B2B industries are complicated. Large companies often rely on small teams who need to understand the industry’s ins and outs, and most of that knowledge lives with the company’s SMEs.
That raises a question: How does a small team leverage SMEs without wasting their time?
In a session at Content Marketing World 2026, Abigail Lind, founder of Abigail Grace Writing, and Alexandra Miller, commercial marketing supervisor for Nucor Corporation, explained how they work together to draw content out of Nucor’s SMEs.
For context, Nucor is a Fortune 150 Company and America’s largest steel manufacturer and recycler. “We’re producing and recycling millions of tons of steel a year with a workforce of about 30,000 teammates,” Miller said. “Conversely, our dedicated content team consists of three people.”
Because of its size, Nucor needs content that speaks to different audiences about its steel products, its thought leadership, and how it shows up in the marketplace. Here’s how the team makes that happen.
Put Value First
B2B marketers should start by making clear what SMEs gain by collaborating with them.
Marketing’s side of the exchange is lead generation. “We want to create funnel-filling opportunities,” Lind said. “We want to create prospect engagement for form fills, which will hopefully turn into qualified marketing leads, sales qualified leads, and value-added resources for sales qualified leads.”
SMEs benefit too, and so does marketing, which gains product and technical knowledge it wouldn’t otherwise have. SMEs talk to customers daily, so they know firsthand what buyers want from the company’s products and services.
“Where we meet is halfway in the middle of that shared value,” Miller explained. “The ultimate goal is to drive that indirect and direct revenue for the company.”
Common Collaboration Roadblocks
Even with shared value, collaboration is rarely easy. Four challenges often get in the way:
- Silos. Teams sit in different departments and regions and have uneven internet access, which misaligns messaging and keeps marketing from getting technical details.
- A false perception that marketing is an unnecessary expense. “It’s a long-term strategic investment to build awareness, generate new leads, and build trust with customers,” Lind explained.
- Sales continuity. Sales cycles are long, and years can pass between the first conversation and the final bid and install, so SMEs may not see the payoff of their contributions right away.
- Balance. Marketing teams often struggle to weigh what they should be doing against stakeholder demands, which can crowd out time for SMEs.
These challenges are easier to overcome when SMEs are involved from the very beginning. “This really helps SMEs build that ownership, so it’s not just marketing coming to them with another project,” Miller said. “They’re the owners of this content just as much as we are.”
Five Ways to Make It Easier
Lind and Miller offered these tips for putting that early involvement into practice:
- Be prepared. SMEs are busy, so show you respect their time by understanding the product. “You don’t need to become a product expert yourself, but you have to know enough to have deep, meaningful conversations to draw the right information out of them,” Miller said.
- Stay curious. Approach SMEs humbly, because they’re the ones in the field every day. “We have to always be learning because we’re talking to experts who are in the field every day,” Lind said. “They’re the ones who are going to get you the information that you need.”
- Be flexible. Reaching some SMEs may mean trading the video meeting for an on-site conversation. “Finding your SMEs where they are helps build trust,” Miller said. “You should also be flexible with your process, because a 16-point production plan doesn’t go according to plan every time.”
- Be willing to refine. An article may go through four or five rounds of revisions. That lengthens the process, but working with the SME until it’s 100% right builds trust and joint ownership.
- Remember why SMEs are needed. AI tools are helpful, but marketers should stay focused on keeping the sales funnel moving and on the human expertise that sets their content apart. “Google updates have continuously said that human content is going to keep users on the page,” Lind said. “That’s why we need SMEs, critical thinking, and creativity.”
Why Ownership Pays Off on LinkedIn
When SMEs feel a sense of ownership over the content, they’re more likely to share it on LinkedIn. Since industry professionals tend to gather there, this is exactly where content marketers want to see their work shared.
“LinkedIn is one of our top channels because it’s where people go for technical information,” Miller explained. “Nucor’s audience are those structural engineers and architects, so they’re looking for education and thought leadership in their LinkedIn feed.”
After collaborating with the marketing team, several Nucor SMEs shared an article they helped shape on LinkedIn, and Miller attributed its strong reception to authenticity. “The content performed and resonated well because they shared it authentically in their voice,” she said.
That ownership is what lets a small team’s content travel farther than the team could carry it alone. Nucor’s three-person content team can’t match the knowledge of 30,000 teammates, but by involving SMEs early and respecting their time, it doesn’t have to.
