A few weeks ago,, a post titled What’s the Ideal Number of Experts for Expert Roundup Posts? 27 Experts Weigh In was published here. It apparently answered a popular question, as that post has been shared hundreds of times since.
Now the team at Venngage has converted the content of that post into the cool infographic below. In addition, a few more experts have contributed their wisdom to this question:
Anne Deeter Gallaher (@AnneDGallaher): I love to read Roundup posts but our time is precious. We work in an age of CPA (continuous partial attention), so to stop a reader long enough to deliver information, I think 3-5 experts and no more than 7 is a meaningful number. When I’m reading posts and see a number in a headline, I immediately decide if I have the time to read 5 or 50 tips, especially on my iPhone. When it’s 50 experts, readers may scroll past the content thinking they don’t have the time to invest in reading a post that long. If you want to be read, a shorter list helps you achieve that.
Rebecca Caroe (@rebeccacaroe): The answer is three. Any more and it takes too long. Any fewer and you don’t have the chance of opinion diversity.
Nirav Dave (@nirav_dave): There is no hard and fast rule about the exact number of experts to include in your expert roundup. What matters most is the value your post provides to your readers. Including experts who have no expertise about the topic is not going to endear you to your readers. Thus, your focus when creating an expert roundup should be on pitching only to those influencers who are most relevant to your topic. Also, while it is true that the higher the number, the better traction you are able to garner from it, it’s better to target a lower number—say 20-35—for a well-curated post that delivers results.
The additional inputs generally support the conclusions of the original research: the ideal range for the number of experts is three to ten, with five being the most popular figure. Given a typical response rate in ballpark of 25%, that puts the ideal size for your initial outreach list in the range of 12 to 30 experts.
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Lorraine Ball says
So the question is, if 3 – 10 is best, why didn’t you follow your own advice?
Tom Pick says
Fair question, Lorraine. Because I didn’t know the answer until after I’d asked the question! Also, I’ve discovered through my own experience as well as asking others who write these types of posts, response rates can vary widely, from as little as 10% to close to 50%. I had a very high response rate on this research because I reached out to such an exceptional group of experts.