When you Google a company, and it’s a big enough brand, chances are its Wikipedia page will be one of the top search results. But how often do companies include Wikipedia as part of their content strategies? (Congratulations if you do!) And who’s aware of the challenges and pitfalls that come with trying to edit your page? Luckily, we had Citrix’s Head of Global Social Media Justin Levy as our guide to set the record straight on how Wikipedia can help marketers. In this conversation with Flipboard’s Mia Quagliarello at Content Marketing World, he reveals the do’s and don’ts for a successful Wikipedia presence: Wikipedia is run by a community of volunteers. If you’re not a member of this community, don’t just edit your Wikipedia page yourself; instead, submit “asks” and work with the editors. (If you’ve ever tried to edit your company’s Wikipedia page, you might have found that it’s not the way to make changes. If you check back few days later, your updates were probably removed. Here’s more information about why that may be so.) 1) Treat Wikipedia editors like the volunteers they are…with gratitude! Let this be reflected in the tone of your communication and the way you make requests. 2) Learn about the editors and realize that they cover topics they are passionate about (which is probably not your B2B brand). Having a better understanding of the person you are connecting with helps make your request be well received. 3) You need third party references to make your case: a mention in a Forbes article or an executive profile goes a long way towards your credibility. 4) Make sure your Legal department reviews items that could be sensitive (applies to all social media). https://youtu.be/y4RNRtrMOvE We also learned what Levy reads to stay relevant in his job (hint: it includes Scott Monty’s The Full Monty magazine), as well as his tried-and-tested life hacks. This interview is part of our Content Marketing Conversations series that we recorded at Content Marketing World in Cleveland earlier this month. We’ll be posting a new interview each week, so stay tuned. ~Christel van der Boom is curating Happiness