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Social media is an ideal way for a small business with a tiny
advertising budget to get its name out there and interact with its
customers. Integrating the parts of your online strategy is key, but
sometimes, it's just not worth the effort to create a page on every
social network out there.

Right now, Facebook
brand pages are the go-to place for brands that want to be social, but
Google+ recently entered the game, trying to present an alternative—or,
at the least, a supplement.

Should your small business be on both Facebook and Google+? If not,
which one's the way to go? Here's a breakdown of the factors to
consider.

Userbase

Mark Zuckerberg's
social behemoth has one glaring advantage: Its gargantuan user base is
unparalleled. For a small business, it's nearly guaranteed that
whoever your customers are, they're already on Facebook and know how to
navigate it.

Google's network has nowhere near the amount of users as Facebook,
but its audience is a bit more focused. However, the regular folks that
go on Google+ don't check it as often as Facebook, so they are harder
to engage. Facebook's users come back to check the site frequently,
multiple times a day.

Engagement

There are a lot of similarities between the engagement features of
Facebook and Google+'s brand pages. Facebook has the "like," and
Google+ has the +1. Facebook has friend lists, and Google+ has Circles.

Unfortunately for Google+, Facebook completely dominates it on
features. It's not even close. Whereas Google+ really only allows you
to post pictures, Facebook offers a variety of ways for fans to
interact with your brand. It has polls, apps, events, notes (mini blog
posts) and even "friend activity," which shows when your friends are
talking about your company.

Branding and customization

Pages on Google+ look very similar to the current iteration of
Facebook. It has the same design with pictures at the top and a river
of posts beneath it. Google+ pages are more minimalistic, with a lot of
white space, whereas Facebook piles all of its features on its
left-hand navigation bar.

But when Facebook releases its new Timeline for brands, things will
be very different. For instance, the change in visual impact is huge.
Businesses will be able to instantly grab eyes with a big branded
banner at the top of the page. Meanwhile, Google+ will still have those
five dinky pictures at the top.

Facebook's customization features go beyond anything Google+ has. It
also allows you to embed e-commerce stores, make a page of trivia
questions, set up a calendar and much more.

The bottom line

Google+ has its benefits, but it just doesn't match up to Facebook
so far. Unless you have the time to spare to run a Google+ page, it's
likely not worth the effort because the ability to engage consumers is
so limited, and the breadth of audience is too. And when the Timeline
comes to brand pages, Facebook will take another big step ahead of
Google+.

For a small business, the biggest justification to use Google+ would
be to supplement the brand's existing online presence. It's certainly
worth it if you have the capability to run a Google+ page without
slowing down everything else you're doing online.

But it's obvious that Facebook's brand pages are way ahead and
should be the priority for a small business looking to engage its
consumers online.

Do you have both a Facebook and Google+ profile? Which do you prefer and why?