If you’ve ever scoured the internet for an elusive answer to an arbitrary question, chances are you ended up on the popular Q&A site Quora. But the site is more than just an information repository; it’s a fully functioning social network.
The scary thing for communicators is that people are already talking about your brand on the site. If you haven’t built up your company's presence on Quora yet, individuals who are far less knowledgeable about your organization are controlling the conversation.
Think of Quora as a kind of socially enabled Wikipedia. The site is structured by topics, which are a series of questions anchored by a main keyword. Often keywords are brand names. So when a user enters search terms on the site, a drop-down list of related topics will appear. Each topic has its own page, which can be edited by anyone, much like Wikipedia. Users can also follow topics and individuals to get updates on questions and answers they’re interested in.
The thing to remember about Quora is that it requires engagement more than anything else. You have to monitor your company's topic page to make sure the information is accurate. But more importantly, the only way to build credibility is to consistently provide value to the site's users. There are 100 million monthly unique visitors on Quora who are potentially looking for reliable information about your brand, partners and competitors. If you don’t provide it, someone else will. Here are three tips for the uninitiated to get started providing value on Quora.
Focus on content
The Quora community has absolutely no patience for self-promotion. The only time you should be answering questions is when the topic aligns with your company’s area of expertise. The type of content that succeeds on the platform is also very different from other social networks. Where platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram encourage and reward brevity, Quora is where talented writers from your organization can provide the detail and nuance that the audience is hungry for. The key here is only giving authentic, unique answers that no one else can provide.
It’s not about followers; it’s about being the top-voted answer
The great thing about getting your answers upvoted to the top spot is that Quora answers show up in Google searches. So by putting out quality content, your brand will be seen as a thought leader on a given topic, leading to positive brand exposure.
Measure your work
Quora offers a free analytics tool that allows you to track your posts by clicks, shares and upvotes. Use this information to determine what works best on the platform so you can focus on sharing content that helps the community. This feature alone makes a the platform ripe for quality PR work.
Follow Mark: @MarkRenfree