Friday Deep Dives (How to Create Outstanding Content with Subject Matter Experts)

Welcome to the 8th issue of Friday Deep Dives, a monthly newsletter by Dozie Anyaegbunam, where an industry expert or I go all in on one question on content marketing from you all. I'm glad you're here.

Happy Friday, content superstars,

I hope you all have had a great week.

As for me, I took a 2-day break from work. And then spent day 1 setting up a new treadmill in my basement.

My whole body hurts 🥴 

But I am excited to get back to running. I stopped running last year in December. The former treadmill was installed in the garage.

Wrong move if you plan to run all year round in a city as cold as Calgary.

Ok! Let’s get back to why you all are here.

Today, we’ll be talking about Subject Matter Expert Interviews. Over to you, Jacob.

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes, 43 seconds.

Hey everyone, Jacob Statler of Stat Digital here. Thanks for having me on your newsletter again, Doz.

So, If you find yourself in the B2B content marketing world of LinkedIn, you’ve probably heard many marketers talk about “Subject Matter Expert Interviews.”

This might sound intimidating for a content marketer who hasn’t yet used Subject Matter Experts (SMEs).

It’s easy as a writer to stay inside of your comfort zone and not have to speak face-to-face with other people.

(Any introverts out there?)

After all, wouldn’t it be faster if you involved fewer people in the content creation process?

Although you can easily have “too many cooks in the kitchen” when creating content (which leads to diminishing returns on effort)…

Using SMEs is like having a head chef in your content kitchen.

For our agency Stat Digital, this has led to more unique POVs, fewer edits, and higher-quality content.

In the age of AI, this means all the difference between ranking on Google AND having customers care about your content.

Are SMEs REALLY necessary?

There’s not an industry that comes to mind that wouldn’t benefit from having SMEs help create content.

Yes, the process might be more straightforward for you not to include SMEs.

But is it worth it?

The folks at Google have been increasingly stressing the importance of creating unique content.

Five years ago, you could create content that “has more information and answers more questions” to rank higher than the competition.

Those days are dwindling.

But let’s even zoom out (who knows if we’ll be using Google in 10 years?).

Most importantly: What would your customers want?

Do they want a Google research paper?

Probably NOT.

They want real-world insights from experts who’ve experienced their world.

That’s how you can build a brand that people will remember.

Which means:

More trust. More authority. More revenue.

How to find Subject Matter Experts to interview

There are two ways you can start to use SMEs.

1. Use one that’s already part of your company (this is the ideal situation because they’ll better be able to tie their insights to the company mission).

2. Find a 3rd party SME (less ideal but WAY better than no SME).

Internal SMEs are likely to be less expensive. And they’ll better understand your mission.

But let’s say your company doesn’t have internal SMEs. This is where you’ll want to hire or reach out to a 3rd part SME.

Hiring a 3rd party SME can be a bit more tricky and expensive, but it’s certainly doable.

There have been 2 cases where my company hired 3rd party SMEs for our clients.

One was a CPA for the hospitality industry (the client is in the hospitality accounting space).

The other was a Salesforce Marketing Cloud consultant (the client was a performance marketing agency).

We hired both from Upwork. (If I were to do this today, I would likely start by asking for recommendations from my existing LinkedIn network.)

Tip from Dozie

Alternatively, you can try working with 3rd party SMEs by reaching out to them via your network, social media, or email to see if they’re interested in contributing to a piece of content.

What’s worked for me: Reaching out to my internal SMEs or colleagues who work in the function I need insights from and asking if they have any peers in the industry who wouldn't mind contributing to our content as SMEs.

It’s a warm introduction. So the person is not only likely to share their insights, but they might also be open to contributing again next time you need SME insights for your next piece of content.

If you go the 3rd party SME route, I recommend being very selective with who you hire based on relevant expertise.

How Stat Digital works with SMEs in our content creation process

Now the fun part.

I’ll give you my current process, but keep in mind that we’re always looking for ways to optimize this process.

This process has worked well for us thus far, but any method can constantly be improved.

Here’s what the process framework looks like:

1. Come up with topics based on customer pain points, then find relevant keywords for those pain points. Then for each topic:

2. Create a content brief with questions to ask your SME and create an outline based on your current knowledge and research (the outline will be subject to change after your SME interview).

3. Questions you should probably ask your SME (customize these based on your industry and topic):

   • Who is likely going to be interested in learning about this topic?

   • How aware are they of the solution to this topic?

   • What 1-3 problems can we solve by discussing this topic?

   • If interviewing an internal SME: What is the goal we’re trying to achieve with this content?

   • What are the stakes of not solving these problems?

   • What would cause someone to take action to solve these problems?

   • What might stop someone from solving these problems?

   • What solutions do people usually try but aren’t the best?

   • If interviewing an internal SME: How do we solve this problem, and why is our solution best?

     (If you want a template and SOP to help streamline this process, send me a DM.)

4. If you can, fill out the answers to these questions based on your current knowledge.

5. Schedule and hold a 30-minute to an hour-long interview with your SME to ask them your questions and to have them check your outline.

   • If you don’t understand their responses, don’t be afraid to ask what or why questions to dig deeper.

   • Ask if they have any ideas on how you could improve your outline.

   • Edit your outline as necessary based on the interview.

   • DON’T FORGET: You should be taking notes, but do RECORD the meeting, especially if you’re outsourcing the writing.

6. Write, edit, and polish your article.

7. If possible, have the SME quickly review the final product

10 tips for getting more out of your interviews

I’ve found interview skills to be very similar to those you’d need to make a good discovery on a prospect.

Getting good at interviews takes practice (and it’s not something I’d particularly say I’m the best at), but here are some tips I’ve learned to help the process go smoother:

1. Explain the process. Before asking any questions, please explain how your process works and what you expect from them. This sets expectations and ensures you make the best of your time with them.

2. Send questions ahead of time to get their brain whirring.

3.  Ask open-ended questions (What…? How…? Where…? Why…?). Doing so will keep the interview responses more natural. And you’ll be able to avoid bias in your questions that could suppress the real narrative.

4. If your SME ever says something that makes you think, “What, why, where, or how?” — that’s a sign you should ask them an open-ended question that enables them to go deeper.

5.  If your SME starts going deep into a subtopic — let them. This is where you can uncover a lot of nuances that only an expert could know. Your open-ended questions will help them go deeper.

6.  Let the conversation flow (as long as you’re on topic). Don’t feel the need to rush the interview and force every question if you’re already uncovering unique POVs from digging deep into a subtopic.

7. Your customers care about solving problems. So make sure to ask questions to dig deep into common problems regarding a topic. These could be problems they’re trying to solve, problems that stop them from solving their original problems, or problems with common solutions.

8. Establish a rapport. Humans are at their best when they feel at home. And your SME is no different. Ask them about themselves, listen attentively, and be respectful of their time and experience.

9. Listen to your recordings to notice anything you could do better as an interviewer. (Perhaps, you’re rushing your SME or not digging deep enough into their answers.)

10. Follow Ryan Paul Gibson on LinkedIn. His posts have given me numerous tips on improving my interviews.

And that’s it, folks.

Please feel free to connect and ask Jacob any questions you have on LinkedIn.

If you found it helpful, let me know in the comments or by email. If you have a question you would like me to explain in-depth, send it in. And even if I don’t have the answer, I’ll find someone who can answer it properly.

Thanks for reading to the end. You all make writing this newsletter worth the trouble.

Be good out there. If you can't be good, be careful.

Dozie.

PS: If you enjoyed this, please consider sharing it on LinkedIn or with a friend.