Google's New +Post Ads Now Available to Brands With 1K+ Followers

Back in December, we reported that Google was testing out +Post ads with a handful of big brands. +Post ads promote a brand's Google+ post across the roughly two million sites in Google's Display Network using AdWords targeting data. That means if you went on a site like Elle, you could see a brand's fully interactive Google+ post in place of a traditional banner ad.

Well get ready to celebrate, marketers. Now Google +Post ads are available to brand pages with over 1,000 Google+ followers that have also opted into the shared endorsements feature on Google+.

If you meet those requirements, you could promote a simple text update, photos, videos, Hangouts, and as of today, Hangouts on Air -- basically anything you can post on your brand's own Google+ page. Also, with this new update, Google is testing out an advertising option to always promote your most recent post on +Post ads -- and you only pay when someone engages with your +Post ad.

Here's an example of what they look like:

According to Google's announcement post, the brands testing out +Post ads have already gotten great results. Toyota, for example, has a 50% higher engagement rate than the industry average for rich media ads.

I know what you're thinking: Sure, this ad option seems cool and has been working for a national brand, but should I start throwing my budget into +Post ads?

Why Your Company Might Want to Try +Post Ads

I can't guarantee that you'll be successful with +Post ads, nor have I tested them out myself, but they seem like a pretty interesting advertising option to check out. They give you the best features of social advertising (the organic content with full interactive capabilities) with the distribution of traditional display ads.

If you've been creating great organic Google+ content that generates clicks, discussion, shares, and +1's, you could find great success with these ads -- they're just amplifying that engaging content to people who could be interested in it.

On the other hand, if you've been silent on Google+ and plan on replicating your traditional online advertising playbook with this new offering, you may not be as successful. Instead, try beefing up your organic Google+ presence to get an understanding of what kind of content your audience cares about -- or doesn't. If you're distributing poor organic content to Google's Display Network with +Post ads that wouldn't work without distribution, you're gonna end up throwing some money down the drain.

So make sure you're using your budget wisely. If you're unfamiliar with Google+, focus on an organic content strategy (this Google+ ebook can help you out). If you're already ramped up on the social network, see if +Post ads could have a positive impact on your marketing metrics.

Would your brand try these Post+ ads? I'd love to hear your perspective in the comments below.