I have a Question…The Pros and Cons of Quora

Part One of Two

“I have a question.” How many times has that sentence been uttered? Probably about a billion times. It was around the time that the world “Google” was turned into a verb that we all realized the power of the internet to answer all of our burning questions (WebMD says there’s probably a cream for that…)

What that turned into was a ton of unmonitored chat rooms, noise and internet “junk” that made it hard to find out real, honest answers to questions. Enter the rise of the Forum. Finally!

So as marketers, how do forums fit into your strategy? Do you have a forum strategy? Do you need one? Most marketers will answer these questions with a deer-in-the-headlights-stare and thinking “CRAP – should I be doing that? I’m already knee deep in Twitter and Facebook – now I need to pay attention to forums?” But those are questions for another day. Whether you have a forum strategy or not, it’s important to know that they are out there and that millions of people turn to them. And it could be a great opportunity for you and your brand.

So let’s take a look at the one that 80 million people around the world turn to every month. Quora. While Quora is still working out the kinks when it comes to advertising, marketers can use the forum to directly interact with people who are using (and talking about) their brands/products.

Unlike other social media forums and sites, Quora allows marketers to directly communicate with customers by taking part in discussions. What sets Quora apart from other forums are the caliber of the expert. Everyone from President Obama to Mark Zuckerberg to Hilary Clinton turning to the forum. Lastly, Quora and its community demand only one thing:

BE AUTHENTIC.

Because Quora has better quality experts, they can sniff out an ad or a hard sell and they will call you out on it! Stay in your swim land and only contribute to discussions where you can be a helpful member of the Quora community. It’s not the forum for the hard sell. If you want to do that…go see your ad sales team.

Next Week Part Two…

#troymickle #CMO #VISVA #socialmedia #socialnetwork #socialspam #storytelling #consulting #seo #publicrelations #Quora