Sharing an Honest Conversation: Q&A-Style Interviews
If asked about their content strategy, most people in content marketing will include the usual spread — blogs, social media, and gated content. Perhaps, underneath those categories, they might consider implementing a Q&A piece, lumping it in with blogs or gated. We, however, believe that Q&A-style interviews are very much a distinct form of content in need of its own category and explanation.
So, what exactly is it? What’s the point? And what’s the unique value? We cover those answers to those questions below:
Q: What is a Q&A?
A: At face value, a Q&A is a series of questions followed by an answer. We trust you got that far on your own. When you dig a little deeper, it’s an investigation of a topic that is either sensitive, easily misinterpreted, of extreme importance, or requiring special attention. It shouldn’t be a conversation with just anyone either — it should be with an expert, leader, or client/customer. Their opinion needs to matter, making them the go-to person on one particular topic. Q&As are, in some sense, a form of executive communication.
Q: What’s the point?
A: While the form may be obvious, context can be nuanced. The true power of a Q&A executed by a content marketing team is that you can shape the story in any way you please, much like an effort in public relations, while displaying it as an interview. That’s not to say the goal is to contrive anything. Actually, one of the most significant benefits of a Q&A is the ability to have an authentic conversation. You just have the added benefit of an ability to reorganize, reword, and rework.
Q: What’s the unique value?
A: In addition to being a great way to increase engagement with your content (seriously, people prefer this format) and express yourself in a particular way, Q&As have SEO value. Google wants us to answer queries right away — no dilly-dallying. In fact, the algorithm penalizes for the kind of fluffy content that goes nowhere. Essentially, the sooner you answer a question, the better. The format of a Q&A is all about — you guessed it! — answering a lot of questions. But more importantly, doing so in a short amount of time while maintaining quality control. When done right, you can use and rank for keywords that will provide a ton of relevant answers to readers, AKA your audience, AKA your customers.
Q&As with Cosmitto
There you have it — Q&As as a part of your content marketing strategy. If you want to arrange an interview or email exchange with a writer at Cosmitto, we can create a Q&A piece that will communicate important or sensitive information exactly how you want to, in a way that brings readers along for the ride, and increases your odds of ranking on the first page of Google search results. Contact us today to talk more about this particular service.