How Do We Get Our Subject Matter Experts to Create Content?

Video Transcript

Creating content for content marketing can be incredibly challenging for marketers. But when that content depends on subject matter experts, it takes that challenge to a whole other level. So today, we’re going to be talking about how to get more content from your subject matter experts.

Hey everyone, it’s Tim Asimos from circle S studio. Whenever I’m out speaking about content marketing, almost always the top question I’m asked is “How can we get our subject matter experts to help us with content?” I mean, after all, subject matter experts are critical when you’re talking about creating relevant, thought leadership-oriented content. But these experts are often very busy with client work. They’re in leadership roles, and they’re always under pressure to be billable. So how do we improve the success rate with these experts? Here are some simple tips that can lead to better results and more content.

First things first, convey the why. In other words, help them see the big picture. You’re not just asking them to help with a blog article. Help them understand how that article fits into the overall strategic big picture.

My next bit of advice for you is don’t give them a blank sheet of paper. Nothing is going to ensure that you get less content from subject matter experts than when you simply ask them to write an 800-word article and give it to you by a certain deadline. Instead, give them a title, give them a subject, give them a list of bullet points with ideas that you want them to write about. That alone is going to lead to more content from your experts.

Another thing I found to be helpful is to take a journalist’s approach. Journalists write articles all the time about things that they are not necessarily experts in, but what do they do? They interview the subject matter experts. They take really good notes, ask really good questions. They write an article, and then the subject matter expert can easily weigh in on and help edit in order to lead to a final polished piece of content.

Another way to get more content from subject matter experts is to repurpose content that they’ve already created. This might be unpublished articles or keynote presentations, but regardless of that content, marketing can take that and repurpose it for your content marketing efforts.

All right, so my final piece of advice is to show respect and gratitude when you’re working with subject matter experts. Even though we may believe that it should be their job to help us with content, they are still taking time out of their busy schedule to help. So if you want to get more content from them in the future, make sure that they feel that you have respected their time, value their input, and are genuinely grateful for the effort that they have put forth.

So those are our tips for getting more content from subject matter experts. I hope you find them helpful. And please stay tuned for more video content from circle S studio.