CW
If you’re looking at it from our clients’ perspective as well, the alternative is to spend a hell of a lot of money on brand advertising. I think the smarter companies are now re-looking at content strategy as way of engaging, with greater relevance and usefulness, with the right people at the right time. That’s why this topic has moved up the agenda of marketing teams around the world. The other option is relatively expensive, increasingly wasteful and increasingly less effective overall. Can I just add one point on subject matter experts? A really big point. Every organization has its subject matter experts. By definition of these subject matter experts, because they’re experts, there are not many of them and they’re time is highly valued, usually highly stretched and everyone wants a piece of them. Their customers want a piece of them — they want to understand what’s happening, where it’s going to go, etc., Then, of course, marketing turns up and asks for some more time. Where a content strategy can address this scarcity of resource around subject matter experts is, because it’s a planned program, you engage with them on a yearly basis and you can get their commitment and sign on, up front, to this and they can schedule this around a thousand other commitments and then you’ll get more from your subject matter experts because they are part of this program — not as part of, “We need you for an hour next week.” That’s too hard for these guys because sometimes most of that week is spent on a plane.
BD
Another issue is that some subject matter experts are perfect, great, media-ready, and able to be articulate, succinct and persuasive in what they are saying. Others, the knowledge is there but it still needs to be tapped and shaped by professional communicators. I definitely think that’s a value-add that firms like ours are supplying to the equation. We don’t necessarily have to come up with subject matter experts — as you say, they exist with the client — but as far as taking knowledge and making sure it’s wrapped up correctly in a way that’s highly effective and highly persuasive — that’s where clients need help and that’s part of the strategy as well.
DS
If you think about the term “subject matter expert,” his or her expertise is the subject matter. It isn’t necessarily appearing on camera putting together bullet points, answering concisely — all these other things. When we think “subject matter expert,” we often assign to that individual or role those sorts of skills sets — abilities they don’t always possess. You’re very blessed if that person or those people do have that, but an important aspect of the supply chain for content is having the skill set that can really use that individual as a resource and harvest from what they have and then use it most efficiently rather than saying, “Can you write us a paper?” or “Will you appear in a video?”, etc.
PH
You talk about these guys being “time-poor” and actually they are thinking, “This is not my core day job. I don’t want to be doing this stuff.” But actually, that’s part and parcel of marketing approaching this on a tactical basis. If we can demonstrate the value they are adding to the whole program, at a strategic level so that it’s not about and output but about an outcome ultimately, then it’s much more convincing and you can get buy-in from those guys.
CW
Just one more point on subject matter experts. What content strategy helps achieve is a structure around what types of expertise, and therefore, what types of people you need on the program. For example, you can have a technical expert who will have huge recognition and empathy with the technical audience and is probably part of all the blogs and forums and all those groups those guys get involved with. Also, there’s some different area you can be looking at as well and that should be the thought leadership piece. Often you get organizations who have a particularly visionary CEO, for example, and that fits really well. If that organization needs a “peer-to-peer” connection with its clients and customers, then who better to do that sometimes than the CEO? Again, it just comes back to the content strategy to set up what those roles are, and that will drive whom you need on the program and when you need them.
BD
That’s a good point about the CEO because it seems, increasingly, companies want to do business with companies who have a vision for where things are going rather than just a product line. We’re seeing this across different industries, so having that kind of high-level vision is important. Not to say that the technical subject matter is not important in their own ways but, the content can be compartmentalized.
DS
By having a strategy in place, you can maximize the different pieces and skills sets of the organization. So in this example, we have a subject matter expert who knows his subject very well, and what you get from him or her is the crucial pieces of a story you want to tell. Then you can package it in such a way that perhaps a CEO or COO or someone else who has a another skill set is able to deliver that content authoritatively. Now you’ve put together a nice synergy of what the organization has going on and you can get the maximum effect in terms of the content — the message that expert has given you, as well as how it’s delivered and from whom its delivered.
CW
One last point. The reason why the strategy piece of content strategy is so important — sometimes with these senior guys in particular — you only get one shot at them. If you’re in marketing and you go to them and you haven’t thought it through, or the deliverable piece doesn’t really match up, they are pretty concerned about their own personal brand and they need to see the bigger plan to get them on board with it — otherwise, you never get them again.
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On Wednesday, our content experts will discuss the powerful influence that content can have on B2B buyers. Check back then for more.
Featured image via Francesco Rizzi Design.
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