Use Quora to answer potential customers’ questions, and they’ll perceive you as a valuable source of knowledge and an industry thought leader.

Despite gaining popularity over the last several years, Quora’s potential as a marketing tool for supply chain and logistics companies remains largely untapped.

In case you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, Quora touts itself as “a place to share knowledge and better understand the world.” It’s a simple premise, but one that’s been highly effective since its founding in 2009: “It’s a platform to ask questions and connect with people who contribute unique insights and quality answers.” Essentially, the site is a community-generated question-and-answer forum.

How does Quora work?

Anyone can ask or answer questions on Quora. A key feature of the site is voting feature: community members vote on which answers are most helpful, boosting those responders’ visibility and credibility. A few other things the site allows you to do:

• Target your question to specific users;
• Publish content (much like LinkedIn’s publishing platform);
• Search for questions or topics relevant to your business, and follow these keywords to get notifications of new questions.

You might already be starting to see the exciting potential in this social media platform. But let’s talk about three specific ways you can use Quora to build your brand, generate leads, and engage with your potential buyers.

3 ways supply chain and logistics marketers can use Quora

1) Research

Using Quora is about gaining and spreading knowledge. Your peers and competitors might be talking about their new projects with an audience that’s actively offering feedback on what it wants or doesn’t want. Before even jumping in with your own content, just staying attuned to the conversation can be a valuable resource as your business builds its marketing strategy.

2) Building and maintaining connections

Relationship-building is a key benefit of using Quora. While sites like LinkedIn and Twitter are valuable for quicker engagement, Quora offers a forum for substantive conversations, a crucial building block for lasting buyer engagement.

The site also offers a great opportunity to reach beyond your normal sphere. Emma MacAnnally of Torchlight suggests: “Don’t be afraid to ask questions and engage in conversations with others you respect and admire.” She points out that doing this will broaden your audience, offer new insights, and give you recognition with thought leaders in your field. “Networking can happen anywhere,” she says.

3) Reputation building

Quora offers you the ability to run a quick search of your business’ name, and tune in to what’s being said about your brand. Also, by answering others’ questions with substantive, reliable content, you can become a resource for potential buyers, as well as others in the industry.

Your business is more than its product. You can offer your audience valuable knowledge. Quora gives you a direct way to answer the questions that your potential buyers are asking, building your reputation as a resource for knowledge and as an industry thought leader.

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