Some might be surprised by Google’s latest announcement, Google+ Local. The announcement came in response to intense pressure from Facebook and other social networking giants like Twitter and LinkedIn. Google is trying to position itself as a new and potentially superior service provider in local search.

If you have an offline business, you know how hard it can be to get people to even know your business exists. You might have a small advertising budget and even less money to market your business to potential customers. But the question remains. How will you compete with Facebook and the other giants in this space?

For those that have already attempted to do what Google is now doing, they might be pleasantly surprised. Even if you didn’t try to do it before now, you might be pleasantly surprised by what you see. What’s going on there is no big secret. The tools are out there and the strategy is working.

The way this tie-in works is simple. Rather than having you join forces with all of the other guys that are already in the space, you are going to compete directly with them for the same space. But you don’t want to be so competitive that you lose all of the other benefits you would otherwise enjoy. So Google has devised a few tricks that will allow you to enjoy those benefits while at the same time positioning you as a true leader in the field. In other words, they are coming after you.

One of the things that you will notice right away is that Google has moved their focus to the social platform. You may be thinking that this means that Google+ should go away. No such luck. The reason that Google is staying in the game is that they recognize that the social space is one of the most important spaces to push into. It just may surprise you to see just how much value there is to be had in this space. Let me explain.

Social media is one of the best ways to get your brand out there without you having to put out additional money. In addition to that, you can also focus on building relationships with customers and leveraging the power of the web while doing so. The question becomes, can you create an impact with this strategy without using a traditional marketing strategy? The answer to this question is an astounding yes. This is because you might be surprised to see just how many opportunities there are to leverage the power of the web through social media.

One of the keys to this strategy is to really understand what your customers need. Google recognizes that many people spend hours online checking out what others have to say about a product or service. They do this so that they can get first hand information from someone who is living with that product or service in daily life. If you can get access to that same type of information then you might be able to leverage the power of this strategy and really start to turn the business around for your company.

Once you begin to understand the benefits of leveraging the social space, you will be able to tell the company what you can do to help them. This is why it is critical that you focus on real customer service and provide solutions that solve real problems for your consumers. When magazine feel good about the services provided by your company, they are more likely to purchase from your company in the future. You can take this philosophy across the board and really start to turn the business around for your company.