Have a question? Log into Quora and ask. Chances are people will answer. Of course, every answer won’t be great, but that’s to be expected when anyone can answer any question published on the site. However, if you take the time to read the answers, you’ll probably get some amazing insights.
In fact, many online influencers and respected experts spend time answering questions on Quora, and so can you. It’s a perfect place to demonstrate your expertise, make connections, develop your social proof, and build your personal brand and business brand!
Quora is open to everyone. People can even view questions and answers when they’re not logged into the site, which can give you even more exposure when you take the time to provide thoughtful and meaningful responses to questions that you’re qualified to answer.
Using Quora for Brand Building
So how does Quora equate to more exposure for you? It’s simple. Quora gives you a public place where you can demonstrate your expertise, offer valuable and useful content, and indirectly promote your brand, business, products, or services.
Just as you attend in-person events or answer customer questions in your store or office, you can do so through Quora. Not only are your answers available to the person who asked the question but they’re also visible to other Quora visitors. You can also share your responses through your social media profiles to spread your expert content even further.
You can even include links within your answers to provide more help. Those links can lead to your own branded online destinations such as your website or blog where you can offer more of your amazing, meaningful content and deepen your relationships.
When you answer questions on Quora, do so strategically. You never know who might see your answers or where they could lead. Treat every answer like a marketing opportunity, but don’t self-promote in your answers. Instead, be helpful, offer useful information, and provide links or marketing messages only when they truly add value to the person who originally published the question.
Keep in mind, other members vote responses to questions up or down. If you provide the answer that gets the most upvotes, your response will appear first – directly below the question, and that means more people will see it. You just might see the question and your response in Quora’s newsletter, which means even more exposure for you.
Getting Started with Quora
You’d be amazed at the relationships that can develop and the brand building you can do through Quora! Get started by creating an account, and spend some time to create a complete and relevant profile with the most important information and keywords in the first 50 characters. That’s the number of characters people see with your profile photo along with your answers to questions. You need to make sure that message is perfect.
Next, find topics to follow that align with your expertise. You can even set up notifications so you don’t miss questions that you might want to answer. When you see questions that you can answer, go for it! And don’t forget to be social. You can follow other people and ask them to follow you, too. When you’re ready to take your efforts to the next level, you can create Quora boards for specific topics, create your own company page, and dig into your Quora stats to see what’s working for you and what’s not.
Most importantly, have fun and answer questions to help, not to sell.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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