Have you used Google+ Hangouts yet?  They are a unique feature of Google+ that allow you to either have up to 9 other people in a private webinar or allow you to livestream webinars to YouTube to allow anybody to listen to the webinar and ask questions via text.

Aside from the obvious way of using Google+ hangouts to have team or group webinars, as an alternative to Skype, brands have used hangouts on air in some really creative ways.

Cadbury UK have used hangouts and hangouts on air for chocolate tasting hangouts, cooking demonstrations and interviews with famous sports stars to help drive engagement on their Google+ page.

Earlier this year, Manchester United offered the chance for 20 fans to appear on the pitch side boards at the Manchester United vs Liverpool football match via a Google hangout. You can see the original post here which has 1089 public shares.

Top Man held a shoppable Google hangout in January this year. During the hangout consumers were able to watch as the hosts took them behind the scenes of the catwalk show as they interviewed celebrities and models. They were also able to watch a live stream of the Topman Design Show. and could shop the looks of the hosts direct from the hangout. (85% of unique viewers clicked from the Shoppable Hangout to engage with products).

These are all big brands running hangouts, but small businesses can use hangouts successfully too.  Concise Training will be running a regular hangout on air at 2pm on the first working Monday of each month.  It would be great if you can join us.  The first one on 1st September will discuss the pros and cons of choosing a Twitter username. Register for the hangout here and you can watch it here.

I would love to hear about your experiences with Google hangouts in the comments below.