As part of the marketing team at your organization, you know a lot about your audience, your industry, and what your company does. But generally, your job is to know those things at a high level to apply the best marketing strategies and tactics.
However, there are experts all around you who know the ins and outs of what your company does, why you do it, and what customers may want to hear. You can create the best content when you work with these experts and harness the knowledge they have.
The Content Marketer’s Role
Copyblogger gives the following definition of a content marketer:
A content marketer is responsible for the planning, creating, and sharing of valuable content to attract and convert prospects into customers, and customers into repeat buyers.
That definition says nothing about knowing it all or being the expert about the industry. Our job as content marketers is to build the strategy around what content to share, when, and how, and then to manage the process of creating it.
You create the best content when you work with experts in your company and industry to create unique content in the various forms content can exist (audio, video, written, graphic). You can’t just make stuff up. You need information from the people who know it best—these experts—to create the best content.
I see part of the content marketer’s role as making it as easy as possible for the experts around me to help me create content, from sending me ideas and diving deep into a topic, all the way to sharing the content after it’s published.
So how do you find the experts around you and work with them to create high-quality, unique, results-driven content?
Let’s dive in.
What is a Subject Matter Expert (SME)?
A subject matter expert is, as the name suggests, is someone deeply knowledgeable about an industry or topic area.
“Subject matter expert” is a mouthful, and very annoying to type, so it’s often abbreviated as SME.
Sometimes that’s pronounced S-M-E, sometimes just smee…like Mr. Smee in Peter Pan.
In content marketing, the SMEs are your go-to people for the knowledge and information you need to create content. A SME can exist in any area—technical, customer service, sales, management—and they can have expertise in any topic. It’s our job as content marketers to find the SMEs, extract knowledge from their brains, and turn it into content for our audience.
Where to Find Subject Matter Experts
SMEs are all around you, whether you’ve noticed or not. Common places I find experts in my clients’ companies are in:
- Sales
- Engineering
- C-suite
- Customer service
The sales team is often rich with SMEs. They’re the people out in the world, talking to customers, helping customers find the right solutions. Plus, when you can provide them with content that helps keep their LinkedIn presence updated and brings in leads, it’s a win-win for everyone.
I have spent my career working with engineers—all kinds of engineers, from product engineers and electrical engineers to software engineers. They are a wealth of knowledge, and any content strategy benefits from having a few on board.
The C-suite is often where the industry thought-leadership content comes from. Here you’ll find the visionaries with an eye on the industry and how your company fits in.
The customer service team members (including anyone who answers the phone) have an ear to the ground on what types of problems customers are experiencing. They hear from customers on a daily basis, and aside from talking to customers yourself, talking to this group is the best way to get an understanding of content opportunities.
If all of these groups are at my disposal, I like to work with each one to create content for different audiences in stages of the decision-making funnel. You can see how a piece written with an engineer as the SME will play completely differently from a piece created with someone on the management team. That’s the point for a well-rounded content strategy.
Getting SME Buy-in
A content strategy doesn’t work (or certainly doesn’t work as well) without your go-to experts. How do you get them onboard to help out?
There’s a little trick I’ve used that other content marketers may not have tried: Ask!
You won’t know until you ask.
OK, but how do you ask?
You’re in marketing, so use your marketing skills to “sell” the expert on the value of what you’re doing and why you need their help.
For the experts in sales, it’s easy to explain the benefits to them. You’ll hand them quality content they can use to find, follow-up with, and close customers. All you need is a little bit of their time and brain power; you’ll take care of the rest.
The C-suite should also be a pretty easy “sale.” Content marketing works to build your brand, create awareness, and bring in leads. Plus, you’re offering an outlet for them to put their ideas out into the world without having to do the actual content creation.
Engineers and customer service team members can be a bit tougher of a sell. There’s not much in it for them directly, other than knowing they’re helping you, the company, and customers. This is the group I’m what I call “softest” with. If they don’t want to be involved, I don’t push. If they’re on the fence, I gently try to nudge them to help. If they’re enthusiastic about helping, I hug them aggressively (metaphorically of course).
I generally start with a few go-to experts on my side, start creating content with them, and then work to bring in others once they can see how things will work.
Content marketing can be vague, especially for those not in the marketing world every day. It’s important to set expectations, help the experts understand their role (and your role as content marketer), and calm their fears and hesitations.
Adjusting for Personality Types
Being one of the early experts in a content marketing strategy is scary for the experts. It’s hard to know what they’re getting into. And, if they’ve had a bad experience previously, they’ll be hesitant to jump in.
I’ve worked with experts of all personality types, and I’ve found ways of working with them all. It’s about putting myself in their shoes (oh hey empathy) and doing my best to make things as painless as possible for them.
Different experts I’ve met:
- The salesperson who will send you unsolicited content – Become best friends with them.
- The oh-so-smart engineer who just wants to do engineering stuff – Be kind, show you want to make things as easy as possible for them, and don’t push.
- The CEO with all the big ideas and no outlet for them – Let them spill all their ideas out to you…and then use them for content.
- The person who has been at the company for decades but doesn’t think anyone wants to hear about what they do – Show them that people do want to hear. I’m a naturally curious person, and I think a lot of content marketers are, so my interest in their stories helps show people do care.
There are, of course, more expert types you’ll run across, but these are all quite common.
My goal with each is to help them feel at home as they’re helping me with content. I truly want to make the process as unburdensome as possible. I do that in a few different ways.
Internal vs. External Processors
Many times, if an expert has had a bad experience previously with content creation, it’s because the content marketer wasn’t working in the expert’s best interests. As content marketers, we have to throw our own preferences out the window and do what works best for the experts.
So many experts I’ve worked with that have had bad experiences relate with this topic when I ask, “Are you an internal or external processor?”
If they’re an internal processor and they were being forced to share their knowledge on calls, of course they had a bad time.
And if they’re an external processor and were forced to attempt to write their ideas down, they probably procrastinated it into oblivion.
I ask every expert if they’re an internal or external processor (and explain the difference if it doesn’t immediately resonate).
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard something like, “Oh my gosh…the last writer wanted me to send bullet points or draft a blog and I didn’t know where to start! Yea, if I could just get on a quick call, do a brain dump, and walk away, I’m in.”
It’s often that easy. (Sometimes it’s not; I’ll cover that next.)
Adapting to your expert’s style is crucial for launching and maintaining a consistent content strategy.
Read more on internal vs. external processors and how to create content with each.
The “Shy” Experts
Sometimes, experts are hesitant to help with content because they don’t want to be the “face” of anything. They don’t want their name on blogs, they don’t want to be sharing on LinkedIn, they don’t want their picture in trade pubs.
Respect that.
Not everyone wants to have a byline or even be on the internet at all. That’s a personal preference.
Fighting against this desire is futile. Work within it. If you force someone to do something they’re uncomfortable with, you’ll lose them as an expert completely.
Instead, talk with them about what they are comfortable with. These shy experts have so much knowledge, and you want them on your side.
My go-to solution is to work with the expert, if they’re willing, on content creation—using their preferred internal or external style, of course. But then essentially putting someone else’s name on the content. Just because the information for a post came from a specific expert, it doesn’t mean their name has to be the byline. Plus, most content uses a combination of experts’ brains anyway.
If an engineer is willing to talk (or write) to me, and their only stipulation is they want to remain anonymous, you bet I’m going to take them up on that offer. We can put another expert’s name on the post (assuming they review and approve the content).
Often, this offer makes the shy expert feel comfortable contributing, and I get another brain in my content toolbox.
I’ve watched too many content marketers pass up valuable sources just because they want to remain private. I think this is a huge mistake.
When it comes down to it, be human. Be empathetic. They’re helping you, so it’s your job to make the SME feel comfortable and understand the value they bring.
How to Create Content With a Subject Matter Expert
OK, you’ve found your experts. You have a team of SMEs by your side. Now it’s time to create. How do you integrate the experts into your content creation process?
There are a few different points at which I like to get the experts involved—as a group or individually.
Topic Generation
You need help from your experts to come up with, and prioritize, content topics.
There’s an art to getting topic ideas out of your experts. It’s not as easy as saying, “Hey, what are some potential blog topics?” That email will get ignored.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve talked to frustrated content marketers who say, “They won’t give me topics…how am I supposed to plan an editorial calendar without topics?” True. But it’s our job to help the experts help us. You can expect an expert to be thinking in terms of “blog topics” like we do. They’re not going to send a handy bulleted list of blog titles.
Ask questions that are easier for the experts to answer, and then YOU turn them into topics.
Here are some questions to ask to help your team of experts think of stories:
- What customer problems have you/we solved lately?
- What projects are you and our customers working on currently?
- Are customers doing anything new or novel with our products/services?
- What common questions have you heard from customers and prospects lately?
As discussed above, gather this information using each expert’s preferred method. Some will want to think about it and type out a list. Others will want to hop on a quick call and puke all their ideas out. Some will be comfortable in a group brainstorming session; others will not. Respect their preferences and work in whatever way works best for your experts.
You should document all the topic ideas and organize them. I use an editorial calendar spreadsheet with the following sheets:
- Editorial Calendar – This sheet holds the master schedule of content—what’s being published when and where.
- Topic Pillars – I generally create content around topic pillars, hub and spoke style, and I organize pillar blogs and their subsequent spokes in this area of the editorial calendar spreadsheet.
- Idea Backlog – This sheet serves as my dumping ground for, “Ooo, that would be a good topic,” ideas that aren’t an immediate priority and/or haven’t been filed in the pillar structure.
Thinking back to roles…the experts help us think through what customers and prospects might want to hear, and then it’s our job to form those ideas into pillars, topics, and a content schedule.
Download My Editorial Calendar Template
Topic Deep-Dives
Based on the upcoming topics on your editorial calendar, you can identify which SMEs you need to talk to about what.
Depending on their preferences (discussed above), you can either send them questions or schedule a call for knowledge extraction.
Both of these methods can be conducted individually or as a group. You can send email interview questions to one person or multiple people, and you can schedule a call with one person or multiple experts. I recommend trying different combinations and seeing what works best.
Email Interview
If the expert is an internal processor and prefers to write out their answers, you can send them questions by email. Either include the questions in the body of the email or send an email with a link or attachment of a doc file that has the questions. As always, check with the expert on their preference.
Write the questions in a way that’s clear what you’re asking. That sounds obvious, but it’s easier said than done. I try to send 5-10 clear, concise questions that will get the expert thinking and allow them to share the knowledge in their head.
I format the email or doc so it’s easy for the expert to add their answers. I include the questions in bold and then leave several line breaks where the expert can put their answers. They know at a glance how many questions they’re headed into and that I expect more than one-word answers.
Email interviews often require follow-ups for expansion or clarification. Try to make the back-and-forth happen in as few emails as possible.
Call Interview
When you schedule a call with the expert, it’s important to set the stage about what you want from them. Make sure you’re clear about the topic you want to discuss and set expectations for what you need from them. I like to assure the experts, especially the ones very high on the external processing scale, that they don’t need to prepare for the call if they don’t want to. They just need to show up and bring their brains. I’ll ask the questions.
Then, of course, it’s your job to ask the questions. I like to prepare questions ahead of time to make sure I cover everything I need. But I let the conversation go wherever it goes. Some experts can talk for an hour on one prompt question; others are succinct in their responses and require more back-and-forth.
Since you “own” this meeting, you drive the call. You do intros, you ask questions and drive the conversation, and you make the goodbyes as unawkward as possible to get people back to work.
I always take notes during the meeting (it helps me listen and organize my thoughts). I also try to record the meeting if possible so I can refer back to the expert’s exact phrasing and the technical terms they use.
After the Interview
I almost always end up with a lot of backlog topics after one-on-one conversations where we dive deep into a specific topic. These conversations rarely stay on a single focused point and almost always lead to more topic ideas, both related and unrelated to the topic at hand. I make sure to document these topic ideas in the editorial calendar idea backlog.
Review and Patching
After our initial conversation, I work to only send a piece through a SME once. I try to compile all of my questions and requests (usually stats or quotes) with the first draft. The SME’s job is to review for factual accuracy and to make sure the piece makes sense. They are not responsible for proofreading or editing (unless they enjoy that part), and they’re not responsible for revisions, except to guide you in what may need updated and how to fix it.
Most times, my content doesn’t need to go back through the SME again. My client contact (usually someone in marketing or management) provides final approval after the SME’s review and my subsequent revisions.
If a first draft is way off the mark (which I usually prevent because of my process), then the SME may have to have a second look. But I work to prevent that in everything I do up to the point of first review.
Those are the main roles of the SME in the content process. The rest is all you.
The Perils of Building Content Without SMEs
The power of your content marketing comes from creating unique content with your company’s own perspectives and insights.
Without SMEs, you’ll end up creating content that anyone could create—you’ll say the same stuff everyone else in your industry has already said.
Picture this: You’re writing an article without an SME. Where do you go for information? Google. You find research and information on the topic at hand, and you write your piece based on what you find.
That’s the definition of saying what’s already been said. Why would someone in your industry want to read that information from you? With no unique perspective, you’re reinventing the wheel in the worst way.
Working with SMEs takes your content marketing from “anyone could have written this” to a strategy built around unique content based on actual industry experience.
I believe every content strategy should integrate subject matter experts, and know you know how to make it happen.