02 Preparing for the interview
The most productive – and enjoyable! – interviews happen when everyone’s on the same page. So, make sure your SME understands exactly what your writer will be looking for.
What they will be trying tease out:
The SME’s expert take on the industry’s hot topic?
Your target audience’s challenges and priorities?
A simple explanation of a complex technology?
The USPs of your products and services – and the cost of inaction?
What your solutions look like in practice – use cases, sales cycles, customer outcomes?
Something else?
If in doubt – or if an SME seems worried about being interviewed – just ask the writer to prepare and share their questions in advance. If the SME tells you they’re not the right person to answer some of those questions, ask them who else you should invite to the call!
A good copywriter will prep for every interview, reading up on relevant topics and trends, and doing their best to familiarise themselves with your solutions and customers. Ask the SME if there’s anything they think the writer should look at, beyond what you’ve provided with the brief.
This might include:
Hot-off-the-press product or solution messaging
The SME’s favourite industry publications
Their favourite research reports or statistics
Key customer stories and outcomes
Content pieces they’ve contributed to previously (and like!)
When an SME meets a well-prepared writer, they realise a) their time is being valued and b) the content they’re working on could be genuinely great. This usually results in better conversation, a stronger piece, and an SME who’s happy to be called on time and time again.
Just like your writer, your SME will need to prepare for the interview. (That might mean a few minutes to refamiliarise themselves with the brief, or an hour to dig out the presentation they gave last year, and reflect on what’s changed.) They’ll also need time to review the copy your writer subsequently creates.
Work with your writer and the SME to establish:
How long the SME needs to prepare for the interview
How long the interview needs to be
Whether you’ll interview additional SMEs at the same time or separately
When the copy will be ready (so you can book the review time in now)
How long the SME will need to review the copy
Get interview prep and copy review tasks booked into your SME’s schedule in exactly the same way as their other work commitments. If you rely on them finding a spare moment, there’s every chance they’ll join the interview unprepared and you’ll spend weeks chasing their thoughts on v1.
