1. Take a Look At The Content Brief

I mean, duh.

SME interviews exist for two reasons:

1. To make sure blog or web-page content is accurate when referring to a brand’s specific value propositions or services.
2. To make sure general information is accurate to industry standards — especially when online resources may not offer enough accuracy

Both of these reasons tie directly into what the piece of content itself warrants. For this exercise, let’s use WIFH — a client we very frequently conduct SME interviews with. We’ll pull the brief for “Miradry vs. Dermadry: Which Should You Choose for Hyperhidrosis?”.

2. Develop Questions Based On the Brief

Looking at this brief, I know nothing about this subject at all. Thus, I immediately have some questions. Let’s break them down into those two reasons I mentioned earlier:

• Brand Specific Value Proposition
  • Does WIFH offer Miradry, Dermadry, or both?
  • How does WIFH handle either treatment in terms of:
    • Pre-treatment?Treatment length?
    • Sessions needed?
    • Cost?
    • Aftercare?
  •  In what cases does WIFH recommend Miradry, and what cases do they recommend Dermadry?
  • Does WIFH combine these treatments with other treatments for maximum effectiveness?
•  General Industry Information
  • What are key differentiators between Miradry and Dermadry?
  • How do Miradry and Dermadry compare with:
    •  Botox?
    • Mirasmooth?
    • Hydrex?
    • Brella?

You see those questions? Those are now SME interview questions! Wow! Show them to Chris and ask for approval, and then we can send them over to clients. The client and/or Chris may have some feedback, and that’s good! The more questions, the more information gathered, the better.

3. Conducting the Interview Itself

With questions approved and time booked, it’s time to actually do the SME interview. How involved you are actually involved in the interview process will vary from client-to-client. Some will be very chatty and essentially conduct the interview by themselves. Others will actually require you to lead the interview and push for more specific answers.

Whatever the case, make sure to actively listen throughout the interview and ask follow-up questions as necessary — this is how we end up building comprehensive, compelling pieces of content! I also recommend keeping your own notes about how questions get answered…think of it like taking notes during a seminar.

Oh, also, ALWAYS make sure that somebody is recording the meeting! Transcripts are immensely useful, especially when integrating AI writing tools with the interviews.