How Marketing Leaders Can Create Expert Content to Rank and Get Leads

What does your audience need?

Your target audience is likely flooded with generic content, so you need to provide them with standout, expert-driven pieces.

But what does creating such content entail?

Original Research

If your marketing team conducts and presents original research, audiences have no choice but to come to you for these exclusive insights.

This could involve:

• Market surveys.
• Industry trend reports.
• Data analysis from your product usage.
• Comparative benchmarking across sectors.
• Technology adoption and digital transformation tracking.
• Qualitative research from various stakeholders.

Presenting new findings offers immense value to those within your industry while positioning your brand as the go-to thought leader.

Personal Takes on Industry Matters

While data can draw in visitors, your audience also values informed opinions that help them interpret it.

Personal insights from C-suite and other company leaders provide context and depth that generic content simply can’t match.

For instance, your team can build content around their takes on:

• Industry trends and developments.
• Technological advancements.
• Market challenges and opportunities.
• Common challenges and uncommon solutions.

Stakeholder Interviews

Another form of exclusive content is in-depth interviews with stakeholders. Since there can be a wide range of stakeholders to target, this helps your marketing team produce rich, multifaceted content.

Your team can use the insights gathered from key stakeholders to add value to their overall content-creation efforts.

Consider interviewing:

• Internal experts (product managers, developers, and customer success managers.)
• Satisfied clients.
• Industry partners.
• Thought leaders in your space.

In 2022, 3 McKinsey senior partners interviewed 67 CEOs and summarized their findings in a book, CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest. Your team doesn’t need to undertake a project this large, but this is a great example of learning how to use interviews to create massive-value, unique content.

Thought Leadership Content

Sharing the views of experts does more than inform your audience — it positions your brand as a credible authority and guides industry conversations.

Google uses its EEAT framework to define what’s a good search result. The ‘A’ and ‘T’ stand for authority and trust, making these the pillars of SEO success.

Success Stories from the Horse’s Mouth

Nothing speaks louder than success.

Your marketing team can create compelling content by working with satisfied clients to:

• Showcase detailed case studies of client successes.
• Share testimonials that go beyond simple praise to offer real insights.
• Develop in-depth analyses of how your solution solved specific challenges.

These stories, told from the perspective of those who experienced the difference your solution made, carry more weight and authenticity than any marketing copy ever could.

Product-Specific Content

For established brands with popular product ranges, product-specific content is a dual-purpose option. It supports your current user base and attracts new users by showcasing your product’s full potential.

Focus on:

• Tips and tricks for advanced users.
• Innovative use cases that showcase product versatility.
• Integration guides that demonstrate how your product fits into a larger tech stack.

Engagement and Community-Building Content

Your marketing team can develop interactive content with personalized insights to increase engagement. This helps foster a vibrant community and enhances brand loyalty.

This can include:

• Polls with results that offer users market insights. If these polls receive enough engagement, they can become a part of your original research.
• Quizzes that help users assess their knowledge or readiness for certain solutions.
• Well-moderated community forums where users can share experiences and best practices.
• Webinars and live chats create a two-way conversation between your brand and your users.

Decision-Enabling Content

The content you put out can be the difference between a lost lead and a conversion.

According to a DemandGen report, 62% of B2B buyers (62%) engage with three to seven pieces of content before connecting with a salesperson.

Your content should help inform their choices and make it easier to come to a decision.

For that, you must include:

• In-depth comparison guides.
• Comprehensive reviews of various solutions.
• Cost-benefit analyses.
• Future trend forecasts.

Timely and Trendy Content

While lasting content can generate sustained returns, there’s also a place for timely, trend-based content. Being present and responding to industry concerns in real time puts you at the forefront of B2B buyers’ minds.

Your marketing team could create:

• Expert commentary on how recent developments impact your industry.
• Seasonal content for B2B products with challenges, opportunities, and changes during specific periods.
• Insights from industry conferences or product launches.

The key here is to go beyond merely stating a buzzing topic to offering an expert perspective instead.

How to create content that your audience wants

Here’s how your marketing team can produce high-value, expert-driven content.

1. Identify Experts

The first step in creating expert content is identifying the right subject matter experts (SMEs), both within and outside your company.

Here’s how to identify internal experts:

• Start at the top: Your leadership team, including C-suite executives, often has broad industry knowledge and future-first perspectives.
• Dive into your product teams: These teams understand your offerings inside and out and can provide rare technical insights into your sector.
• Consult your tech leads: Especially crucial for B2B IT/SaaS companies, these experts can offer insights into technological trends and innovations.
• Don’t overlook customer success managers: They have direct contact with clients and understand real-world applications and challenges.

Pinpointing external SMEs can be tough, given the sheer size of most industries.

Have your team look at:

• Professional networks: LinkedIn’s advanced search can help find experts in your industry based on mutual connections, specific keywords, job titles, and companies.

• Industry events: Relevant SMEs often speak at industry conferences. Your team can look through speaker lists, find frequent presenters, or ask colleagues about impactful speakers from events they attended.
• Academics: Professors or researchers can be the best SMEs for certain technical fields. Your team can look for those with relevant publications or who regularly write in non-academic contexts too.
• Client base: Clients who have given testimonials will often be willing to sit down for deeper discussions about how your product or industry can solve their challenges.
• Complementary businesses: Companies in adjacent spaces might complement the content you aim to produce.
• Industry associations and publications: Join industry associations and read industry-specific publications to find expert contributors.

Here are some of the things you must consider when evaluating potential external experts:

• The alignment of their expertise with your content needs.
• Their current level of industry influence and audience engagement.
• Their willingness to collaborate on content creation.
• The potential for a mutually beneficial long-term relationship.

2. Conduct Insightful Interviews

Your team must do the legwork to extract the maximum value through well-conducted interviews. The top experts in any field have limited time and it’s up to your team to make the most of it.

Here are some tips to make these interviews as productive as possible.

• Prepare open-ended questions: They encourage detailed, thoughtful responses rather than simple yes/no answers.
• Practice active listening: Engage with your interviewee and ask follow-up questions to build rapport and get more nuanced answers.
• Make them comfortable: The more comfortable your SME is, the more open, frank, and receptive they are likely to be to your questions.
• Focus on success stories: Ask about their career or specific instances where products made a significant impact.
• Dive into company history: Early stories can provide rarer insights and showcase a company’s journey and growth.
• Emphasize challenges and solutions: These discussions often yield the most valuable content by showing how to innovate and solve problems.
• Encourage personal anecdotes: They add authenticity and relatability to your content.
• Record the conversation: This allows your interviewers to focus more on the discussion. Without accurate documentation, your team’s hard work and opportunities are wasted.

3. Ghostwrite for Stakeholders

Your marketing team can amplify the voices of your experts through effective ghostwriting.

This process involves:

• Identification: Find the most suitable subject matter experts for each topic and meet with them to grasp their perspective and discuss the content topic and key points to cover.
• In-depth conversations: Have thorough conversations with the expert. Make sure to record their insights, anecdotes, and the specific language they use.
• Research and preparation: Conduct additional research on the topic and review any materials provided by the expert.
• Capturing the expert’s unique voice: Spend time understanding their communication style and key phrases.
• Maintaining authenticity: The final piece should sound like it comes from an expert and not a ghostwriter.
• Focusing on the expert’s strengths: If your experts are great with analogies, don’t forget to incorporate them. If they have a knack for simplifying complex ideas, highlight that skill.
• Collaborative editing: Send the writer’s draft to the expert for review, asking for feedback and any additional insights. Work closely with them to refine the piece and ensure it accurately represents their views while meeting your content goals.
• Final checks: Check for clarity, style, and SEO optimization without losing the expert’s authentic voice. When publishing and promoting the content, keep the experts informed and credit them appropriately.

4. Agency Facilitation

Agencies help facilitate all the complex and time-intensive processes involved in creating expert content. From expert identification to polishing the final content, they ensure the final output lives up to its potential.

At Rampiq, we work with B2B marketing leaders to produce high-quality, expert content. Our process is designed to maximize impact while minimizing time investment from your busy experts.

• Strategic topic alignment: We work closely with you to identify content themes that resonate with your audience and support your SEO goals.
• Expert identification: We help you uncover and organize expertise within your organization, as well as pick and liaison with external SMEs.
• In-depth research: Our team conducts thorough research on relevant sub-topics, ensuring your content is both informative and optimized for search visibility.
• Comprehensive interview briefs: We prepare detailed briefs for your review while ensuring every interview is focused and productive. By thoroughly researching subjects beforehand, we help interviews with SMEs dig deeper.
• Interview facilitation: Our experienced interviewers conduct efficient yet in-depth conversations with your subject matter experts, making the most of the limited time they may have. We ask the right questions so that you obtain the most valuable insights.
• Content creation: Our skilled content writers work with SMEs to transform interview results into engaging, authoritative content. We ensure their takes on complex topics are accessible to your target audience. We design your content to be optimized and discoverable while retaining the expert’s insights and voice.
• Collaborative refinement: Our multistage editing process begins with a technical review for accuracy and depth. We follow with polishing readability, language, and tone. We keep your team and SMEs in the loop at every step to ensure complete satisfaction with the final product.