When you need content to build links, use social proof of concept

Ryan Sammy Contributor

Ryan Sammy is director of strategy at Fractl, a growth marketing agency that helps Fortune 500s and boutique businesses improve backlink portfolios, brand awareness and organic traffic through high-quality content.

Before tackling a new content idea, it’s comforting to have evidence that it’ll go off without a hitch.

Of course, that’s not possible.

You can never know 100% that a piece of content will meet your objectives. But you can get a better sense of whether it’s likely to succeed.

We call it “social proof of concept.” This strategy is often used by marketers as a way to gauge the promotional viability of what they’re going to create.

Let’s examine what it is and how to use it to create compelling content.

What is “social proof of concept”?

“Social proof of concept” is one of the many ways you can come up with content ideas.

It essentially means a similar piece of content has performed well in the past, meaning it’s likely that something in the same vein that’s better will perform even more impressively now.

By exploring content examples that got a ton of social engagement, you can ask yourself:

• Are people talking about the topic?
• What was it about this content that might have made it so successful?
• Is there something missing that we can add/improve upon?
• Is there something about the methodology/design we can learn from?
• What conversation is happening around the topic that you can contribute to now?
• Is there an idea that complements this content and contributes to the discussion?

When you can identify what’s been successfully engaging in the past, you can start with a much higher chance of creating something that really resonates with people.

Where do I find social proof of concept for my ideas?

My favorite places to look for social proof of concept is on Reddit, Twitter, YouTube and others. I’ll walk through my process for vetting potential topics and methods of finding inspiration for new, related ideas.