The SME Who Found Me

mlns='> More SMEs or more content creators? That is the question. This is the answer. [View Message in Browser]( / [Add Us to Safe Sender List]( Weekly News 3.25.22 Connect With CMI [8 Content Marketing Examples To Inspire Your Best Work]( Ease your creative struggles and sharpen your tactical execution by learning from these winning content marketing brands. [Read more]( By Jodi Harris More of the week's best stuff: - [Tech Marketers Shine But Face a Big Hurdle: Content Operations [New Research]]( by Lisa Murton Beets - [40+ Blogs, Podcasts, and Video Series Content Marketers Love]( by Ann Gynn - [5 Practical Ways To Prevent Burnout In High-Performing Content Teams]( by Julia McCoy - [Which Matters More: Content Skills or Subject Matter Expertise? [Rose-Colored Glasses]]( by Robert Rose  The SME Who Found Me Whenever I hear someone use the term SME (pronounced "smee") for subject matter expert, I imagine a Dr. Seuss-like character and accompanying verse: On the 25th day of March, in the jungle of sales, In the pall of the calls, the in of the bound He yelled, "Data! Information!" and other leadership sounds. Then the SME stopped and turned slightly away. He was out. Simply out. No more thoughts came his way. Yes, the story of a thought leader who runs out of thoughts. I should write that. But content teams typically face a slightly different problem. They struggle to decide who should express those thoughts. Specifically, they wonder: "Should we bring in SMEs and teach them to write? Or should we hire writers and teach them the industry?" There's a great story about UPS that might be an urban legend (but I like it anyway). As the story goes, someone asked a UPS CEO how the company encourages such excellent customer service from their drivers. The CEO answered, "We don't hire drivers and teach them customer service. We hire friendly customer service reps and teach them to drive." Does that approach work in content marketing? Does it make more sense to try to get more content from subject matter experts or to try to instill subject matter expertise into content creators? I've found the latter is almost always the better strategy. When I was a CMO, the software company I worked for operated in a niche market that required a good amount of subject matter expertise and technical knowledge. I knew from my days as a writer in the entertainment business how rare content creation talent is. My philosophy was to hire the best writers (often journalists) and designers I could find. I felt I could teach them enough of the subject matter to create great content. Interestingly, I also ended up teaching them marketing. In other words, I hired fantastic content creators and taught them the industry and marketing. Spoiler alert: It worked. But this philosophy only works when two fundamental things are true: 1. The business agrees to invest time and resources to help great content creators develop subject matter expertise. 2. The content creators want to become at least basic-level SMEs. In this week's Rose-Colored Glasses, I explain a process to help you balance subject matter expertise and content creation skills using both in-house and outsourced resources. Let me know (in the [article's comments section]( or [by email](mailto:cmi_info@informa.com) ) if the article answers this age-old content marketing question for you. In the meantime, remember: It's your story. Tell it well. Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute Do you have colleagues or friends who would benefit from Robert's weekly updates? 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