B2B Writing Institute - How to Take Subject Matter Expert Interviews in Marketing or B2B Writing — Questions to Ask for Writing Articles B2B Writing

“Most rock journalism is people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, for people who can’t read.”
–Frank Zappa

[B2B Is the Opposite!]

FIRST THOUGHTS

Some people are surprised that “normal people” can be B2B writers. The subject matter expert, or SME, is often the one who makes that possible. In B2B, the writer doesn’t have to be the expert. The writer is the translator. This is what has allowed me to complete hundreds of B2B projects in topics ranging from how automotive transformation affects manufacturing hiring trends, to diversity and inclusion in community colleges, to analytics for retail CPG brands.

Maybe in B2C it matters a little more that you’re a personality or an expert on a topic yourself (think travel blogs, fashion reviews, or exclusive interviews). But in B2B, you’re not here to put a spotlight on yourself with your original ideas and insights. Nope. You’re here to orchestrate a glorious piece of marketing content using all the resources at your disposal, including but not limited to:

☑️ The project abstract or specs
☑️ Online research
☑️ The brand’s existing marketing copy
☑️ Your past experiences as a writer
☑️ Your marketing manager’s preferences
☑️ Interviews with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

When you think of the writer as the conductor, not the entire orchestra, you can look at things differently. It’s no longer “on you” to make the violins do their thing, or the cellos play in tune.

You’re just there to pull them in at the right moments so the story of the music gets played.

In the SME interview, this means you can…

Sit back and consider which frequency is missing.
Ask open-ended questions.
Explore ideas in recent State of the Industry reports and consider how it might be woven into the sound you’re making.
The pressure is off you to perform — so you can focus on collaborating, connecting, and following your curiosity to the best outcome for the story.

WHY + CONTEXT

When you kick off an assignment, ask if your project lead has anyone in mind they’d like to interview for the piece. Sometimes these experts are internal to the company – researchers, executives, account managers – and sometimes these experts are external – industry experts, consultants, and more. If you’ve niched into a specific industry and have connections, you can also offer to source a subject matter expert as part of the value of working with you.

There are a couple reasons SMEs get interviewed for content, including but not limited to the following (and you can use this list to explain to clients why you’d like to interview someone):

Make content more interesting (There’s a lot of redundant copy out there — SME content is almost always unique)
Get context and perspective (Someone working in the field for 10 years has insights, opinions, and rants to share… you get to ask about them)
Add technical details (Again, YOU are not the expert. The expert is the expert.)
Put leadership in the spotlight (Essentially marketing for the executive)

It’s worth noting that some companies and writers prefer to do subject matter interviews before they create an outline in order to identify potential topics or generally explore a topic further. This is a matter of preference, so do what feels right to you. But in general, we recommend creating the outline with the stakeholders first so that you can run very intentional interviews with your subject matter experts.

So, what leads to a “Perfect SME Interview”? Three things!

Prepare yourself
Keep an eye on the timer
Limit your questions

STEP ONE: PREP YOURSELF

It might come as no surprise that part of the SME interview is about overcoming nerves… but it’s actually their nerves, not yours! If you’re nervous about interviewing a SME, that’s okay. Because in seven out of ten interviews, that SME is just as nervous as you are, and the rest of the time they’re excited for lunch after their call with you. There are of course exceptions for supremely confident people, but even the most prestigious person on the other end of the line is likely wondering how the interview will go and if they will say something smart enough to make a big contribution to what you’re working on.

If you want to be an excellent interviewer, you’ll focus less on how nervous you are and more on how you can make your interview subject feel comfortable, smart, and interesting.

Here are a few tips to help you feel prepared for your SME interviews:

Get a pic. Check out the SME on LinkedIn, snap a screenshot of their face and title and look at it while you’re talking (This was more for before Zoom calls, but I find it helps me remember)

Go camera-free. Say hi and wave on camera, then turn your camera off if you want! You don’t always “have to” interview with a video call. I’ll say something like, “I wanted to say hello, but I plan to turn my camera off for our talk so I can focus on listening/so you don’t have to see my resting type face.”
Send Qs in advance. Send the SME your questions in advance so they have the option to prepare, but make it clear advanced preparation is optional.
Send outline in advance. If possible, share the outline of the project you’re working on so the SME has context for your questions. They also might realize they’re a terrible person to interview for that topic and say so, saving you a call.
Prepare a brief intro. Sometimes you might get put on the spot to introduce yourself. Make a quick list of who you are and what you write so you always have a one-liner handy. “My name is Sandy, I’m the writer on this project. I’ll be preparing an outline for you to review before we move to the next steps with the first draft.”
Minimize questions. More on this in a minute, but try to limit your interview to 5-6 questions, which will lower your risk of asking anything you can easily Google (Up to 9 questions if they’re segmented or referencing all the parts of your outline).
Get a recording. Record the interview using the meeting software such as Zoom or Google Meet, or use a program like Descript or Loom to capture your own recording (always ask permission first). Personally, at this point I only take notes and I don’t reference the recording. But early on it was very helpful. In my document, I’lI leave a note like “:17 Something important!” or write a word in ALL CAPS so that later on I can get to the right place quickly.

STEP TWO: LISTEN AND KEEP AN EYE ON THE TIMER

When you interview, step into your power. You are the stage manager and the time keeper. The other person may be more experienced or “powerful,” but you run the call and that means responsibility to make sure you make the most of everyone’s time and keep them on track.

During the interview, it’s critical you are actively listening and keeping an eye on the timer. You’re not there as a typist, assistant, or secretary — you’re leading the conversation. This is easy sometimes… and sometimes it’s impossible. Your only job is to try, to be there, and to be willing to lead.

For the average B2B writing project, the maximum time you need to interview a SME is 30 minutes – any more and you are likely wasting both your time and theirs (some might find this controversial!). Sometimes 50 or 60 minute calls may be appropriate — but it’s seriously rare.

When I get scheduled for longer than 30 minutes, I’ll write back and ask if we can do 30 sometimes. Sometimes we can, sometimes the client wants 45, etc. We often finish at 30 minutes anyway, and then I can say, “Well, I’m happy to give you back 10 minutes of your day for a quick coffee break!”

Also, sometimes a client might want to combine SMEs in one call. I recommend against this, because in my experience one SME always dominates the conversation and I don’t get enough quotes (equal quotes) from both people. The only circumstance in which this might make sense is if you’re interviewing folks for a webinar panel and you need to hear their interactions, or you can very cleanly ask both people the questions separately (AKA interview person 1 for 30 min, then person 2 for 30 minutes). Otherwise they’re very likely to say things like, “Oh, she explained it perfectly. I have nothing to add.”

Your job is to wrangle the calls into time blocks and make sure you’re moving through all the details you need to get:

Intro and project summary: Share a brief summary of what the project is (they might not know! You might be call #6 of the day!)
Your questions: You’ll ask you prepared questions, paying attention to see if any questions are answered and where you can ask follow up questions
Closing and final questions: You’ll need a few minutes to close the call, invite other people to ask questions, ask the SME to share any final thoughts, and explain next steps

30 minute call	60 minute call
5 min intro/project summary 15 min your questions10 min closing and final questions	5 min intro/project summary 20 min your questions20 min your questions15 min closing and final questions

STEP THREE: ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

Developing SME questions is an art form. You can freely use mine as a template, but as you use them, they’ll change and become more “yours.” As you get more practice, it will become more natural to you, but here’s an acronym that can help you focus on the 5-6 most important things to ask about:

C O C O A

Context – Offer – Customer – Opposite – Anything Else?

Context

Most B2B writing projects will provide background information about a product, trend, or innovation.
Because SMEs are immersed in the industry, they often have a unique perspective of the context around that product, trend, or innovation.
Your first question should provide an opportunity for the SME to tell the story and share the context of the topic: Why is it happening now? Why hasn’t it happened before? What is influencing it?

Offer

You’ll also want to ask a question about how the topic relates to the sponsoring company’s offer.
Where does this product or service fit into the discussion? What makes it new, interesting, or helpful?

Customer

Along with the sponsoring company’s offer, you’ll want to ask a question about how this issue affects prospective customers.
What problem causes customers to reach out? How are they solving this problem now, and why isn’t that sufficient?

Opposite

A great way to provide dimension to a SME interview is to ask questions that force the SME to explain what’s at stake for the reader or take a strong opinion stance.
What happens if a company does not make the change that we’re talking about today? Can a company ignore this topic and still be successful?

Anything Else?

The SME is the expert on the topic, not you.
- So it may very well be that you didn’t include a question about something that is important to the topic you’re writing about.
- Always end a SME interview asking a question like, “Is there anything else you think is important to include about this topic?” to give the SME the chance to cover anything that’s been left out.

SAMPLE SME INVITATIONS:

FINDING SME TIPS:

Allison: I’ve also emailed scientists and researchers of a published report that I’ve read in my research. They love to talk about their work, usually! It just takes a bit of leg work to track down their email sometimes. But they are usually professors of recognizable institutions.
Sarah: Look up industry webinars and see where the speakers are from – many of them are trying to build their authority online and will be happy to chat with you. Look up conferences on your topic. Skip the headliners and look at people hosting workshops or sponsoring the event — they’re likely very interested in talking about their subject matter.

SAMPLE SME QUESTIONS (Available on all B2BWI Templates):

Can you speak to the important context surrounding [TOPIC]? Why do you think this is such an important topic to discuss today?
What happens if companies don’t address [TOPIC]? What’s at stake here?
How are companies currently trying to address this problem without [SOLUTION OR PRODUCT]? Why isn’t that working?
What are some common objections a company could have for using [SOLUTION OR PRODUCT]? What do they tend to misunderstand about the tool?
Could you share a few real or potential examples of companies that have taken a proactive approach to [TOPIC]? What does success look like?
What else do you think is important for readers to understand about [TOPIC]?

PRO TIPS AND INTERVIEW HACKS IDEAS

Time block before and after – Cut the memory loss that happens between “capture” and “processing” by scheduling 15 minutes before the interview to read your outline and 30 minutes after the interview to process all of your quotes and put them in place. I don’t always do this, but the times I do, it leads to incredible efficiencies in the writing process.
Let there be silence. Embrace the awkward pause. Let there be a moment of quiet. The SME will often fill it. If the silence feels uncomfortable, just state what you’re doing: “Let’s see, I’m just taking a minute to scan my list of questions and make sure I haven’t missed anything.”
Lee Price’s Magic Question. For important concepts, pause and ask: “Let me see if I understand. What I hear you saying is….” They’ll say “Yes!” and feel heard, or they’ll say, “Not quite…” and explain further.

CONCLUSION

If you are human, interviewing SMEs will be stressful and intimidating, so you have two options:

Skip them, and avoid taking work that involves SMEs.
Do it scared

I still do it scared! I still get embarrassed on a call, or tongue-tied, or forget what I want to ask, but at the end of the day, I’m willing to show up and ask questions that will make a project better or make a client feel heard, so “the job” gets done!