Branding Content Creation

Using Ego Baits Content to Build Your Digital Brand

Add comment7 min readby Juntae DeLane

Do you want to take a closer look at ego bait content and use it to build your brand? Here’s how you can do it.

Content and Ego Baits

Ego baits are a well-known strategy when it comes to content distribution. While this is not a totally new idea, it has gotten a lot more attention in recent years. This is because of the rise of social media for individuals, brands, and businesses.

So, what are ego baits?

Defining Ego Baits

An ego bait plays to the self-importance of the other side. This sounds a lot darker and perhaps sketchier than it actually is in practice. While the phrase “ego bait” itself is kind of unfortunate, in practice, all it is is saying nice things to other people to stroke their ego. It is a part of networking.

This type of content can involve featuring industry experts and influencers. It can even simply be you quoting friends you have in your field or industry whose words are important for one reason or another. However, you can also reach out to experts to get their opinions and perspectives on something.

Why Focus On This Type Of Content?

The whole point of doing this is making content that will appeal to the ego of your target. In return, you might get:

Links
Social Shares
Useable Content

Ego baits involve a level of mutual benefit. For example, if you say or do something nice for another business or social media personality, it is common that they return the favor in some form.

However, it is important to remember that there are definite limits to this. If you push too hard your efforts can read as fake or manipulative. Also, you do not want to stroke the ego of someone who is incredibly negative and obsessed with phony praise.

Go Bigger With Link Baits

Ego Baits don’t just have to focus on a one on one level. They are not just about giving someone mentions or links in the hopes that they give you one back. When you cleverly use content to target an entire audience, it is known as link baits.

This involves finding a trending topic and spinning it into some kind of unique and valuable content for your audience.

The Real Benefits of Ego Baits

While it might seem like you don’t really get much out of stroking someone’s ego, there are actually a few reasons why this can be beneficial for you.

Natural traffic building as your content is shared across platforms
This natural traffic tells Google that your content is more valuable
As a result, your position in the SERPs and overall SEO improves
More people find your site, raising your brand awareness and potentially sales

Essentially, ego baits create a win-win situation. One side gets exposure to a new audience, while the other gets content and possibly exposure to a new audience. Both benefit in terms of SEO as well. Here are some more SEO hacks.

The Guide To Using Ego Baits For Content Distribution

The fact of the matter is that content that inspires people to link out to it is in various shapes and sizes. Ego baits are effective because they can be diverse and suit different situations easily. Here are some helpful tactics that you can use to build your brand.

1. Expert Roundups

Expert roundups showcase opinions from experts on specific topics. It is well known that people are more likely to listen to the words of experts. This is because their status as the authority in their industry makes them more trustworthy in that area.

You want to zero in on a certain issue, event, challenge, or trend, and get their views on it. By doing this, you get valuable links and shares.

However, you are also associating yourself with credible and influential people, which is good for your overall reputation. They are also creating content for you. Be sure to mention that there’s a guaranteed link to the expert’s social media or site when you include their words in your roundup.

2. Guest Posts

Guest posts are an excellent tactic when it comes to ego baits. Experts and influencers can often give effective content because they have a large audience and they tell them what they want to hear. In some cases, you can totally give them the reigns to give their opinions on a topic.

This can be especially useful as many influencers come with fanatical built in audiences who keep on top of everything they do. Those people will likely follow them to you site and become aware of your brand through them.

3. Interviews

This is an interesting option. It often requires more work, as you will have to specifically get to know whatever thought leader or influencer you want to interview. If you do not, you will not be able to craft the right questions. In order for this to be successful, you need to understand both the topic and the person you choose to interview.

However, an interview with an influencer or industry professional can also be repurposed into different kinds of content. They make for excellent podcasts and videos, as well as written content. However, for SEO, written content is a must.

4. Top or Resource Lists

Creating these lists can involve both individuals and organizations. For example, you can do a list of resources for those looking for visual media to help boost their digital brands, like the one linked below.

You can also make top lists that celebrate others for doing good work. These can be anything from “The Top Ad Campaigns of the Year” to “The Top Asian Fusion Restaurants in Los Angeles.” It all depends on what would benefit and relate to your brand most.

Resource lists work as ego baits because, when you recommend a product, service, person, or brand, it is in the best interest of the recommended party to share your content. The same can be said of top lists. If someone said you were top in your field, wouldn’t you be inspired to share that?

You get to address and help solve a problem for your audience, while promoting entities that might return the favor to you at the same time.

Promoting Your Ego Baits

You might have incredible content, but that alone will not make it go viral. Your content needs to be seen.

There are many things you can do to make sure that your content gets seen. Connecting with influencer and industry professionals using ego baits is one very effective way to get your message and brand identity out there.

Is it surprising to you how much of web content is ego baits? Comment below….

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