Calling all businesses and entrepreneurs who are masters in their field…how do you keep your audience interested in what YOU have to offer? Do you engage with them via a weekly newsletter? Do you run in-person events or seminars to share your expertise? How about increasing your digital impact, what does that look like?
If you’re stumped when it comes to your digital impact, fear not, as we have all the insights laid out here just for you. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that we’ve delved into the foundations of what Digital PR is, how to use social media to your advantage and how best to evaluate content you are creating to target your audience. This week, we’re taking you on a journey to discover whether it’s worthwhile having a secondary ‘expert’ channel such as a podcast or blog, to help drive digital impact and build upon your online presence. Buckle up folks, we’re diving straight in!
What is an ‘expert’ channel I hear you ask? Well, an expert channel can be any type of platform where you share your business expertise with a wider audience. Businesses and entrepreneurs alike can jump onboard this train to help maximise their digital impact. Examples of expert channels include running a podcast, a blog or hosting a webinar series. Channels such as this can be utilised to share information, tips and expertise directly with your audience.
I can feel another question coming…why would you want to build one? Well, building your online presence and portfolio not only helps to build awareness of your brand or business, but it also puts you in a position to become an expert in your field.
Experts are often the authority on a particular subject or have a specific skill. Becoming an expert means you’ll be the go-to person for help or advice, which can open doors to public speaking opportunities, building a good reputation within your field and amongst your peers, but mostly it’ll help to build on your Digital PR. Once you’ve built your expert power through a successful secondary channel, it will help earn you respect and trust (both online and offline) and could ultimately inspire people and get them on board with your thinking and ideas.
Let’s take a look at three examples of expert channels and how they can help build your Digital PR.
Webinars
A webinar series is a sequence of webinars that fall under the same main topic. For example, if you’re an expert in the property field, you might focus your webinar series on the housing market by sharing the ins and outs of purchasing your first home. A series will allow you to break it down into bite-sized components and concepts across a period i.e., six weeks. By creating a webinar series, it allows for audience engagement, adds to your digital impact and it helps to build a stronger brand image and nurture business leads you might already have.
Blogs
Effective blogging is an essential part of an overall Digital PR strategy. It drives traffic to your website, can lead to new business enquiries, helps you nurture leads and give you greater insight into your existing customers. Blogging is cost-effective and yields measurable results if executed well. As with a webinar series, blogging allows you to share your expertise on a relevant topic that’s of interest to your audience in digestible portions. Weekly or monthly blog series work well as they keep up the momentum for those following along. If you’re able to convey your expertise well, it’ll help keep your readers stay interested and might lead to them sharing it with their own network.
Podcasts
There’s a theme happening here…as with a webinar series and blogging, a podcast is a series of spoken word audio episodes that are focused on a particular topic or area of expertise. For example, if you’re a fan of popular culture you might listen to Shameless or Life Uncut, or if thrillers are more your thing, Australian True Crime might be the one for you. Whatever it is, a podcast allows listeners to be taken on a journey into their favourite topic and because they are easily accessible via an app, people can listen at no extra effort or cost (in most cases). Podcasts help build intimacy and trust between a listener and host, and if you’re able to capture the attention of your audience effectively, building a community who are engaged is a huge bonus.
Now that we’ve touched on each of the mediums available, let’s jump into a case study to give you context on just how you can incorporate them into your Digital PR strategy.
Agent99’s current client, Lloyd Edge, is a successful and passionate property investor who has achieved financial independence through smart property investments. He is the founder of Aus Property Professionals, a team committed to finding the right investment property to suit your budget and lifestyle. Given his own found success, Lloyd is very much considered an expert in the investment property field and often appears on TV and in media discussing his passion and experience in this market.
Lloyd wanted to take it to next level and to capitalise on his success, Lloyd launched a podcast series ‘Positively Geared’ (based on his best-selling book) where he shares his wealth of knowledge on building his own multi-million dollar investment portfolio, providing his listeners with honest and raw knowledge he has learned over the years.
Setting up his own expert channel has not only allowed Lloyd to further share his expertise with a bigger audience, but it has also enabled him to create a well-rounded Digital PR strategy which complements his media activity to help elevate him as one of the go-to property experts and buyer’s agents in Australia.
So, whether it’s a podcast, webinar series or blog, all of these digital mediums are there to provide you the opportunity to become either an authority in your industry and amongst your peers, support the launch of any new products/services or to help to position yourself as the expert in your field.
All of the channels we’ve discussed are housed online and will help to increase your digital impact as part of a Digital PR strategy.
If you’re keen to explore an expert channel or need guidance on how to execute a winning Digital PR campaign, please get in touch.
Agent Hollie
