Expert Q&A from ExpertFile

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People relate to the human side of an organization and visitors want to see the team behind the scenes. It’s an important consideration for a range of audiences – from prospective customers and partners to journalists looking to identify an expert source. It pays major dividends to position your organization’s expertise and highlight your team’s knowledge of the topics and news events that audiences are most interested in.  The following chart shows the key audiences and how they value access to expertise from prospects to media and more.

For marketers today the purchase process has increased in complexity. Today, audiences advance through a process known as the buyer’s journey” – the research and decision-making process that customers go through which progresses from awareness to evaluation and ultimately purchase.   Audiences have become far more sophisticated. Research clearly shows that expert content is setting the bar for relevance, credibility and attractiveness for every stage of the buyer journey. To address this, expert content is more important than ever.  The following 5 areas are influencing this shift.

1. Buyers Have Shifted into Self-Serve Mode When Researching Purchases.  Approximately 67% of the buyer’s journey is complete prior to contacting a vendor (Source: Sirius Decisions).    The research continues to show that many buyers would sooner help themselves to content rather than speak to a salesperson, especially in the early stage of the buyer journey. Audiences are increasingly venturing online to do more of their own research to validate the buying decision. And they are digging deeper into content and are looking to see the people you have onboard to support their decision-making.
2. The Buyer Journey is More Collaborative & Non-Linear Than Ever.  It is clear that the traditional linear sales funnel has disappeared. In B2B markets, buyers now engage with an average of 11.4 pieces of content prior to making a purchase (Source: Forrester Research). They are now more likely to bounce around on a variety of sites.
3. Experts are a Top Source of Influence in Purchase Behavior.   Research by the Information Technology Sales and Marketing Association (ITSMA) has consistently ranked subject-matter experts as a top source of information influencing purchase behavior in B2B, higher consideration purchases. In this new model, buyers validate the purchase decision by seeking out reliable information from trusted sources. Decisions such as what lawyer to choose; what IT platform to invest in or where to study for graduate school can be very positively influenced by expert content.
4. The Buying Process is More Inclusive than Ever with Multiple Personas Playing a Part.  In addition to consulting industry peers on social media channels, buyers work with colleagues inside their organizations when making purchase decisions. Marketers and salespeople cannot be content with focusing on key decision-makers. If you aren’t known company-wide this will present challenges.
5. Feeding the Search Engines The Right Content Matters More Than Ever.   According to a Google/Millward Brown study, 71% of business purchases begin with a non-branded search. These generic queries, are from people looking for product first, not for a specific brand or organization name. Huge improvements in organic search rank are possible once when your content is optimized to support the customer at all phases of the buyer journey. Expert content, in the form of articles, infographics, or videos, not only strengthens the trust relationship with your buyer, but also reinforces your value and expertise with search engines. you pay a little more attention to the information structure on your website and add assets such as multimedia content to expert profiles. Search engines continue to reward well developed expert content that has personal attribution with higher trust and authority rankings as it views this content as more relevant.

One of the key mechanisms Google uses to evaluate and rank content is called E-E-A-T.  This stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.  E-E-A-T is one way Google is helping qualify the credentials, reputation and honesty associated with the content, as well as the author and publishing domain. In fact, Google’s emphasis on E-E-A-T shows just how vital expertise marketing is to knowledge-based organizations. A well-designed expertise marketing program will naturally improve expert page rank on Google, as well as on your website and in newsrooms.

By definition, an expert is someone with comprehensive or authoritative knowledge in a particular area of study. While formal education and certifications are a starting point for expertise, many disciplines don’t have a set list of criteria to measure expertise against. There are many dimensions of expertise that relate not just to the working proficiency of an expert in their field but also to the degree of influence and authority they have earned within their profession or community of practice. Because of this, expertise is often looked at as a person’s cumulative training, skills, research, and experience.

What’s important to consider is all of the roles that the people in your organization can play. While many of these people have put in their 10,000 hours, not everyone is wired to speak on podiums or to the media. But they still hold incredible value – from the perspectives they can help you research and develop to the content they can help produce. Here are some of the key attributes to look for in assessing the various roles for your people as you formulate an expertise marketing plan:

1. Authority: Has a reputation with an audience as a go-to source for perspectives
2. Advocate: Demonstrates a commitment to a community of practice to help advance their field
3. Educator: Teaches and inspires on the podium or in the classroom
4. Author: Develops content to establish their reputation and reach a broader audience
5. Researcher: Generates unique insights through their research or fieldwork
6. Practitioner: Actively builds knowledge in a specific discipline or practice area by providing services
7. Graduate: Has formal education or gained experience to achieve proficiency in a subject