Creating expert articles is an excellent way of consolidating a positive image of companies in the public mind. A text created by a specialist in a given field will not be promotional, but a properly exposed signature and the company's name will make readers of such material have no doubt who its author is and, most importantly, that it is a professional in the field.
An expert article works especially well for companies such as, among others: compensation centres, law firms or doctors' practices. Readers, wishing to avoid paying for a consultation with a specialist, very often seek expert advice in the media. It is worth taking this into account and meeting the needs of the audience by using the knowledge that the PR agency's client has when creating such material.
How should an expert article be structured?
- The expert should not quote definitions from books on the subject. The article should be based on his/her own experience, analysis, situations he/she has encountered during the course of his/her business.
- Although an expert article is generally professional and specialised in nature, it should not contain terms that are too difficult to understand. It is also important that they are adequately defined in the text - so that the reader has no problems understanding the content of the article.
- The expert should explain things, but must not allow the reader to feel offended by the way in which particular phenomena are explained - he or she must not feel like a child to whom obvious things are explained.
- An expert article should present the topic in an interesting way and convey the knowledge of an expert in the field. The information it contains should not only be aimed at industry professionals, but also at non-experts who could potentially be interested in the topic.
- Expert material can include subjective opinions of an expert on a given topic, humorous elements and witty remarks. In this way, the expert article will not be just another 'dry' text, but a nice variety among industry articles.
It is worth remembering that by creating expert articles, we are reaching a wide audience who, once familiar with the company's expert advice and opinions, are more likely to use the company's services. Sometimes it is therefore worth giving up yet another press release informing readers about the client's offer in favour of an expert article, which will make the company (and itself) more credible in the eyes of its stakeholders.
Author of the text: Marta
