Authentic and authoritative content: why you should consult the experts

We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Admitting that is the first step to excellent copy. Why? Because you – cannot – do – everything. 

You also cannot know everything. 

As much as we all wish we were fairy godmothers and fathers with magic wands to make us understand it all, sadly, we’re not named Cinderella. 

But that’s where the experts step in. 

Build trust 

From retail to the service industry, relationships are based on trust. Between fake news, data breaches and the global pandemic, trust is balancing on a very fine tightrope at the moment. 

Yet, building trust and maintaining that trust is how you get customers and clients through your door, and how you hold on to them. Because at the core of every decision, in life and business, is a person’s ability to trust another. And when it comes to considering a purchase, 85% of consumers seek out trusted expert content prior to making their decision. 

Consider ‘trust’ as an emotion. Consumers have a finite amount of money. They want to spend it on what counts. To be let down by a company, whether by a product that doesn’t perform as believed or a service that’s not up to standards, can become a highly-emotional affair. Customers and clients want to know that they can trust what you are saying, what you are doing and what you are promising.

Now, expertly build trust

As we said before, we can’t know everything. But we can surround ourselves with those who are experts in different fields. For us, we know content marketing. Can we cook a mean curry? We sure can. But we ask the culinary experts for their advice and their recipes. We trust the chefs to share their wisdom with us. And then we feed the family. 

Consider expert insights and thought leadership in the same way. 

Find the expert in the field you’re writing about and then collaborate to create the best piece of content you can. 

People are viewing content more than ever before. More than 409 million people view Wordpress sites and about 70 million new blog posts are produced each month. How do you cut through that noise? By offering quality content that provides useful advice. As pointed out by Dharmesh Shah, co-founder and chief technology officer of the inbound marketing software company HubSpot, “Whether it’s a great story or useful insight to help your audience solve a common challenge, your aim should be to create content that people want to [read] and share”.

No one wants to walk away from reading your content empty-handed. Adding insights from experts or thought leaders adds value to your content. New voices also add variety ensuring your company and your content are seen as valuable resources.

Authenticity matters

Remember, companies don’t have ideas, people do. Content is powerful when it's humanised, when there is a name attached to it and when people can visualise the face behind it. Your audience wants authentic content – authenticity, after all, is at the heart of trustworthiness. Your company may have content creators, and good content creators should be able to research and write on any topic. But your audience also wants authoritative content. They want to know that what you’re saying is backed by those in the know – the experts.