Quora is the most popular question and answer site and is also a powerful platform for reaching your audience. More than 300 million users scour Quora for answers or pose a question at any given time making it a great platform for marketers to reach them.
Users have to verify their names and add bylines that help identify their expertise such as “ Digital marketer”, “Web developer with 5 years of experience”, etc. This means that answers are of much higher quality than other Q&A sites.
Why should you use Quora?
Quora is a great way to know what issues are bothering your current and potential user base. You can then use the information to determine the direction of future content.
Additionally, you can demonstrate your expertise by answering questions related to your niche and improve your brand image.
More importantly, you can use Quora to influence people to start thinking about a problem from a different perspective especially one that is related to your product niche.
Some more reasons to use Quora in your marketing strategy.
With more than 300 million monthly visitors, it has an exceptional reach. It is also one of the most respected UGC platforms.
As Quora questions are searchable through Google, it has high search visibility. This helps drive people back to your content or site whenever a problem is trending.
With countless high-profile writers on the platform, it instills thought leadership in many.
The platform drives customers back to your website by answering their questions and demonstrating how you can solve their problems with your products and services.
People genuinely looking for answers turn to Quora.So, if you help your audience, they will support you by investing in your products and services. You may also find a few new brand advocates.
That said, whether you are starting out with Quora or a seasoned pro, here are eight tips you should consider while promoting your brand on the platform.
1. Learn who is viewing you
Every answer on Quora provides you with statistics for the number of times it has been viewed and by whom. Click on “#views” to know how readers are being led to your answers- are they finding your content through tagged topics, your profile or random browsing.
Visit your views page to obtain an overall assessment of who has seen your answers. The insights will help you understand which avenues you can get the most from.
The main objective of using the Quora platform is to influence people and provide your company with the needed exposure.
2. Edit and format your answers
When writing a response, make sure to edit your answers just like you would do to your blog post or report. Poorly worded, vague, or irrelevant content is a big turn off for your users. So, if you want to impress your users and gain their trust, make sure to edit your answers.
You can use Quora’s text editing tools to format your answers. Use bullet points or numbers to break down a long post to make reading easy. Emphasize certain segments of your content by bolding or italicizing the text. You may also add links in your text to reflect the title of the landing page. However, try to edit your links so that they read naturally within the sentence.
For example, "you may get in touch with a professional digital marketing agency in Sarnia to help boost your visibility online".
3. Include images to help get the point across
As cliched as it may sound, a picture speaks a thousand words. Therefore, it is crucial to choose good photos to support your point. You can even create unique images for each post. In a list view of answers, the first photo in a post will appear as a thumbnail in addition to the text preview. Remember most people are naturally drawn to images. Images will not only help them click through but also read what you have to say.
4. Encourage people to upvote your answer
One useful tip is- answer a question as soon as possible after it has been posted. As the question will be fresh in the asker’s mind, they will more likely to upvote your answer and engage further.
Additionally, by answering a question first means you won’t have to compete against other answers and won’t have to repeat someone else’s ideas.
Also, if answers within the same question have the same number of upvotes, older answers are more likely to stay closer to the top which means more people can read your answer.
5. Get more social
Link your Quora account with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or WordPress accounts to increase the chances of your answers being shared. This will ensure that an automatic update is pushed to your other social accounts as soon as you’ve answered or posed a question.
In addition, this will also help draw more people to Quora especially those you are already interested in what you have to say.
6. Avoid answer collapse
Your answer may sometimes be hidden or “collapsed” if;
Your answer is highly downvoted
You have not improved your answer as suggested by the moderator
There is no real-name verification for your account
You can easily verify your account by connecting it with your other social media accounts.
7. Back your answers with statistics and references
To make your answers more authentic and engaging, provide statistics, sources, references, specific details to support your answer. You may also use personal stories to support your argument, however, it will require much more time to develop.
Make sure to link to the reference source. Also, if you have already published a blog or whitepaper having the information, link back to it to drive more traffic.
8. Be genuine
Sometimes, people tend to ask inane questions on Quora. However, try not to give a sarcastic or condescending answer.
Remember, you are representing your company through Quora and all your actions will reflect on your company’s level of customer care. Also, sarcastic answers are more likely to be collapsed by moderators. So, think before you answer.
That said, well-crafted answers will have a positive impact on your reputation and can even generate leads. Additionally, if someone with a substantial number of followers “upvotes” your answer, it will be promoted to their subscribers as well.
Final thoughts
Now that you know how helpful Quora can be when it comes to engaging with your audience and spreading the word about your company, don’t neglect it.
Get curious and start answering!