Trappe Digital LLC may earn commission from product clicks and purchases. Rest assured, opinions are mine or of the article’s author.
Getting expert quotes for articles is really not a new thing for me as I grew up in journalism. Back then I didn’t really have a story unless I talk to the experts and quote them within the context of the story. In corporate content marketing, quoting experts also plays into the halo effect. When we work with people that have influence in the industry that can also increase our influence. Of course, the people with influence know that so brands have to have some of their own influence and make it worthwhile to the expert providing the quote.
Quoting experts has also become a more popular and commonly excepted practice in content strategy. That hasn’t always been the case. I remember teams and projects where people would go to content marketers and say “hey I need some content around this topic. Please get it to me this week.” And then the writers were basically expected to make it up.
There are a few ways that you can include expert quotes in your content.
Expert quotes in roundup posts
Roundup posts are a bit of the rage right now in the content marketing world. Bloggers interview real and perceived experts and people who have large followings. They will then publish a post with all their opinions, link to the experts and many of the experts will also link back to the post and even promote it on their channels. I usually include a link on my media page at the minimum.
Roundup post often look like this:
- introduction of topics
- mention who the experts are
- basically a listing of what they have to say about it
Expert quotes in research
Companies that publish research reports often quote experts within the context of the article or report.
Onalytica published an influencer compensation report with lots of data and quotes here and there.
Here’s a partial example of the page where they quoted me but also list a ton of other information.
In this model it’s not about producing an expert roundup but it’s about using the expert quotes to tell the story they’re trying to tell.
Expert quotes in articles
The same concept can be applied in articles. Quote experts – like journalists do – in places that make sense to tell the story. Take this article on creativity. I quote a bunch of experts that I had previously interviewed on my podcast.
Sometimes I quote them directly. Other times I simply embed the podcast and share what additional information can be found in those episodes.
But it’s very different from a roundup. I didn’t reach out to them to be in a roundup. I reached out to them to be on my podcast and then I use the content in articles what makes sense.
How to get expert quotes
A few years ago I conducted video interviews with company experts and then used those quotes in articles. Today, I interview experts on my podcast and that’s probably the most common way for me to get quotes.
You can also use sites like Help a B2B Writer to find experts.
Interview and talk to internal experts. Ask them questions to get the answers. Whether they write them down for you or you record them and then use them. For example, I often respond to quote requests by video and then they can pick and choose what they want to use.
Some content creators send out a link to a form to submit your quote. Depending on who emailed I might fill that out especially if it can be done in a time efficient manner.
Your brand matters
Keep in mind that experts don’t have all the time in the world either and sometimes have to be picky whom they provide quotes to. They might check out your website, previous articles and potentially do a Google News search. Of course, do you want to look the right way and have the right amount of influence in the industry to also make it a win for them.
Why quoting experts works for promotion
Including 20 experts means you just added 20 networks to your distribution strategy. They share it and their networks take part in that sharing and will amplify your post as well. Sounds like a solid strategy.
It’s a piece of two distribution strategies:
- Social media – people will likely share it there.
- SEO – some experts and their networks might also link from their own blogs or websites to the post.
Read next: How to maximize organic social media
Why experts should provide quotes when asked
Most of the questions can be answered pretty quickly and it’s another way to get your name and company’s name out there. Many of these sites will also link to you so there is added search engine optimization benefit to participating as well.
At the end of the day a content strategy that includes sharing the expertise of industry figures can be a win-win situation for everyone involved. The expert gets more exposure, the articles are better and offer more value to the audience.