Whether it’s C-suite leadership, manufacturing engineers, IT specialists, or sales representatives, at some point you’ll need to tap your subject matter experts (SMEs) to inform your marketing content and copy. As a marketing professional, you’re ever so thankful when you can reserve time on their calendar—because who knows when, or if, you’ll be able to get them on the line again. And then, disaster looms: your lead interviewer asks a question and the SME is off and talking and talking and talking, but it’s in the wrong direction or way too detailed.
Content marketers have all experienced this car-going-off-the-road moment. Some will let the SME talk till they run out the clock, only to walk away with a fraction of the information they need. We’ve heard stories of interviewees who give such long and detailed answers during a two-hour web copy kickoff call that the meat-and-potatoes for their subpages don’t get addressed. Or the product manager for a B2B technology solution, unfamiliar with marketing, who dives so into the programming weeds that the big picture gets lost, along with everyone else on the call.
Interviewing SMEs is an art that takes skill and practice.
At MarketSmiths, we interview SMEs every day—and it’s a responsibility that we take very seriously. Here we share seven of the tools in our arsenal for a successful SME interview.
- Prepare, prepare, prepare
We’re partners with our clients so we never go into an interview cold. Just as we ask our clients about their target audience, we get to know the SME ahead of time by doing our research. By putting the SME in proper context, we take the first step toward a productive session.
- Setting an agenda
Every interview needs a roadmap. At MarketSmiths, we have a time-tested structure that funnels down from big picture to crucial differentiators. Whenever possible, we share the question list with the interviewee and our client point of contact beforehand so that everyone is prepared and at ease about what to expect. Providing a question list in advance also gives the SME time to put together resources that may be helpful to the interview and for informing our writing. And occasionally, an SME will course-correct us; we take no offense when we hear, “this is the better question to ask here.”
- Warming up the audience
There’s a reason for the name “warm up act.” And while we’re not The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, we know you get a lot better response from someone who’s been made to feel at ease and appreciated during the first couple of minutes of a call. What’s more, the affinity we create early on casts a halo throughout the interview so that when we need to course correct, we’re already on the same team.
- The clock is our advantage, not our enemy
Stating the amount of time we have for the interview at the top of the meeting—and then referring to how much time is left once or twice—makes everyone aware that a call can’t go on indefinitely and that there’s more ground to cover. It’s super effective signaling.
- The art of interruption
Sometimes an interviewer’s got to do what an interviewer’s got to do. As masters of the spoken and written word, we have phrases in our hip pocket to respectfully interrupt and redirect. It’s also about how we say it, so all our writers are trained to use both words and body language to get an SME back to discussing information that’s usable for the web copy, video script, blog post, ebook, case study, etc.
- “Let me rephrase that.”
In our mind, the question asked is crystal clear. But sometimes, in the interviewee’s mind, either because of bias, their own agenda, or not listening carefully, they interpret the question in an entirely different way. When used with Point 5 (artful interruption), “Let me rephrase that” gets everyone back on the same page.
- Summarizing key information
One of the best ways to course correct is to let the SME know what ground you’ve already covered so as not to retread—and to introduce what needs more probing or where we need to probe next. By stating what is useful (and, by omission what you won’t need), we’re again using effective signaling. Summarizing also lets the SME internally gather their thoughts. Countless times we’ve seen that when a subject matter expert hears their information presented back to them, they’re better able to let us know what info should be prioritized, where there are gaps that need filling in, what info may not really matter in this context, and, sometimes, even correct themselves.
- Keeping the door open for more information
An expert with a good interview experience is engaged and invested in a successful product. We always invite them to send additional information immediately following the call: links, attachments, supplementary thoughts in an email. As they are talking and their wheels are turning, they may refer to stats, prior collateral, or competitors’ materials. This kind of insider follow up can add extra richness to the final content.
The difference interviewing makes to effective copywriting
Yes, we’re always conducting SME interviews. But for your SME, it’s probably rare for them to engage in this kind of discussion, especially in the context of marketing. Let us illustrate this with a quick example.
A technology company was celebrating its 40-year milestone with a major overhaul of its website. The internal marketing director was frustrated he wasn’t getting the information he needed from the VPs who head each of the four lines of business. The VPs, not accustomed to talking in marketing context, let alone web copy development, would delve into extreme detail, go off on tangents, and even disagree on what should be included. The marketing director turned to MarketSmiths. By applying our interviewing experience and tools, we conducted productive sessions that got the web copy moving in the right direction—and the launch of the refreshed website done right on time. Read the case study here.
When your marketing materials require insight and information from your leadership and subject matter experts, make sure you get the maximum usable information and the finest final product. At MarketSmiths, we’re experts at getting to the core of what matters for marketing content and copy, and keeping your copywriting on course.
