B2B marketers simply can’t ignore the success of Quora. Positioned as a question-and-answer platform for virtually any topic.
If your looking for ways to build your business understanding the ground rules are important elements to Quora’s success and will go a long way in your own success.
1. Research & Development. This is one of the more exciting use-cases for building your business. If you need high quality Q&A from industry experts that will drill down into the details of your topic Quora is amazing. Imagine you are building your startup that is getting alot of Angel and Venture Capital attention. You could go spend a quick $5000 bucks with your startup lawyer to figure out next steps, documentation and procedures or you could cull through the endless comments on Quora by Industry authorities and influencers. There is no substitute for real legal counsel but you will likely cut your legal bill in half because you are armed with some real world knowledge. At the very least the quality of legal work you will now get will be elevated. There are numerous other applications for doing R&D on Quora for your business, the sky is the limit.
2. Don’t self promote. We’re all guilty of this including myself. There is a fine line between building a strong presence vs shameless plugs for your product or service. Building credibility and worthiness is key to success on Quora but be sure to avoid the hard sell. Rand Fishkin from SEOmoz said it best:
“Customers should not be sold they should be earned.”
3. Earn a Reputation. Build a deep level of knowledge on a your subject(s) of choices and be as transparent as possible when you answer. In addition to transparency, people need to relate with you and understand where you are coming from. Don’t become just another “me-too” voice in a sea of comments. Be sure to link other social media accounts to your profile as well, this will lend credibility to the more inquisitive users.
4. Communicate & Engage. Like any successful community you need to be an active particpiant on subject matter you care about. You have a real opportunity to create brand awareness for your business by regularly communicating your questions and answers as a thought leader. Other ways to engage on Quora is following people and questions that will add to your circle of influence for your business.
5. Quality Content. Be sure to ask great questions and provide above average answers in your area of expertise. The success of Quora stems from the amazing quality of content provided by the community. When you become an authority on a topic you should still be asking questions throughout the community not just a flooding your business vertical with answers.