Expert Key
What is it?
The Expert Key is all about offering expertise to the media in exchange for exposure.
That exposure can help to promote an expert or to plug a brand, product(s) or service(s).
How it works
The main way of offering this expertise comes from replying back to journalists requesting expert content (tips & tricks, insight or interviews).
These are called (Expert) Journo Requests.
As an agency, we receive 7,500+ journo requests a month.
You’ll tell us which topics you can expertly talk about and when asked, we’ll pitch you as an expert and send you any relevant from journalists too.
If you’re keen, you’ll submit your thoughts or interview availability and we’ll get back to the journalist. (If you aren’t keen, just ignore us).
We’ll then let you know if your comments are published (and also if they aren’t).
Expert fields we work in
Business
- Entrepreneurship, small business & start-ups
- Corporate & large businesses
- Business & corporate law
- Sustainability in business
- Business finance & accounting
- The economy & trade
- General marketing
- Branding
- PPC
- SEO
- PR
- Social media
- Email marketing
- Human resources
- Recruitment
- Leadership & management
- Retail
- E-commerce
- Hospitality & events
- Automotive
- V.R & A.R
- Fintech
- Business IT
- Data
- Home & office security
- Cyber security
- Cloud
- Electronics & hardware
- Coding, programming & software
- A.I
- Telecoms & connectivity
Fitness & Nutrition
- Fitness & exercise
- Yoga
- Nutrition
- Dieting & weight loss
Health
- Mental health
- Men’s health
- Women’s health
- Sleep health
- Eye health
- Gut health
- Heart health
- Ear health
- Foot health
- Bone health
- Blood health
- Brain & nerve health
- Neurodivergence
- Pain management
- Physiotherapy
- General health
- Dentistry & oral health
- Medications
- Alternative medicine
- Maternity & baby health
- Allergies & intolerances
- Food safety
Social & Community
- Charity, non-for-profit & social enterprise
- LGBTQIA+
- Race & diversity
- Disabilities
- Caregiving
- Social issues (poverty, domestic violence, discrimination)
- Politics & government
- Education
- Crime
- Consumer advice
- British monarchy
- History
Fashion & Beauty
- Aesthetics
- Cosmetic surgery
- Hair
- Skin
- Make-up & beauty
- Jewellery
- Fashion
Personal Finance & Legal
- Property market
- Mortgages
- Personal finance
- Wills & estate planning
- Personal & family law
- Currency
- Investment
- Insurance
Home
- DIY
- Construction
- Interior design
- Cleaning & organising
- Utilities & appliances
- Garden & plants
- Pest Control
- Floristry
- Antiques
Lifestyle
- Weddings
- Astrology
- Spirituality
- Wellbeing
- Tattooing & piercing
- Lifestyle advice
- Career advice
- Sex advice
- Relationships
- Parenting children, teens & young adults
- Babies & toddlers
- Pregnancy
- Cooking & food recipes
- Baking & baking recipes
- Bartending & drink recipes
- Alcohol
- Pets
- Art
- Sports
- Music
- Theatre & film
- Outdoor hobbies
- Hobbies & gaming
- Photography
- Crafting
- Travel
- Eco-friendly lifestyle
- Etiquette
- Body Language
Sciences
- Space
- Linguistics
- Psychology
- The environment
- Veterinary
- Agriculture
An example
“Looking for health/fitness expert to comment on the benefits of exercise you can’t see”
Plenty of other examples here too.
How will these articles help my business?
Credibility
Credibility or ‘gravitas’ (as a few posh PRs call it) feeds that need for potential customers to see ‘social proof’ and to build trust.
According to a 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report “81% [of consumers] say trust impacts their purchasing decisions” so it’s important to build trust with your potential customers.
Getting articles in trusted, well-known publications, heralding you as an expert, helps you build that trust and trust means more sales.
Once you have these articles, pepper your socials and website with them – shout them from the rooftops: “as seen in [insert fancy publication name here]”. It will go a long way.
SEO
One of the most powerful benefits of PR is a boost to your SEO. In a nutshell, SEO (or Search Engine Optimisation) is the activity of appearing first on search engines when your key words (such as your service / product type, brand name and/or location are typed in).
The higher up you are, the more people will click onto your website.
When you get an article online, you may get a backlink to your website. When search engines see you have backlinks from websites they like (such as online publications) that gives you a boost and you’ll appear higher up the list.
How much a website is liked is called your ‘Domain Authority (DA) rating’ and you’re rated from 1-100 (100 being the best rating).
You can find out yours (and others) here: https://moz.com/domain-analysis.
To give you an idea of the Domain Authorities of publications, as of 2022:
§ Daily Mail – 94
§ The Sun – 94
§ The Telegraph – 94
§ The Metro – 93
§ Huffington Post – 90
§ Yahoo – 78
§ The Express – 76
Backlinks from these websites will boost your own Domain Authority.
There are tons of other SEO activities you can do (such as working on meta tags on your website or writing blogs) but backlinks are the most powerful way to up the ante.
Some Digital PR and SEO agencies charge £1,000s for backlinks – don’t do it.
Brand awareness
This is a classic reason for doing PR but as many small businesses tend to focus on it over the other two, I purposefully put it third to highlight the greater importance of credibility and SEO.
The idea of brand awareness is a simple one – you want your target market to know you exist (and then you want to keep reminding them).
Most publications have media packs (usually available on their website) which will document who their reader is. It’s then just a case of targeting those publications.
For example, if your target market is 25-34-year-old women with a disposal income, you might want to be in Cosmopolitan Magazine.
Timing
Typically, it can take a few weeks to get published articles. Generally, our Expert Key Holders secure 1-6 articles a month.
It’s mainly dependant on what topics you can expertly speak on and how much you engage with us.
The pricing
£99+VAT/month (leave anytime).
Optional extras
Product & Service Key – promoting B2C product(s) / service(s) – £99+VAT/month (leave any time).
Personal Interest Story Press Release – using real-life stories (founders, employees or customers to promote your brand) – £99+VAT/each as and when.
News Press Release – announcing brand news – £99+VAT/each as and when (included with the Product & Service Key).
Expert Press Release(s) – sending our expert insights – £99+VAT/each, as and when.