July 16, 2018
It’s like an enigma. For years people weren’t even sure how to pronounce it. “Quoah-rah” “Q-ro-ah” “Cuar-oh-a.” But it’s Quora (pronounced quar-ah, like the word ‘flora’). It’s a mashup of the word “question” and “answer” and the platform truly is having the last laugh when it comes to bringing in the social conversions. So, what is it and why is it so important for social media marketing? This is what makes Quora a true unicorn…
Quora was started in 2009 as a question-and-answer site where the community was basically in charge of exchanging the knowledge. Questions are asked, edited, and organized by the network of users. You maintain a profile where your answers can be “upvoted” and statistics produced on your efficacy.
The brainchild of two former Facebook employees, the underlying current to Quora is social. As of April 2017, the site had over 190 million unique monthly visitors, which rose from 100 million the previous year. Needless to say, the popularity of Quora continues to rise as their database expands with free information.
There are currently over 400,000 different topics to discuss on Quora. It may seem like a simple forum, but Quora has proven itself time and again to be one of the most effective marketing platforms on the web. The only trick is that you have to be genuine. This is a community of creative professionals. That means forced social sales never work. The following are just a few ways in which Quora can benefit a business:
The fastest way to a modern consumer’s heart is by creating value. Online, this is done through thought leadership. You can put your brand in your profile so whenever you answer a question, users know exactly where you work.
Now, provide thoughtful and useful information and people will make the connection. The more helpful you are, the more likely they are to remember you and where you come from. You can even shamelessly link your brand if it’s relevant. Why not?
The search engine gods know all. That includes every place you touch on the internet and if you are providing concrete value or not. Google has been writing these algorithms for decades. What many marketers might not realize is that Google actually loves Quora! In fact, they often include Quora posts among their highest ranking sites.
If you feel confident enough, you can improve your search rankings even more by including keywords in your questions and answers. Of course, you can go very wrong, very quickly here. If you aren’t the greatest writer, you may end up sounding robotic or keyword stuffing. So, take heed.
You know you can use Quora as one gigantic survey, right? That’s simply called “asking a question.” Quora gives a business the ability to conduct easy and fast market research on virtually any topic or concept they can think of. And with millions of people watching, responses tend to be fast.
Have a toss up or disagreement in the meeting? Throw it on Quora and come back to it after lunch. Chances are you’ll have at least 3-5 answers to work with. There’s no reason to guess what your target audience might need when you can just ask them on Quora. Contrarily, you may also find people asking questions to pain points your brand can solve. It works both ways and it’s beautiful!
Quora is the unicorn of social media because even though it’s elusive, it’s more powerful than people know. It’s a unique social tool because it functions not only as a place to network, but also as an indispensable resource and an incredible stage to market upon.
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