn’t just solid content; it’s a fantastic way to have followers interact with The New York Times Google+ Page.

This New York Times Hangout featuring Nigella Lawson is a perfect example. It features a host—Lawson—and three home cooks who wrote in describing how they fared making Lawson’s pasta recipe and why they wanted to be included in the Hangout.

#4: Participate in LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn Company Pages can feature up to three groups on their page in an effort to have more people join the group(s).

Much like Google+ Communities, participating in LinkedIn Groups is another opportunity to join the discussion in your company’s industry and answer questions. As an added bonus, more professionals in your field will see your company.

This is a great opportunity for you to get more visibility for your company and tointeract with people who may be interested in your products and services.

#5: Use Pinterest to Invite Others to Pin on Your Boards

Your company’s Pinterest boards don’t have to be limited to just company pins.Collaborate with other users to give your account a more personal feel.

For this style challenge, Home Depot invited others to pin.

To invite other Pinterest users to pin to a specific board, go to the board and click Edit. Next to “Who can pin?” type the users’ names or their email addresses (Note: in order to invite someone, you must be following at least one of that user’s boards.) Click Save Changes.

Once the invited users accept your invitation, they’ll be able to pin to the shared board. However, you can always remove the user and remove their pins. Moreover, invited users cannot change a board’s title or description.

Pinterest is just as much a community as any other social network. So remember tomake the time to interact with other users by commenting on and repinning their pins. While you’re at it, follow users’ boards that fit your company’s industry so you have a fresh stream of related content every time you login.

#6: Don’t Forget to Engage on Foursquare

Use Foursquare to leave tips.

When a Foursquare user visits a location page, they’ll also see tips from other users.

If your company has a location (or multiple locations) on Foursquare, leave tips at your own locations to show users the personable side to your company. These can be simple, or perhaps even offer an inside joke.

Leaving tips at other businesses in your area provides a way to offer your authority on your industry. Best of all, Foursquare users get insightful tips and tricks.

For example, maybe you own a travel agency and leave tips on the feedback you’ve heard about particular attractions. Or maybe you own a food website and leave tips at popular restaurants.

You’ll find fun facts from the History Channel in the tips section of several landmarks.

In the above image, the History Channel provides some fun facts.

Again, you’ll be actively adding to the community.

Use Foursquare to create interesting lists.

Creating lists of places based on a general theme can help your company be seen by more people on Foursquare.

Lists are something Foursquare users appreciate because they act as a resource that’s easy to save. For instance, your company could create a list of its employees’ favorite lunch spots. Or the list could be the best places for company outings.

The Travel Channel has some food tips galore from Adam Richman.

Travel Channel has a list with the places Adam Richman has visited on the show “Man v Food Nation.” Over 8,000 users have saved it.

If you do decide to create a Foursquare list, login using the desktop version of Foursquare and make it from there. Compared to doing this on your phone, it’s much easier to find and save places to your list with more screen real estate.

#7: Get Creative With Your Hashtag on Instagram

Creating a hashtag and encouraging users to submit their photos is a smart way tostand out and be personable on Instagram.

The NBC News Instagram account recently asked users to tag their winter storm photos with the hashtag #NBCNewsPics. After the weekend passed, they chose four of their favorite user-submitted photos and featured the photos as a single image. In the description, they gave credit by including each user’s Instagram username.

By creating a hashtag, NBC News encouraged users to submit content AND was able to feature their favorite user-submitted photos.

Featuring user photos in this fashion on your company’s Instagram account adds to the community. It also shows that you’re on the social network to contribute more than just your own photos. There are several examples of companies doing this, including those in industries like journalism, sports and travel.

The easiest way to feature another user’s photo is through the use of third-party websites like Statigram and Webstagram. Both websites have the option to repost underneath all photos. Before reposting, don’t forget to obtain permission from the user first.

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