How to Use Quora for B2B Marketing

When B2B marketers realise that a particular platform can be used to generate leads, they do try their best to squeeze all they can get out of that particular platform and maximise the opportunity. And that is no different with Quora.

When Quora came into existence in 2009 and was made public in 2010, B2B marketers jumped at the chance to experiment with it and try to generate as many leads as possible.

Here we are to discuss on the same topic, how can we use Quora to create B2B leads?

WHAT IS QUORA?

Quora is a website specially designed for question and answer dialogue.

Essentially, it falls into the category of social media and is a valuable hub for sourcing information on all kinds of topics in broad detail.

With a completed profile created, anyone is free to ask a question on anything, without restriction. Likewise, to respond to questions answered by the Quora community.

Answers on Quora can be voted and ranked as useful or not, using an up voting or down-voting system. Also, answers can be reported as spam, if found harassing or inappropriate.

This voting system makes the platform an interesting and competitive place for weighing up the value of information shared across the wider topic.

It allows the genuinely useful content providers to rise to the top and receive recognition for their genuinely helpful and valuable time and effort.

WHY SHOULD MARKETERS USE QUORA?

Quora is a platform that gets millions of visits every month.

According to the latest survey in April 2017, Quora claimed that it gets 190 million monthly unique visitors – which is a great sign for B2B marketers as the chances of capturing more exposure is extremely high.

A crucial and beneficial factor is that the questions are answered by the real people and not by internet bots or any automated systems.

But what is more important is the relevance of the exposure.

To put this into context, if you are asking and answering questions which are directly related to your product, service or industry, then you are openly communicating with a sample of people who are directly interested in your business.

As a minimum they are going to feature somewhere in the chain, creating a positive impact.

Further to this, those reading the history of the question threads have a high chance of developing their interest in your business due to the authority of the personal brand you are creating within the platform,

This is ultimately a combination of your answer views, up votes collected, questions answered, and of course the quality and depth of the answers you are consistently providing.

Impressive volumes of these metrics can influence significantly and play a huge psychological role in marketing the business which you represent.

Visibility

Quora also provides you with a more direct platform for publishing your content.

If you want your question to reach more people, you can make use of credits. Spend some credits and get your question popularised.

Another useful exposure avenue is requesting for your own question to be answered by a specific Quora user based on their expertise or experience.

All you need to do is to add your question and send that specific person an answer request. This can draw more potential traffic and interest to the post.

Quora possesses a powerful search engine and allows you to search for any question or topics related to your business and you can follow those going forward so that you can receive notifications for new questions being added.

Therefore you will see a regular stream of communication on new interesting ideas which you can consume or jump in on and contribute to as and when.

Research

You can also use this platform to monitor the audience perception of your B2B business and your competition.

Searching for your business name or industry type keywords you will discover a wide variety of feedback, comments and questions surrounding the different areas of your business.

There are two ways which you can react and utilise this data. You can deflect criticisms and use it as a platform to defend your company.

Alternatively you can take the positive and negative information and channel it into your business developments.

Quora lets you communicate with your customers directly.

Last but not the least, you get to learn from others including various people, experts and sometimes from company’s thought leaders too.

HOW CAN YOU USE QUORA FOR LEAD GENERATION?

There are many ways which you can take advantage of Quora’s structure to create opportunities for lead generation.

You can either take a direct approach with it or a low key, longer term strategy.

Either way, the overall intention is promoting your business through contribution to the relevant discussions, throwing your name in the hat of experts and expressing yours and your business name.

Hopefully the quality of your information will do the work from there.

Create an alluring Quora profile with enthralling bio

If you want yourself to get noticed and extend your branding, the very first step required is to get a profile that is eye-catching.

What will contribute to the authority of your answers and potentially invite further up votes, views and leads is the credentials which you have alongside your name.

This is the point of reference which will be used for people aligning whether the answer should be considered valuable or not so much.

So be sure to capture the attention with this opportunity by displaying the job title or experience which coincides with your right to share this knowledge from a position of status.

Follow admissible topics and specific people – turn on the notifications

Follow the topics that you find relevant to your business or work. Turn your notifications ON for those topics so that whenever new questions or answers come, you’ll be informed and are prepared to respond.

Following influential thought leaders can help inspire your own Quora outreach and help you to learn more about business and marketing strategies.

Pinned Answers

Introducing Pinned Answers!

You can now pin an answer to the top of your profile. Use the overflow menu ( ) on any of your answers to add a pinned answer.

When somebody reads an answer you have provided and wants to see more information based on the interest in your own profile, you can extend their journey into your own pathway with a valuable pinned answer.

This sits at the top of your own profile page and this could reinforce a vital point or it could be your best answer across the platform.

Find the best questions to answer, show your expertise

Once you familiarise yourself with Quora, you will quickly find yourself swamped with an endless supply of active questions which people are sharing and contributing to.

You will soon notice that you have the knowledge to answer questions and add value to the answers currently offered.

Your answer is a representative of your brand and business. Therefore remember to respond assertively but professionally. And begin leveraging your influence to the readers.

When relevant, you can link to your site, but it can be wise to dilute the links. You may also use a disclaimer.

Quora does not appreciate direct spam or explicit advertising and duplicate content may be removed and lead to a temporary or longer-term ban for your profile.

So be sensible with how aggressively you approach the platform and add some balance to ensure you do not appear as a direct sales person.

Start frequent blogging

Like LinkedIn Pulse, Quora too, has introduced a blogging platform for those who love documenting.

This is a win-win for those who want to grow and promote their brand through content.

To utilise this platform effectively, you need to blog frequently so that you can build and maintain the visibility and build the trust of those who are following you on Quora.

People love to get solutions to their problems and that’s what your article focus should be based around.

Track your analytics

Quora consists of its own detailed analytics dashboard. Tracking tools and analytics play such a vital role in qualifying marketing efforts.

You need to measure and keep a regular track of your answer performance, at least once in a week.

You can use its analytics dashboard to find the number of views, shares and, up votes all in one single place with tabs for specific breakdowns of time or question.

This will help you easily identify what’s working for you and what’s not. Improve on areas and do more of what is getting traction.

Author Bio –

Anthony Musker:

I am a digital marketer and content writer at Whoisvisiting.com. I implement the marketing activities including email, social and SEO – I have various experience within sales and marketing teams, working for start-up companies and in the PR industry.

Bhagwati Suthar

I am Bhagwati Suthar, Founder of Jobiba & TezLife.com. I am a Blogger, Affiliate Marketer and a Digital Marketer from Udaipur, India. At JobibaBlog, We share articles about Blogging, Marketing & Advertising, Business and Tech Tips.

www.jobiba.com