How to Design a Pilot Program to Increase Brand Awareness with Quora

Does your business use Quora to raise brand awareness? We've all heard of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram for B2B social marketing. But, few companies have considered the benefits of using Quora to drive qualified website traffic. What is Quora? It's a question-and-answer platform. Anyone can ask a question, and anyone can answer that question. Think of it like a hybrid between Wikipedia and Reddit.

Quora's mission is to share and grow the world's knowledge. Quora is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question.

As a social media marketer, it is critical I be on the lookout for any tactics that can improve results for clients. When one client inquired about our thoughts on using Quora to build thought leadership and increase visibility for the company, it was time to consider the benefits of using Quora.

When I Googled the best way to run a Quora program, I found comprehensive lists with dozens of steps. Though these lists are good for brainstorming, they did not help me determine what to do first to get results.

All too often, businesses and marketers are stymied by the complexity in using a new marketing channel. Instead of going "all in" with a new marketing channel, it's better to invest no more than 1-2 hours in researching and developing a simple pilot program, your litmus test to determine whether or not to go all-in.

I decided to use my own profile before presenting the results to the client, as we are in similar industries.

Rule of Thumb: It's always a good idea to be a guinea pig before pitching a client an unproven add-on service.

Here was the simple pilot program I designed for Quora:

Goal: Start getting answer views.

Next Step: Build out Quora profile.

Daily Action: Answer one to two questions per day.

Timeline: 30 days

[Tweet "Considering a new social channel? Here's how to run a simple pilot program! #Quora #socialmedia"]

Here are my results after (less than) 30 days:

Views: 3,710 views on my answers

Time Spent: 10-15 minutes on weekdays

Successful Pilot? Yes.

Next Steps: Start answering two questions per day. Include hyperlink to website within one of those answers.

Goals: Drive website traffic and increase views.

Timeline: Another 30 days

After running two 30-day pilot programs, I will have a deeper understanding of Quora and can then go back to the client with a proven game plan and whether or not I think it's a viable option.

Your Turn: Have you ever considered using Quora to raise visibility for your business? Would you consider running a pilot program on Quora—why or why not?