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UCI expert sources for the Russia/Ukraine Conflict
On Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, UCI’s School of Social Sciences hosted a webinar titled, “Understanding the Russia-Ukraine Crisis.” Several of the experts below offered perspective on key issues surrounding the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine. You can watch or listen to the webinar here: https://www.socsci.uci.edu/newsevents/news/2022/2022-02-25-understanding-the-russia-ukraine-crisis.php UCI faculty members available to comment, and their areas of expertise, are found below. Matthew Beckmann, Associate Professor, Political Science. Professor Beckman studies the organizational structures and operational strategies presidents can use to pick their team, invest their time, focus their attention, channel their effort, discipline their thinking, coordinate their subordinates, and, most importantly, make decisions. Contact: beckmann@uci.edu Jeffrey Kopstein, Professor, Political Science. In his research, Professor Kopstein focuses on interethnic violence, voting patterns of minority groups, and anti-liberal tendencies in civil society, paying special attention to cases within European and Russian Jewish history. As pertains to the Russia/Ukraine conflict, he can speak to politics in Russia and Ukraine, Authoritarianism, NATO and the transatlantic alliance, and European Union policy. Contact: kopstein@uci.edu Erin Lockwood, Assistant Professor, Political Science. Professor Lockwood’s research areas include international political economy and global financial politics. She can speak to questions related to economic sanctions, financial sanctions/financial infrastructure and payments systems more generally (for example, the prospect of cutting off Russian access to the SWIFT financial communications system.) Contact: eklockwo@uci.edu David Meyer, Professor, Sociology, Political Science and Planning, Policy & Design. Professor Meyer’s research examines the relationships between social movements and the political contexts in which they emerge. Topics surrounding the Russia/Ukraine conflict that align with his expertise include sanction strategy; the resistance strategy that might emerge in Ukraine in the face of occupation; the history of the Cold War and its influence today; and the possibility of a powerful peace/isolationist movement emerging in the U.S. Contact: dmeyer@uci.edu Gustavo Oliveira, Assistant Professor, Global & International Studies. Professor Oliveira is a specialist in global political economy and critical geopolitics, focusing on the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and international commodity markets, especially agricultural trade and natural resource governance. He can speak to the basis of the Russia/Ukraine conflict on natural resources, and the repercussions of the conflict for international commodity markets, inflation, and disruptions to global food supply chains. He can also speak about the anti-war movements in Russia, Europe, the United States, and broader political repercussions of the conflict in Brazil, Latin America, and the U.S. Contact: gustavo.oliveira@uci.edu Stergios Skaperdas, Professor, Economics and Director of the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies. His general area of research is political economy, the interaction of economics and politics. Among other issues, he has studied conflict and wars, the role of the modern state in economic development, and the interaction of globalization and geopolitics. Contact: sskaperd@uci.edu Etel Solingen, Distinguished Professor, Political Science and Thomas T. and Elizabeth C. Tierney Chair in Peace and Conflict Studies. Solingen studies the reciprocal influence between international political economy and international security, globalization and its discontents. She can discuss the crisis in terms of historical precedents (of international crises), the utility of sanctions, bargaining in crisis, Russia’s economic decline and how it bears on the current crisis. Contact: etel.solingen@uci.edu Media Contacts: • Tom Vasich, Communications Officer, UCI | 949-285-6455 | tmvasich@uci.edu • Heather Ashbach, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications, School of Social Sciences | 719-651-3224 | hashbach@uci.edu
It’s official — President Biden has selected Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee to the Supreme Court. If confirmed, she will the first Black woman to sit on the highest court in the nation. This is a momentous occasion for American history and reporters are clamoring to learn more. Our experts are ready with answers to help with your stories. Dr. Martha Ginn, professor of political science at Augusta University, is an expert on the judicial process, constitutional law and the U.S. Supreme Court. She discussed Jackson's credentials and the significance of her nomination. What is Ketanji Brown Jackson’s background and what credentials would bring to the Supreme Court? Why is she President Biden's top choice? President Biden made a campaign promise to nominate a Black woman to the SCOTUS if he had a vacancy to fill. While he had several strong contenders, Judge Brown Jackson is an obvious choice for many reasons. Like all current Justices, excluding Justice Barrett, Judge Brown Jackson has an Ivy League education. She has also clerked at the Supreme Court for Justice Breyer (whom she would replace). Interestingly, Justice Kavanaugh clerked for the Justice he replaced (Justice Kennedy) as well. Background and experience: Judge Brown Jackson was a federal district court judge for eight years (appointed by President Obama) and was just confirmed to the DC Court of Appeals last summer. The DC circuit court is seen as a training ground of sorts for Supreme Court Justices, as many nominees serve there first. What makes Judge Brown Jackson different is her experience as a public defender and then vice chairman of the sentencing commission. Bringing that experience to the Court will provide a much needed perspective on the rights of the accused. The Court recently heard a case regarding implementing the First Steps Act retroactively and it was apparent in the oral argument that some Justices did not appreciate the realities and complexities of sentencing in our criminal justice system. Judge Brown Jackson’s background will help fill that void. What does her appointment signify, seeing as she would be the first Black woman (but only third Black justice) in the history of the Supreme Court, as well as the first former public defender? Having four women on the Court at the same time will be important. More women than men attend law school now but the higher ranks of the profession are still male dominated, so having near parity in the nation’s highest Court is meaningful. Her race is also significant, since she will be only the third Black member of the Court and this would be the first time we have two Black members serving together. It’s likely she and Justice Thomas will be very different ideologically but regardless, demographic representation matters. More than ever the Supreme Court is deciding very controversial matters that impact everyone. Having a Court that represents all voices is significant in maintaining its legitimacy and making sure opposing viewpoints are considered in decision-making. With everything going on currently the nation and world, when do you project a vote will happen, and do you see it going through? Even with all that is going on in the world right now, this will be a top priority to the Democratic Party, particularly with President Biden’s low polling numbers and the upcoming midterm elections. With the slimmest of voting margins possible, the sooner the vote occurs, the better for the Democrats. The Republicans set the precedent with the Barrett nomination that the process can be done in weeks rather than the months taken in previous nominations. I anticipate the Democrats will follow that expedited model. It will be interesting to see if the three Republican senators who voted for her Court of Appeals appointment less than a year ago will oppose her nomination here. Justice Breyer conditioned his retirement on the successful appointment of his replacement. He intends to retire at the end of this year’s term (likely early July), so I would anticipate her confirmation vote by then at the latest. If you are a journalist covering this story, that’s where our experts on this topic can help. Dr. Martha Ginn, professor of political science at Augusta University, is an expert on the judicial process, constitutional law and the U.S. Supreme Court. Ginn is available to speak with media about this topic — simply click on her icon to arrange an interview today.
Despite months of tension, weeks of pleas and diplomatic efforts – a full scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces has occurred. The situation is developing by the minute and media are scrambling to explain what has happened, why it happened, and tell stories of how this invasion is impacting people not just in Ukraine, but in America too. It’s why experts like Florida Atlantic University’s Robert Rabil is front and center to explain what’s going on to reporters. According to Robert Rabil, a political science professor at Florida Atlantic University, the crisis between Russia and Ukraine has been building since the 1990s. "This is on the account of two factors. The first factor is the expansion of NATO to the border of Russia, merely, especially to the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia," Rabil said. "The second factor is from a Russian perspective they believe that they treated Russia like a bygone power." Rabil said with increased sanctions underway and formal diplomatic channels not working, the west could be pushing Russia to deepen its ties to other regimes globally. "It might go to Iran and it will support Iran in acquiring or hastening the acquisition of nuclear weapons," he added. "It will deepen its embrace with China." February 23 – WPTV NewsChannel 5 The invasion of Ukraine is historic and could lead to escalations of violence in other parts of Europe and further. And, if you are a reporter looking to cover this ongoing story – then let our experts help. Robert Rabil, Ph.D., is an expert in political Islam, terrorism, U.S. foreign policy, and U.S.-Arab relations. He is available to speak with media about the current situation in Ukraine, simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
ChristianaCare’s renowned Center for Heart & Vascular Health has earned the highest quality rating—three stars—from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for its patient care and outcomes in isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedures. The prestigious three-star rating places ChristianaCare among the elite health care organizations for heart bypass surgery in the United States and Canada. The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, rating the benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs across the United States and Canada. The star rating is calculated using a combination of quality measures for specific procedures performed by an STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database participant. “Earning a three-star rating for heart bypass surgery places us among the top heart hospitals in the nation,” said Ray Blackwell, M.D., the W. Samuel Carpenter Chief of Cardiac Surgery at ChristianaCare. “Delaware residents can be confident that they have one of the best heart surgery teams in the nation right here, close to home, at ChristianaCare.” The three-star rating from STS adds to ChristianaCare’s long list of awards for quality heart care. For the past two years, the Center for Heart & Vascular Health has earned the designation HeartCARE Center National Distinction of Excellence from the American College of Cardiology for its commitment to high quality cardiovascular care. In addition, the Center for Heart & Vascular health received the American Heart Association’s 2021 Mission: Lifeline Gold Quality Achievement Award for the treatment of patients who suffer severe heart attacks; the 2021 Get With The Guidelines NSTEMI Silver Award for patients with a less severe form of heart attack; and the 2021 Get With The Guidelines Gold Plus Award for Heart Failure. “Our Center for Heart & Vascular Health and our community have much to be proud of,” said Kirk Garratt, M.D., medical director of the Center for Heart & Vascular Health. “We provide great outcomes, and we also listen to patients and families and work to ensure that the stressful experience of surgery is as easy as it can be. That kind of commitment leads to this kind of recognition.” Heart Disease Remains a Leading Killer in the U.S. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), heart disease remains a leading killer in the nation—claiming more than 600,000 lives each year. In addition, the AHA anticipates the effects of COVID-19 are likely to influence cardiovascular health and mortality rates for many years. “February is American Heart Month, and there is no better time for us to take stock of our heart health than now,” Dr. Garratt said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has presented new challenges to people living with chronic conditions such as heart disease. People with heart conditions are at greater risk of complications from the virus and also continue to need assistance managing their heart health. If you are a heart patient, please do not postpone your regular visit with your cardiologist.” The STS is a not-for-profit organization that represents more than 7,600 surgeons, researchers and allied health care professionals worldwide who are dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for surgeries of the heart, lung and esophagus, as well as other surgical procedures within the chest. The STS National Database was established in 1989 as an initiative for quality improvement and patient safety among cardiothoracic surgeons. “The Society of Thoracic Surgeons congratulates STS National Database participants who have received three-star ratings,” said David Shahian, M.D., chair of the Task Force on Quality Measurement. “Participation in the Database and public reporting demonstrates a commitment to quality improvement in health care delivery and helps provide patients and their families with meaningful information to help them make informed decisions about health care.” About the Center for Heart & Vascular Health ChristianaCare’s Center for Heart & Vascular Health is among the largest, most capable regional heart centers on the East Coast. It is one of the only centers in the region that integrates in a single location and under one roof cardiac surgery, vascular surgery, vascular interventional radiology, cardiology and interventional nephrology. Its team of experienced cardiovascular surgeons and heart experts perform nearly 700 open-heart procedures each year and treat more than 8,000 total heart and vascular cases annually. For more information, visit https://christianacare.org/services/heart/.
Operation Allies Welcome -- the official name for the American government's ongoing effort to assist vulnerable Afghans following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan -- is the most significant U.S. resettlement effort since 1975. As of February 2022, some 65,000 Afghans have evacuated and settled in American communities. UConn School of Social work professors Kathryn Libal and Scott Harding have extensively studied the refugee resettlement process in America. In a recent essay for The Conversation, they detailed the resettlement process that refugees face -- and the challenges that individuals, families, agencies, and volunteers are enduring as the effort strains an already overburdened system. U.S. agencies brought in Afghans under humanitarian parole, rather than standard refugee procedures, because of the urgency of the evacuation. But the consequences may be profound. Some parolees had to wait weeks or months for the government or social service organizations to file paperwork granting them the right to work. Another challenge for parolees is securing family members’ admission to the U.S., which requires a high level of proof of threat to that particular individual. Many Afghan parolees should eventually qualify for asylum, but applying is a lengthy and complex process that generally requires significant legal assistance. More than 400,000 asylum cases are pending in the U.S. asylum system. Refugee resettlement organizations and voluntary groups that could normally help with filing asylum claims are already stretched thin. Evacuees’ advocates have called for approval of the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would allow Afghans to apply for lawful permanent resident status without waiting for the asylum system to rule on their cases or processing of special immigrant visa applications. Governors, businesses, celebrities, universities, military members, veterans and individuals across the U.S. have stepped in to support recent Afghan evacuees – many in locales with no history of resettling refugees. The responsibilities of resettlement, however, extend beyond helping evacuees in their first few weeks, to helping them secure a stable future. -- The Conversation, February 18, 2022 An associate professor of social work and human rights, Kathryn Libal is the director of UConn's Human Rights Institute and is an expert on human rights, refugee resettlement, and social welfare. She is available to speak with media – click on her icon now to arrange an interview.
Confused about your auto insurance? You’re not alone. According to a recent CAA study, over half of Ontarians (53 per cent) found their auto insurance policy difficult to understand. To help consumers navigate the confusion, CAA Insurance Company has launched an Insurance Guidebook that breaks down everything all Ontario drivers need to know about auto insurance and their policy. Consumers can get ‘back to basics’ with CAA’s new Insurance Guidebook and gain the knowledge to feel comfortable having more advanced conversations about their policy with an agent or broker, regardless of their provider. The Guidebook reflects common terms and issues related to Ontario’s auto insurance system and policy and is designed to help educate Ontario drivers regardless of who their insurer or broker is. The purpose? To empower consumers to seek out the best, most cost-effective insurance that adequately meets their coverage needs, and to better understand what is included in their auto insurance policy. “While motorists know that they are required to carry valid auto insurance in Ontario, our research shows they may not fully understand what their policy coverage means. We often see motorists learn about their coverage once they need to make a claim,” said Elliott Silverstein, director, government relations (insurance), CAA Club Group. “It was important for us to create a resource with easy-to-understand wording that informs motorists about the terms in their auto insurance policy and how it affects them so they can get the most out of their coverage.” The Insurance Guidebook was created after the study revealed Ontarians ranked insurance companies the most responsible for educating individuals about the auto insurance industry. CAA Insurance consulted with insurance experts to identify and simplify the most important terms that consumers need to know when it comes to understanding auto insurance. “The launch of the new Insurance Guidebook is just another example of how CAA is dedicated to putting consumers first,” said Silverstein. “We are very proud to be taking the initiative to educate all Ontario motorists so they can navigate their auto insurance policy with confidence.” CAA’s Insurance Guidebook is available online to download at https://www.caainsurancecompany.com/auto or can be picked up at CAA stores across south-central Ontario.
5 Ways Expertise Marketing Supports Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is much more than merely redesigning your website or moving your files to the cloud. It’s about harnessing digital technologies to elevate your business. Specifically, digital transformation is strategically adapting your business processes to change company culture, empower your staff and keep up with rising consumer demands. Organizations of all sizes are taking on transformative initiatives to meet today’s expectations in the digital space, but research by IDG has concluded that we still have some growing to do: “IT leaders are making steady and sequential progress to becoming digital-first organizations – though not at the same breakneck speed that the technologies themselves are proliferating. For many organizations, the foundational pieces are in place, and they’re actively working on adopting newer technologies like AI and IoT. But successful digital transformation will also require equal attention to change management and workforce strategy for the entire organization.” Supporting the Bigger Picture It’s easy to get hung up on the technology but successfully transforming your business means thinking about everyone involved – including your experts. Here are five ways expertise marketing supports digital transformation: It aligns people. Most companies aren’t particularly good at telling their people that their expertise is valued and many employees don’t understand the role they play as brand ambassadors. On top of that, outdated biographies on the company website fail to share the work that these experts with the audiences who are looking for it. A well-constructed expertise marketing program helps get experts and executives aligned on how they can help the brand – and it helps marketing teams feed the content beast. It tracks data. Metrics on visitor behaviour are critical to calculating ROI and ensuring your content is working. That said, most organizations don’t have an intuitive way of tracking internal contributions to the corresponding engagement data – making it difficult to determine which people and topics are driving results. Expertise marketing programs are designed to capture essential metrics on employee contributions and ensure that leads are captured and routed to appropriate individuals and departments for prompt follow up and reporting. It enhances search and SEO. Part of digital transformation is creating a sustained online presence. By harnessing your collective expertise, you can quickly publish a large volume of quality, searchable content that boosts your owned content footprint. It also provides a way to capitalize on earned media opportunities related to breaking news and emerging trends. It drives collaboration. Many organizations corporate policies and standards tend to lack guidelines for generating and promoting individual experts. As a result, individual groups within the organization are forced to fill the void and essentially, do their own thing. This leads to a disconnected set of expensive, custom projects. Organizations with structured expertise marketing programs consistently report an increase in collaboration and organizational alignment. It minimizes risk. It’s becoming more and more important to ensure adherence to corporate brand standards and editorial guidelines, as well as regulatory standards such as accessibility compliance. By centralizing your content and utilizing a federated content management structure, you’re not only providing your employees with a common source for branded assets and templates, but you’re empowering them to get things done in the simplest way possible. This approach mitigates risk, speeds time to market and dramatically lowers costs to implement a program. Filling the Gaps with Expertise As mentioned above, digital transformation is a comprehensive business strategy with many moving parts. While expertise marketing is one component of this organizational change, it works in tandem with your other programs and complements any initiative aimed at boosts your digital presence. In fact, it’s proven to support many of the activities that organizations have yet to complete. IDG’s 2018 State of Digital Transformation Expertise marketing is a powerful tool for enabling and elevating digital transformation. By encouraging company-wide participation, it’s shown to increase internal uptake, generate higher-quality content and ultimately, drive better results in terms of ROI. If digital transformation is in your future, then you need to start thinking about your experts today. Download the Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing For a comprehensive look at how expertise marketing benefits the entire organization and drives measurable return on investment, follow the link below to download a copy of ExpertFile’s Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing: The Next Wave in Digital Strategy or download one of our tailored Guides for Corporate & Professional Services, Higher Education Institutions, Healthcare Institutions or Association & Not-for-Profits.
Building Trust with Expertise Marketing
With advancements in technology and a number of new channels, it’s important to remember that at the end of the day, people want to deal with people. Studiesconsistently show that we’re more likely to trust other humans when making decisions. While many organizations leverage brand personas to fulfill that human connection, they often overlook the power of their people to lead and support conversations. If your audiences are looking to connect with people, then it only makes sense to give them our best. Who Is Looking for Expertise? As mentioned in last week’s blog, the ‘About Us’ section of a website is the second most visited area next to the homepage and the reasons for this are simple: people want to see who is behind the scenes. From prospective customers to journalists looking for an expert source, there are a wide range of audiences who want to know who you really are before they engage with your business. Here are just some of the audiences who are taking a close look at your expertise: Customers & Partners: Subject-matter experts are consistently rated as one of the most influential sources of information for buyers (Source: ITSMA), and a whopping 78% of B2B buyers start with a Google search (Source: Demand Gen). Media: Experts who serve as media sources are in high-demand with newspapers, broadcasters and digital outlets – and it’s not just research they want. They often require a plain language explanation of how something works, or insights to help them localize a story for a regional audience. Conference Organizers: Conference organizers and industry associations are constantly looking for experts who can educate their attendees as a panellist, workshop leader or keynote speaker. Alumni & Donors: For institutions, showcasing the relevant work that experts and staff are doing helps alumni better connect to your mission and makes it easier to fundraise and drive larger donations. Government & Foundations: Government bodies and foundations rely heavily on experts to conduct research, develop policy and implement the various programs they fund. They are increasingly focused on reporting the social and economic impact stories of the research they are funding. Better Digital Conversations When we look at audience engagement, your success boils down into three critical stages: Attention, Interaction and Trust. Each of these areas can be addressed by making experts and their content more visible with a sustained, amplified digital presence. Don’t underestimate the value of rich expert profiles; today’s audiences will quickly scroll past a list of names and titles. Expertise marketing is about providing individual credentials and sharing what their collective experience represents for your organization. The richer offering, the more trust you can build. Plus, experts who serve as brand ambassadors are more likely to drive personal, relevant and authentic connections with key audiences. The following framework outlines how you can create an expertise marketing program that empowers your people to better navigate the customer journey: Creating Touchpoints for Expertise Whether it’s a research page on your website or an upcoming speaking engagement, you need to develop touchpoints for key audiences to interact with your experts and their content. This often requires businesses to step back and determine how visible your experts are across your physical and digital environment. As you go through the auditing process, you not only surface gaps in your delivery but in many cases, you’ll also find a wealth of expert content hidden in personal websites, social media and external publications. It surprises many businesses to discover that your experts are already engaging with audiences – just not from within your organization. Make your expertise more coherent by turning a disconnected group of experts into a powerhouse of brand ambassadors. In addition to aggregating their existing content, you’ll need to speak directly with your experts and develop an expertise marketing program that aligns with their professional objectives and incentivizes their continued efforts. This collaborative approach will mutually benefit both your business and your experts while simultaneously generating excitement and buy-in throughout the whole organization. Download The Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing For a comprehensive look at how expertise marketing benefits the entire organization and drives measurable return on investment, follow the link below to download a copy of ExpertFile’s Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing: The Next Wave in Digital Strategy
Thought Leadership 2.0: A New Approach
The term “thought leadership” has been exploited by self-proclaimed experts and overuse of the phrase has made the market weary of its practice. But before it was a buzzword, thought leadership was the crown jewel of content marketing. According to the Oxford Dictionary, thought leadership is “intellectual influence and innovative or pioneering thinking.” In practice, thought leaders leverage research and experience-based content to draw in audiences and support their organization’s reputation as an industry authority. This marketing concept has the power to transform product pitches to strategic insights and approaches into best practices, but not everyone found the same success with their programs – and there are a couple of good reasons why. This Is A Classified Project While it’s still true that thought leadership boosts customer engagement, some programs simply lack the depth needed to connect with audiences and see meaningful results. Many organizations are quick to jump on the latest marketing trend, but they don’t always have the vision to turn their expertise into a viable solution for their business. In fact, a leading research and consulting firm, Sirius Decisions, has suggested that “the purpose and process of thought leadership are widely misunderstood and misapplied, causing mixed results.” One of the most significant issues with thought leadership is that the C-Suite and other top-level teams tend to lead programs in a silo from the rest of the organization. It’s not uncommon for executives to outsource their thought leadership activities to special teams and agencies as a series of projects. This approach leads to disconnected outputs that miss the mark when it comes to audience engagement. It not only prevents subject-matter experts from elevating your content, but it also dismisses the wealth of knowledge they have about your audiences. Experts know who is looking for content, where they’ll go to find it and which topics they’ll follow. So when you exclude them from the process, you’re going to miss out on opportunities to drive market visibility, brand reputation and new customer connections. Your Experts Are People Too When you put something on a pedestal, you make it easy for people to see but hard for them to reach – and that’s a problem in the digital world. People want to deal with organizations who provide the information they need on the channels they use, and in a voice they understand. To be successful with thought leadership, it’s vital to understand these needs and take a human approach to your marketing and communications. Unfortunately, many thought leadership programs take a campaign-oriented approach and can mimic the dated marketing practices that centre around products rather than people. They come off as too formal and use “corporate speak” which makes them far less approachable. Worst of all, they often lack the authenticity audiences are looking for – so why not let your people do the talking? Your in-house experts make great brand ambassadors for your organization. By expanding your notions of thought leadership, you open the door for many voices to share your message in a manner that’s inclusive, genuine and accessible. This also makes it easier for you to maintain your online presence and insert diversity into your content marketing. Rather than repeating the same ideas over and over, your broader team of experts will be able to capture varying perspectives and insights – supporting your position as a leader in that domain. Evolving Thought Leadership While the concept of thought leadership still resonates with audiences, it’s time to make a few changes. Here are just a few reasons to transition dated thought leadership projects into profitable expertise marketing programs: Excerpt from the Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing As you can see, expertise marketing takes the best parts of thought leadership and makes it more inclusive, sustainable and agile – and all at a lower cost. On top of this, expertise marketing incorporates human connections as a fundamental component of both the strategy and execution. It surfaces diverse expert perspectives, delivers authenticity and creates two-way conversations between you and your audiences. Most of all, it can easily be adapted as our environments change and new audience needs emerge. If your thought leadership program lacks results, you’ll likely have to broaden your views on expertise and leadership. Take a closer look at all of your people and the value they bring to your business. This inclusive approach to expertise marketing will not only make it easier to manage thought leadership, but it will also deliver the long-term success you want from your marketing. Download The Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing For a comprehensive look at how expertise marketing benefits the entire organization and drives measurable return on investment, follow the link below to download a copy of ExpertFile’s Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing: The Next Wave in Digital Strategy or download one of our tailored Guides for Corporate & Professional Services, Higher Education Institutions, Healthcare Institutions or Association & Not-for-Profits.
5 Tips On Creating Engaging Expert Profiles
If you’ve ever taken part in a website project, you know that not all content is created equal. We spend countless hours perfecting the homepage, but we often forget to tell our audiences who we are. The people behind the scenes in an organization provide some of the best opportunities to create relevant and relatable content for audiences. Take the “About Us” page for example. Ironically, it’s often an afterthought for digital teams who upload some boilerplate copy and call it a day. But people buy from people and the more human you can make your content the better the user experience will be. Here are some tips to help you create that personal connection. The Old Profile Our research shows that most employee content comes up surprisingly short when audiences conduct an online search. This is becoming a more critical element to consider, given that 78% of B2B buyers now use Google as a starting point for their online activities. While there can be several factors impacting your Google rank, the issue often comes down to a lack of quality content on employee-related pages. Many organizations resort to posting outdated headshots next to a title for their employee sections. If you’re lucky, you might find a boring text biography that fails to capture the depth of experience and expertise offered by your team. These tactics may have worked a decade ago, but today’s audiences now expect expert profiles to contain detailed biographies, multimedia and social content. This is especially true for B2B prospects like journalists and prospects looking for professional services. Any half-decent writer can make a person sound pretty important in a bio, but these audiences are looking for proof of your expertise. It’s not enough to tell audiences you’re great – you have to show them. Today’s audiences consume content differently, so it’s essential that you bring your expert profiles into the 21st century. The New Profile Here are 5 ways you can improve your employee content to better drive visitor attention, interaction and trust: Go Beyond Boring Bios: The new way to create expert profiles is to provide a detailed overview of an employee’s expertise and experience. This means that in addition to creating a detailed biography, you should also share content that shows key accomplishments that build credibility and trust: Are they an author? Have they spoken at a conference? Interviewed for a podcast? It’s important to get this information listed. Get Visual & Social: Beyond the written biography, look for ways to make content for your people more interesting for your audiences. Are there YouTube videos, Slideshares, Tweets, or thumbnails to books they have written? If so, you can leverage these assets for their profile. Remember if you are pitching media or conference organizers, this information is becoming tablestakes for journalists or event bookers who are vetting media sources or speakers. Show You Are Relevant & In-Demand: Public appearances and news spotlights can take your experts from unknown to sought-after. There are two ways to tackle this. The first is to capture any existing media releases to ramp up their credentials. If your expert hasn’t yet participated in this type of activity, publish content that speaks to emerging topics and news trends and provide quotes available to the media on newsworthy topics. This is a proven way to earn the attention of journalists and allow you to start building visibility as an industry insider. Go Beyond Your Website: While your website is ideal for hosting expert profiles, it’s not the only place to let your team shine. If you want to boost your visibility, make sure you take advantage of opportunities on third-party sites and platforms. This might include industry directories or your client/partner websites. By using the ExpertFile Platform, you can also publish your expert profiles to reach thousands of newsrooms through our media partners. Be More Approachable: It’s funny that almost every page on most websites has a call to action. However if you visit most people profiles, the journey ends there – or worse, it takes the visitor off your website and to an old, tired Linkedin profile. Instead, let your audiences get in touch with your business by including a specific call-to-actions (CTAs) within your expert profile. Depending on the size and capabilities of your organization, you might have want to enable direct connections to experts or opt to funnel leads through a various departments. Either way, the key to getting leads is starting a conversation. Download the Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing For a comprehensive look at how expertise marketing benefits the entire organization and drives measurable return on investment, follow the link below to download a copy of ExpertFile’s Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing: The Next Wave in Digital Strategy or download one of our tailored Guides for Corporate & Professional Services, Higher Education Institutions, Healthcare Institutions or Association & Not-for-Profits.