Presentations are typically the result of extensive research and a lot of preparation. But smart content marketing can help give your presentations legs. Rather than letting them serve only one purpose – the original presentation you prepared them for – you can use SlideShare to continually leverage the expertise included in your presentations—and enhance your online visibility, too.
All too frequently, the presentation that you’ve worked so hard to complete sits in a file on your computer once it’s concluded. You might need to borrow content from it for another presentation, but other than that, the fruits of your labor don’t get any additional exposure.
Why SlideShare?
That’s where SlideShare comes in. Think of SlideShare as a way to diversify your content marketing strategy—after all, presentations are forms of content, too. Not all of the presentations you prepare may be suitable for public consumption, but for those that are, SlideShare is an ideal solution.
When you upload your presentation to a platform like SlideShare, you not only extend the life of that material, but also show the public how you think, work and present solutions. Think of it as a way to provide an ongoing demonstration of your expertise and skills, an ideal way with which to attract prospective clients and other professional growth opportunities.
SlideShare: Traffic and Tips
SlideShare is one of the fastest growing content marketing platforms and much of its audience is comprised of industry professionals and business owners. According to the Content Marketing Institute, SlideShare receives 60 million visitors a month—one-third of which come from organic search. That means your presentation—and, by extension, your expertise—can reach a whole new audience that you wouldn’t have otherwise found. This means big things not only for you, but your brand or business, too. Increasing your online visibility equates to higher brand awareness and recognition, and SlideShare can be an important part of enlarging that reach.
SlideShare Best Practices
Before you post a presentation to SlideShare, you may want to do some editing, especially if your slide deck is long. Here are some tips from CMI on creating the optimal SlideShare presentation, including:
- Keep your presentation between 10 and 30 slides
- Use an average of 19 pictures
- Use an average of 24 words per slide (we think this is high)
SEO Always Matters
And as you tag your presentation, remember that search engine optimization always matters. Be sure to label relevant topics, industries and subject matter while envisioning what your prospective audience may be searching for. Provide an overview on SlideShare as to what the presentation is about and tempt viewers with what kind of takeaways they might get from the presentation. Some tips for SEO:
- Use keywords in the title
- Use keywords in the summary
- Use tags in your description
- Use large text in your presentation. It may seem easy for you to view it, but for SlideShare, bigger is always better.
I have to give a shout out here to Al Bonner of Presentation Transformations. I used to think I crafted pretty decent presentations. That is until Al started being in charge of them. And I realized that I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. When you put your work on display for the world to see, be sure that it’s pretty stellar. And if you need someone to help fine-tune or craft your presentations for you, Al is the guy I recommend. I bring the vision and the ideas and Al turns them into somethingfar better than I did on my own.
The Power of Content Marketing
Creating great content is one thing. Getting anyone to see it, that’s a whole different animal. And so, don’t just upload your presentation and hope people stumble across it. There are so many ways to use the presentation once it’s on SlideShare and that’s part of what makes the platform so attractive. Write a blog post and embed it, put it on your company website, embed it in an email newsletter, share it on LinkedIn, Twitter and even Facebook. That way, that one piece of work that you invested so much of yourself in live on in so many different iterations and really produce some bang for the buck. Oh, and when the day comes that a presentation you created is featured on the homepage of SlideShare … your smile will be pretty broad.
The Benefits of SlideShare’s Pro Account
The thing that I especially love – because I’m a geek – is the analytics that SlideShare provides. We have a pro account, which you need if you care about things like analytics, and that allows us some insights into what pieces of our content are the most compelling. It also shows us – as of today, anyway, that 36.6% of our views come directly from being embedded in another piece of content and 32.7% come SlideShare. Those are views (and opportunities to show other show we think) that those pieces of content would not have otherwise had, had we not uploaded them to SlideShare.
Another thing that’s particularly interesting, and which helps you know what kind of content is resonating with your audience, is seeing which pieces of SlideShare content are the most embedded, and which are the most active, as well as which countries your viewers are coming from. It also gives me insights not only from a content marketing strategy standpoint, but from a new business development standpoint as well. If you know me at all, you know that kind of stuff is my crack cocaine.
Are you using SlideShare as part of your content marketing strategy? If so, have you seen some benefits?
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”