One of my clients recently asked about how to get better cooperation from the subject-matter experts (SMEs) who are the authors of the content. My work for this firm is mostly around ghosting content based on interviews, PowerPoints and other written materials, and it’s what’s now called “thought leadership content marketing.”

If your firm needs to reach senior-level executives – the C-suite – to present your services, it can be difficult to get a chance. Senior people are guarded by assistants, voice mail, a never-ending schedule of meetings, and frequent travel. They’re not likely to see your e-mails, take your calls, return your voice mails, or be at any networking events you can get into.

If you ask many professional firm marketers the purpose of their firm’s content marketing program, they may come back with vague ideas like “to position our firm’s members as thought leaders,” or “To build awareness.” That’s easy to say, but hard to do, and harder yet to verify whether or not it’s working.

“But it takes so much of their time!” is a frequent complaint that many professional services marketers have about content marketing, followed by, “We can’t get our firm’s busy professionals to generate content.”

Well, yes, it consumes some of their time. But it doesn’t have to take a lot, at least not in comparison to the benefits they receive.