Count me among those who really felt Google+ was going to be something more than it is. I’ve had my spurts of using the site, but in the end, it was one more social network to watch that didn’t provide value worth the time I gave it.

Aside from a crazy jump from Whistler/Blackcomb who went from 845 followers to nearly 3,000 in the space of three weeks (that growth alone accounted for an industry-wide growth of over 10%), growth has been hovering just above that of Facebook and Twitter, networks much older and more mature than The Plus.

Even resorts on Instagram are seeing solid follower growth close to 20%. So, when it comes to total reach both now and going forward, it’s not looking good.

A Redeeming Quality?
However, when it’s not set side-by-side with other networks, there are a lot of features that I like within Google+. Hangouts for one (and the hangout API) is a pretty cool feature that some resorts have already tested with some success.

Another that recently popped up is Events. I didn’t give it much thought when it launched until I saw an event from Grand Targhee show up on my Google Calendar. When I clicked on the event, this is what I saw.

Interesting, no? If people use Google+, they are likely going to use other Google products like Gmail, Docs/Drive, and maybe even calendar. If a invite my followers to an event and it shows up in their Calendar, that provides a handy reach and promotional tool for events that I hadn’t considered before.

Does it make creating a page and/or boosting followers counts worth the time, cost, and effort? I’d lean toward no, a quick email campaign will probably be much more effective, but if you see some marketing value in other features of Google+ or have already built up a following, it’s a nice little bonus.

The Future of The Plus
I don’t know where Google+ is going but I’m still hesitating to leave it alone. Google controls a lot, including search rankings. They’ve already shown their willingness to integrate the two and certainly with their recent announcement that social links are being used to determine PageRank they are including items shared on Google+, so having some presence there, in my mind, is better than not.

If Pinterest was somehow the group in charge of determining email deliverability, I think I’d take it more seriously. That’s the situation I see us in with Google+.

I don’t think it deserves much effort or focus, but even if follow counts don’t ever explode, having some sort of presence there (even if it’s rarely updated) might be better than having none at all.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.