Marketing 360: How to Establish Credibility Through Contributed Articles
With a higher demand for content from both print and digital publications, many news outlets fill the content void with articles contributed by experts in the field. Sometimes called a bylined article, contributed articles provide an opportunity to share your expertise without promoting yourself. Therefore, your knowledge is demonstrated and your image is established based on what you say about your topic, not what you say about yourself. If you have valuable information, readers will note your name and distinguish you from others who provide your service.
Contributed articles are usually focused in one of the following ways:
Opinion piece
How-to or other informational piece (such as how to solve or prevent a problem)
A trend or visionary article
Putting together these articles usually takes a lot of legwork. So, how do you know if contributed articles are worth your time?
Contributed articles are one of the more effective tools available for establishing credibility with a target audience because it shows you as a thought leader in your field.
Contributed articles are also useful for drawing attention to issues important to your company.
From the perspective of a media outlet, a good, reliable contributed article writer is a great addition to the publication. Media are always looking to provide readers with well-written, forward-looking, accurate and useful information.
How do you get started? Here are some strategic tips to keep in mind when putting together a contributed article.
Don’t be too self-promotional.
Keep the piece short and concise.
Leverage real-life experiences:
Outline a problem and a solution
Write about a “lesson learned”
Express your opinion about a current topic or issue.
Never criticize your competition or any other individual or company (it’s just not nice).
Pay attention to the publication’s editorial guidelines.
By following these guidelines, you can reach a relevant audience and help them remember you for your expertise on topics important to the industry.
If you’d like to know more about how to use the power of a contributed article to share your company’s interesting story or point of view, talk to us. Our PR team has been building relationships with the journalists you should know.