Page 144 - The Content Code: Six essential strategies to ignite your content, your marketing, and your business - PDFDrive.com

LinkedIn. Perhaps to have an effective search result, you don’t need the
most powerful website according to Google, but rather you have to have the
best content according to LinkedIn. LinkedIn has transformed into the
world’s largest publisher of business information, and content that is
highly-indexed by Google.
Groups of influence: In every industry there are normally small pockets of
online influence where thought leaders hang out. It could be a Facebook or
LinkedIn Group, a private forum sponsored by one company, or even a
close-knit blog community. Becoming active and trusted in these groups
can lead to content transmission, and even new Alpha Audience members.
How do you find these groups? Ask. Approach leaders in your industry
with this query: “I’m trying to learn the ropes in this industry. Could you
please recommend online forums, groups, and sources of information that
are helpful to you?”
Judicious outreach: Influencers are information junkies and love having
the inside scoop first. In fact, they’ve probably arranged their lives to
collect information about the things they’re passionate about so they’re
poised to be the first to share at all times! New information, and especially
exclusive information, is like ignition crack to them. I must admit … I am
in this category. When somebody who knows me well takes the time to
send me a link to an article “they think I will like,” it’s almost guaranteed
that I will read it carefully and share it. Do you have customers like that?
Trusted members of your Alpha Audience?
Be the hub: Marketing Consultant Rachel Strella2 offers this idea for
content ignition: “While most are trying to edge their way into a crowded
space, I often wonder if it makes more sense to BE the space. This is an
idea we proposed to a client in an oversaturated market of government
contractors searching for candidates with high levels of security clearance.
Until he consulted with us, he was working his way into hundreds of
groups, forums, and pages dedicated to military personnel. With
competition so fierce, he wasn’t sure if working these social media
networks was worth the effort. We had to look beyond the common
approaches followed by all of his competitors. We spent countless hours of
research through social media monitoring to determine the needs of this
valuable target audience, which helped guide our content plan. It also gave
us the idea to establish strategic content partnerships with a unique non-
profit focused mission, and have him create his own ‘hub’—an original
source of information that can be shared by the community he creates. The
idea is that by filling a gap and stepping up to be the voice of authority, his