A Step-by-Step Guide to Driving Qualified Traffic From SlideShare Presentations
The strategies are simple, but the results will astonish you. Let’s get started:
Getting Started with Slide Presentations
● The first thing you need is research. You need to collect a lot of data to support your slides, no matter what your topic might be.
i). Conducting your research: Before you create the presentation, you’ll need a plan of attack. Primarily, you’ll need to … ❏ Pick a topic ❏ Know the topic inside and out
❏ Read experts’ views about the topic
● Google search is the place to start. Just input your “topic + strategies” into the search box and see what comes out.
● Make sure that you use credible and authoritative blogs, sites, books and academic papers when researching your topic.
● You can also find helpful questions and corresponding answers from experts on Quora.
ii). Sources for accurate data: Another vital element you’ll need in your presentation is data. Data makes your visual content trustworthy in the eyes of readers and prospects.
● Again, you can get relevant data by searching Google. Just input your keyword + statistics (e.g., “consumer happiness marketing + statistics”).
Note: When you use data from other sources (e.g., blogs, books, etc.), make sure that you credit the source accurately! If you don’t, this could get you into trouble. It’s also unprofessional.
Creating Compelling Slides
● Slides are visual content, even when text is placed on images. Slides, at their roots, are very similar to infographics.
● Customers can understand your message better if you communicate through visuals.
● We’re all visual creatures. According to Copyblogger, “we can get the sense of a visual scene in less than 1/10 of a second.”
● Looking at visual content, slides are easier to create and unlike infographics, you can create them all by yourself.
● If you don’t have the budget to hire someone, you can make a good looking slide presentation yourself. It doesn’t require any graphic design skills.
● Creating infographics, on the other hand, can be complex if you don’t know at least the basics of graphic elements like typography, colors and wireframes.
● When creating slides for SlideShare, follow these tips: i). Make it irresistible: Let’s see the definition from Google of irresistible- “Too attractive and tempting to be resisted.”
● How do you make your SlideShare presentations irresistible? a). Tell a story: Tell a story of how you faced your own doubts and went ahead in spite of the fear – how you ultimately succeeded in overcoming a challenge or obstacle.
● Telling a story doesn’t mean you’ll relate your high school experience with people in your slides. That would be an odd approach.
● Storytelling in marketing means that you find creative ways to simplify your topic and present it in a more digestible pieces while infusing your personality.
● Storytelling also means that you break down long content into shorter “chapters.” This helps your readers digest your content more easily. ii). Use brand characters. The idea behind an irresistible piece of content is to give people information in a way they won’t be able to find anywhere else. In your SlideShare presentations, you can use characters to give your brand a voice. iii). Push where it hurts: Do you know the pain points of your audience? If you want them to notice your slides, capitalize on that. Use the customer’s own words to describe their problems and frustrations. iv). Set them up: After describing their problems using their own words, let your customers know that the solution is right in the slides. You’ll be amazed at the number of clicks and views you’ll get. v). Position your Unique Value Proposition: Your UVP is the only reason why your slide presentation is different from others. If nothing stands out, your content will be perceived as “nothing special.”
● There’s got to be a better way of presenting your idea. According to Steve Blank,
“UVP is a single, clear and compelling message that states why you’re different and worth buying.” vi). Make it simple: Use simple, common words that people are familiar with. Your first slide (which performs the function of a book cover) should be clear and the fonts legible. vii). Make it beautiful: You can help potential customers fall in love with your slides and products by making them beautiful, or at least aesthetically pleasing.
● Creating beautiful slides, like the one below, can help prompt the kind of positive word of mouth that’s absolutely priceless.
● Implement these simple tips to make your slides beautiful:
❏ Use clear, readable fonts
❏ Use contrasting colors (e.g., white on red, or yellow on black)
❏ Use professional photos (ideally, use handcrafted images as they tend to perform better)
❏ And always bring an experience to life
● To learn more about making your SlideShare presentations beautiful and visually appealing, this post will help:
❏ 3 Ways to Amplify Your Presentations with Photographs viii). Stay consistent with your brand: Every slide should contain carefully selected words, images and flow. The more value you deliver, the more consistent your slide presentation will be, and, consequently, customers will know that your brand is worth sticking with.
● Make sure that your customers and prospects can recognize your brand in every slide you create. Whether it’s a 10-slide or 30-slide presentation, make it a culture.
● Some of the things you can do to ensure brand consistency are:
❏ Use professional slide templates that look similar to your site.
❏ Create congruency between your site and every slide, so that when people click on the link on your slide and visit your site, they won’t be confused.
❏ Use your logo, colors, trademarks and symbols consistently. (If you put your logo on every slide, make it small and unobtrusive for the body slides and use larger versions on intro and final slides)
❏ Communicate in your voice. If you like to add humor or analogies to your blog posts and you have been consistent, your target audience is already familiar with that, so make sure you use them in your slides. ix). Make your slide mobile optimized: The future of the web is mobile. Google knows this – that’s why it decided to reward mobile-friendly web pages. Optimizing for mobile devices should become a habit, regardless of which social media platform you’re using.
● Specifically, SlideShare recommends:
❏ Go Big: Use font size 16 or higher. ❏ Say More With Less: Highlight or limit text on slides to a few key phrases. ❏ A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words: Use clear and simple images (limit to 1-2 per slide). ❏ Keep it Simple: Avoid using complicated graphs with too many details. ❏ Use High Contrast Colors: Better contrast improves readability on small screens. Case Studies: Brands Driving Traffic with SlideShare Presentations
● So, which brands are successfully driving traffic with SlideShare marketing?
1). Brand of Innovation generated 2.5M slide views: The thing that makes slide presentations great is the concept. As we said earlier, it takes creativity to nail a winning presentation.
● One of their presentations has generated over 940,000 views since 2011 and it was on a topic that has already been covered by many people in many ways.
● Some of the tips they used include:
i). Unique angle: Yes, there may not be many new topics to cover, but you can always approach a topic from a unique angle.
ii). Consistency: Every 2 – 3 months, Nick and his team usually add a new SlideShare presentation.
iii). Invest time: Invest time to create something unique, useful and professional. Don’t settle for something “quick & dirty.”
iv). Craft a great cover: Get started by writing 10 – 15 headlines that you can use in your first slide.
v). Continue with your cover: Check if your design works for small thumbnails, because this is the first thing people will see. Find an interesting teaser image and give credit to owner.
vi). Desaturate the background: The focus should be on the headline, not the background, and that your background should not grab attention. Some ways to do this:
❏ Blur backgrounds
❏ Make them darker or greyed out
❏ Make the text more visible and readable
vii). Call to action early: In your cover slide, add a call-to-action (e.g., link to your website, landing page or store).
viii). Give, Give, Give: The “give” principle will help your SlideShare presentations shine. Don’t be stingy. Talk more about others, not you. Pack your slides with links to other cases, people & resources to follow.
2). Framebench Used SlideShare to Get 500 Signups in 3 Days: Growing a business begins when you start getting leads, because targeted leads will become customers when you nurture your relationship with them.
● If you want to attract people who will join your programs and buy your products, you need to be where they are.
3). Marketo got over 600,000 views from SlideShare: Throughout 2012, Marketo experienced significant success using SlideShare as a channel to promote useful visual content.
● It doesn’t matter how many visits your site gets right now. Maybe you’ve created a presentation before that didn’t work. If so, why not give it another shot, using the tips and strategies we’ve shared here?
● The truth is that you can acquire more leads from SlideShare than you would with Facebook, if you take the time to create useful and share-worthy presentations.
● Useful presentations get featured on the front page where over 50,000 monthly visitors can easily access them.
1). Tools used to create slide presentations: There are quite a few tools that you can use to create your slides. But don’t waste time learning and using them all. Pick one and learn how to use it to its fullest potential.
● Some of the tools are:
1. Microsoft PowerPoint 2. Google Slides
3. Canva 4. Haiku Deck
5. Keynote
● To maximize your SlideShare presentation and get more views and traffic to your site, the resources below will help:
❏ The Ultimate Guide to Hitting the Front Page on SlideShare
❏ SlideShare and Pinterest: 8 Ways to Use Them Together for Viral Marketing Power
Increase Slide Deck Visibility on the Web
● To increase the visibility of your slides on the web, there are a few simple things you can do:
i). Research and target long-tail keywords to drive organic traffic: Don’t over-optimize your presentations with keywords – but don’t ignore keywords, either.
❏ Always use a long-tail search term in your SlideShare title to boost your chances of driving organic traffic. ii). Choose a user- & search-friendly filename: Filenames are important to Google and can impact search performance. When uploading your presentation, make sure that your filename is both user- and search-friendly. The shorter, the better. iii). Make your title and description enticing and keyword rich: The title and description on the cover slide is what people will see first. 8 out of 10 people will read it, then decide whether to view more.
❏ Ideally, add the keyword you’re targeting in the title. But more importantly, make sure your title flows smoothly and is interesting. iv). Be relevant: Write a persuasive transcription. An all-important rule of marketing is to “be relevant.” Your images, words and especially your copy must be relevant to your audience. v). Embed in your blog posts: To create better engagement for your next blog post, embed one of your SlideShare presentations. You’ll increase your views, get your readers excited and boost your search visibility.