Google Buzz: Communication Strategies and Applications

In my last post on Google Buzz, I promised to provide some applications for organizations seeking to take advantage of this new social network.  As the service expands, people will undoubtedly find ways to use Buzz that we can hardly imagine right now.  But as promised, here are four easy steps you can take right now to start using Google Buzz to advance your communications objectives:

1. Create a Google Account for your organization. Google Accounts have always given you access to a huge range of beneficial communications tools, such as Docs, Gmail, YouTube, and more.  But Buzz gives you something new – it allows your account to broadcast your issues and priorities to a public audience.  Think Twitter, but without the 140 character limit and with the ability to add photos, videos, audio, links and more.  Create a Google Account for your organization, link your social media feeds and Google Reader to it, and begin sharing your message with the Google community.  As with any social network, it may take awhile to build up your followers – but if you include links to your account on your other platforms and update with good content, they will come.
2. Monitor clients and issues. The public forum is one of the most powerful features of Google Buzz.  Not only does it allow you to broadcast, it allows you to monitor other users’ broadcasts.  At the top of your Google Buzz window, there is a search field that allows you to comb through every Buzz post that has been made public.  As users can sync multiple platforms to their Buzz account – such as Twitter, FriendFeed, Flickr, Google Reader, and others – this search is a powerful way of checking in to see what Google users are sharing with one another.  A query on the “National Rifle Association” or “SEIU” yields countless public posts from across all of these social networks.  Communicators can use this search to investigate how and why their clients are being mentioned or to better understand how an issue is being discussed.
3. Identify network influentials. This is the next logical step from step two.  Not only does the public search forum allow you to monitor issues or organizations, it also shows you the individuals that are generating conversations about those issues.  Take prominent social media enthusiast Robert Scoble – each of his Buzz updates are generating comment threads that are longer than the original post.  Using Buzz to keep close tabs on your issues or organization will show you which Google users care about your causes and which of them are generating conversation among their friends and followers.  What’s more, for the most active users, you’ll be able to see each of their social media feeds in one place, allowing you to monitor their activity on multiple platforms.
4. Engage the public. There are many ways that you can engage Buzz users.  Follow users that share items on your issues. Then follow their Twitter feeds, Flickr albums, or anything else they’ve linked to Buzz.  Some users tie Buzz directly to their email accounts, giving you the opportunity to reach out directly to those individuals you identify as valuable to your cause.  If you’ve created a Google Account for your organization, you can make direct comments on relevant issues, clarify information, or provide greater resources for individuals that are already interested in what you have to say.

These are just a few ways you can get started with Buzz.  Have other ideas that aren’t mentioned here?  I’d love to hear them in the comments.