Neil Howe And Craig Williams Of Atlanta-Based Global Authority Agency Explain Benefits Of “Authority Marketing”

One of the most effective marketing tools that a professional or small business to market can use to differentiate themselves from their competition is a technique called “authority marketing,” according to experts Neil Howe and Craig Williams of the Global Authority Agency in Atlanta, Ga. Authority marketing, they explain, consists of capitalizing on media coverage and other means to position a professional or company as an expert in their certain field, thereby establishing third-party credibility that can be used to demonstrate knowledge and build customer trust.

“In a way, authority marketing is similar to SEO. The whole point of SEO is to get other people talking about you, and to be found and be seen,” says Howe. “That’s what we do with authority marketing, but instead of just your average business person who is competing with the rest of the search results on a page, we are making that expert stand out and giving them that extra credibility in their market by having them featured on big-name news sources like ABC, NBC, CNN and the Miami Herald, so they are getting an instant boost in credibility.”

A recent article in the Huffington Post on authority marketing discusses the value of cultivating a celebrity image and providing instant proof that a business or professional is more qualified than competitors. Howe agrees, saying, “It’s all about positioning and how you are seen by your customers and potential customers. The more authority you have, the more control you have in the marketplace.” To illustrate his point, Howe cites well-known examples like Donald Trump. “If you think of Trump, he is the ultimate example of a celebrity authority, and he does business on his terms. He doesn’t need to negotiate price; his price is high and it’s firm, and people are happy to pay to stay in one his buildings rather than staying in a comparable property next door because of the position that he has and the respect that being associated with Trump can give them.”

Williams points out that authority marketing has existed as long as there has been media. The service that the Global Authority Agency provides is to allow subject matter experts to generate authority marketing on-demand and aggregate it through multiple channels to maximize the impact of each activity. “Many people, whether it’s a business or a specialist in a particular field, will have some press clips or media appearances, whether it’s on Oprah, or in USA Today, or even on local level in their markets,” says Williams. “What we do is to put that coverage on steroids. We generate the coverage that these experts can point at. There’s nothing like someone else talking about you, rather than you just promoting yourself.”

Williams goes on to explain that, while Global Authority Agency can help their clients manufacture an expert image, that image must be rooted in real credibility and expertise. “We can’t manufacture [authority] from nothing. There has to be substance, there has to be content, and the individuals we’re working with have to have some expertise to offer on their chosen subject matter. We provide the formula that they need to manufacture on-demand positioning and create a platform for influence.”

Additional information on Neil Howe, Craig Williams and Global Authority Agency can be found at: http://www.globalauthorityagency.com.