This year, many organizations are making sizable investments to improve their content marketing. Tapping more into the expertise and talent of executives and subject-matter experts is emerging as a key priority in driving market visibility and thought leadership. At ExpertFile, we’ve conducted interviews with many companies to better understand how they are using their experts to increase their online brand visibility and to build authority. Here are 5 top trends we’ve observed that organizations need to prepare for in 2014.

1. expertfile.com | 800-693-9126 | ©2014 by ExpertFile. All rights reserved.
ePAPER | MARCH 2014
5 Big Trends in Expert Marketing for 2014
This year, many organizations are making sizable investments to improve their content
marketing. Tapping more into the expertise and talent of executives and subject-matter
experts is emerging as a key priority in driving market visibility and thought leadership. At
ExpertFile, we’ve conducted interviews with many companies to better understand how
they are using their experts to increase their online brand visibility and to build authority.
Here are 5 top trends we’ve observed that organizations need to prepare for in 2014.
Leading organizations are discovering the power of better positioning experts on their websites.
And they are investing in new ways to showcase expert content beyond the traditional biography.
Having expert content displayed piece by piece across multiple websites and personal accounts
on LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter accounts isn’t cutting it anymore. Visitors want to see all of this
content in one easy-to-search site. Organizations that intelligently aggregate and curate their expert
content will have a distinct advantage in reaching key audiences.
In previous years, we witnessed a shift towards personal branding and, because of this, we
suffered from an over saturation of self-promoting “generalists.” Given the efficiency of online
search, subject matter experts with deep expertise in a particular niche will continue to make
great gains. The same goes for organizations. General topics won’t make the grade. They need
to more precisely identify the niche topics that their staff can speak on—and then align them with
the needs of media, conference organizers and business prospects who are looking for specialists
who can quickly respond to their needs.
Web visitors are becoming increasingly numb to oceans of biographical text. They now expect
relevant content that is both searchable on Google and on your website. And they want
to see a variety of formats. They want to discover video, photos, slides, book publications,
social media channels and more without having to roam across the web. As a result, many
organizations are retooling their websites to embed a variety of media from platforms such
as YouTube, Slideshare and Twitter. Well organized content in these other formats can also
provide a major boost to Google search rankings.
The real-time news cycle demands a steady stream of credible experts. However, many
organizations still create too many barriers for media who want to connect with them. A simple
email link at the bottom of a news release or media room page isn’t the best way to receive and
track inbound requests for experts. Journalists will continue to reward organizations that help them
to more easily research and reach trusted media sources.
1. Curated Expert Content: Companies are Catching Up to Their Staff
2. Promoting Experts Who are Specialists Will Generate the Best Results
3. Search & Multimedia are Now New Table Stakes for Websites
4. A Real-Time News Cycle Requires that Organizations be More Approachable

2. expertfile.com | 800-693-9126 | ©2014 by ExpertFile. All rights reserved.
ePAPER | MARCH 2014
The best marketing and communications departments today have moved beyond pitching to
media and are focused on creating stories that connect better with the trends of the day. Focusing
on experts beyond the “usual suspects” helps uncover new story angles and helps create more
personable, credible and engaging content.
5. Experts are Emerging as Huge Untapped Resource for Brand Journalism
Organizations have an enormous opportunity to increase visitor engagement and
create a powerful online presence. The challenge for companies will be to offer
new insights to a range of audiences in a manner that is timely, discoverable,
engaging, credible and responsive. Done well, expert marketing can increase the
authority and visibility of subject matter experts and thought leaders, as well as
the entire organization.
To learn more about profiling your experts, download our new ePaper to Grade
Your Expert Center today.
Visit expertfile.com/trends for more information.
About ExpertFile
ExpertFile is the world’s first expert marketing platform built for organizations. Our publishing,
search optimization (SEO), lead generation and analytics features, coupled with our unique
online marketplace, helps experts connect to business prospects, media and conferences. Our
clients include market leaders such as Cleveland Clinic, Constant Contact, Lillibridge Healthcare,
and the Canadian Public Relations Society.