How to use Quora for Marketing

People will always have questions and now they turn directly to the internet for answers. This continual need for information creates a unique opportunity for brands to build up authority in their niche or industry simply by answering as many of those questions as possible. One platform in which this can be accomplished on is Quora, the very popular question-and-answer website. Based on our experience as a top internet marketing firm, we wanted to share our thoughts on how to use Quora for marketing by increasing brand authority.

Why use Quora?

There are quite a few question-and-answer style websites and forums on the internet such as Reddit, Yahoo Answers, and Fluther. Quora has established itself solidly within that niche and has a very large audience of 300 million monthly unique users.

Due to the size of the platform, almost any topic can be found which allows the opportunity to showcase insights, experience, and knowledge for just about any industry. In addition, Quora has a unique profile that allows content to be shared and enables you to directly communicate with anyone who asks you about your business.

By taking the time to engage with other users, you can not only answer questions and help establish both brand authority and thought leadership, but you can also gain insights and connections to other industry voices.

Using Quora for Marketing

Here are the basic steps for getting started after signing up:

• Create a Profile – This is an important step because any users who are interested in what you post will click on your profile to learn more about you. Take the time to craft a well-thought-out bio. Include links in the profile to the primary business website or social accounts to lead users to your business. Similar to LinkedIn, the headline is the perfect space to optimize with keywords.
• Find and Follow Topics – The search box allows for simple keyword searches to find topics. After finding and navigating to a topic, read the most recent boards and questions. If that topic is one worth following, click on the “Follow Topic” button. This action directs that topic to the Quora homepage news feed. Then, go back to the profile section and click on the topic to describe a related experience you have had. The information input in that section will then reflect next to your name when posting to that topic.
• Read the Most Popular Answers – To better understand the platform in general, take the time to review the most upvoted answers on the site. This can assist you while crafting both questions and answers and help you understand how other users have achieved notoriety with their answers.
• Add Questions – Rather than jumping right into answers, instead start by asking questions within a topic to gain a better understanding of the target market. When people answer these questions, take the time to Upvote and Thank them.
• Add Answers – When you are ready to dive in, simply click on a question and scroll down to the “Add Answer” field. Answers can be basic text, include supporting links, supporting images, and tag other questions and topics on Quora. Answers should always aim to be helpful and not self-promoting. If you are using your own site for supporting links, also include other links to not appear to only be on the site to sell. Some of the best questions to answer are those with more than 1000 views that have been posted for at least a week as these can lead to a high level of exposure.
• Turn on Notifications – Increasing brand awareness does require consistent effort. Turning on notifications will allow you to receive updates when new, relevant questions for your expertise areas are posted.
• Use Boards – Boards offer a space to connect with other people. You can create or contribute to boards on topics you are following to help promote and socialize.
• Review Analytics – Like most marketing efforts, using analytics is a helpful way to identify areas which can be improved. You can see which questions receive the most views, votes, shares, and more to help identify improvement areas.
• Be Active – Forum and question-answer sites are communities and as such, being active will help accelerate brand awareness. It doesn’t always need to be answering questions as you can follow people, upvote answers, leave comments, add to boards, or just connect with people.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that forum and question-answer sites are wonderful places to help a company expand their brand authority and establish themselves in a niche as a thought leader. Our article on how to use Quora for marketing is relatively specific to that platform, but the general concepts apply to other communities as well and can help you create more brand awareness.

Be sure to check back every week for great new Lounge Lizard blog articles.