Every B2B healthcare marketer has run into this challenge: You need valuable, relevant content for your audience, but you’re not the one seeing patients, leading a clinical team, or working hands-on with the technology. You know all the marketing angles, but you don’t truly understand day-to-day of your target personas.
That’s where subject matter experts (SMEs) come into play. They have the real-world experiences, expert insights, and credibility your audience is looking for. When you tap into their knowledge and experience, your content can go from generic marketing language to something truly useful. The challenge is that SMEs are busy and, after all, they’re not marketers like you. Sometimes it can feel like pulling teeth to get their insights, but their expertise is pure gold.
So how do you successfully partner with SMEs and clinical experts? Let’s dive in.
Why Partnering with SMEs Matters
Build Trust and Credibility
In B2B healthcare, decision makers don’t want buzzwords. They’re more likely to engage with what their peers or recognized experts are saying. Partnering with SMEs, whether they are providers, data scientists, tech experts, or executives, helps you create content that feels relevant to their world and builds trust.
Get Insider Knowledge
SMEs have a level of insider knowledge that marketers should tap into. They know the pain points of your audience, the small nuances in language you can use to show your brand “gets it”, and the information your audience is hungry for. A short conversation with a SME can spark an entire campaign idea that you never would’ve considered before.
Create Content Your Audience Wants
Generic content in B2B healthcare? It doesn’t perform. SMEs help you create valuable content your busy audience actually wants to save, share, and use. Here are some examples of content that can drive engagement and reach when featuring your SMEs:
- Webinars
- Case studies
- Q&A-style blogs
- Informational videos
- eBooks and whitepapers
Pro tip: Get the most mileage out of content featuring SMEs by repurposing. For example, if you hosted a webinar featuring a provider or clinical expert sharing insights on patient care, repurpose it into short clips for social media, a blog, and a feature in your email newsletter.
Best Practices for Partnering with SMEs
Build a SME Advisory Board
Whether formal or informal, develop a SME advisory board for your marketing team. This could be power users of your solution, those who created it, partners, or industry experts who can give you insights regularly. Building relationships with them will keep you connected to their world and make it easier to get their time and attention.
Map Content Ideas to Their Expertise
To understand where you could leverage SME expertise, map out your content pillars and identify the types of insights only a SME could provide. Then, develop ideas for specific topics or content pieces. This way, you’re strategic in how you involve them.
Take Time to Learn About Your SME
Take time to understand their industry, background, and why they’re seen as an expert. It’s also important to consider their personality and tailor your approach to what makes them comfortable and engaged. For example, if they’re a natural speaker, invite them to a webinar. If they don’t like being on camera, they may prefer to answer written questions for a Q&A-style blog.
Show Them the Value of Your Partnership
SMEs don’t always recognize how valuable their perspective is. Remind them how their insights can help their peers, support patients, or influence decision-makers. You can also highlight what’s in it for them, like visibility among their peers, thought leadership, or playing a role in the change they want to see in their industry.
Make It Easy and Come Prepared
SMEs are typically busy, so they appreciate quick meetings and easy tasks. First, be able to clearly explain the content you’re creating, who the audience is, and what your goals are. You should also prepare thoughtful, specific questions that lean into their interests and experiences. Lastly, it’s important to give your SME options. For example, if you’re creating a blog that shares their insights, offer options like recording a video on their own, joining a quick interview with you, or answering questions in a document. The easier you make it, the more likely they are to follow through.
Have Them Review the Final Product
Thank your SME and ask them to look over the content before it goes live. This helps you catch errors and shows them respect for their time and expertise. Once it goes live, encourage them to share it on their personal platforms to extend its reach.
Close the Loop with Results
SMEs love to hear that others find their knowledge valuable. Circle back and let them know how the content performed and the impact it had. When they see the results, they’ll be more likely to help in the future.
Final Thoughts
Partnering with SMEs and clinical experts takes time, effort, and patience, but it’s crucial for boosting credibility and expanding reach. Their voices give your content the authority that resonates with decision makers. The best partnerships happen when you respect their time, make things simple, and tap into their knowledge. By following these best practices, you can build relationships that fuel your content long-term.
At Brivio, we build strategic industry partnerships to extend your reach and drive growth with our proprietary partnership program. Contact us to learn how we can support your marketing goals.
