Harnessing employee expertise in content creation

Do you struggle with content creation? So many businesses do, but it doesn’t have to be that way. You can quickly draw in audiences by harnessing employee expertise in content creation. 

After all, who knows your business better than the people who work there? 

Let’s discuss how to get employee expertise into your content and create informative and engaging pieces. But first, let’s summarize content creation.

Key takeaways:

• Content creation is the procedure of generating topics, ideas, or articles to provide readers with valuable information.
• Employee expertise can be a valuable asset in content creation because they have first-hand knowledge of your business, allowing them to create accurate, relevant, and engaging content.
• One of the best ways to get employee expertise involved in content creation is by brainstorming with them.
• Consider creating employee profile pages on your website to showcase employee expertise.
• Having employees blog on other sites allows you to reach new customers and spread the word about your company.

What is content creation?

Content creation is the procedure of generating topics, ideas, or articles to provide readers with valuable information. Content creation aims to attract and retain an audience by providing relevant and engaging information. 

Companies can create many types of content, such as blog posts, infographics, eBooks, white papers, and more. The sky is the limit regarding content creation, which is why involving employee expertise is so important.

Why employee expertise in content creation is helpful

Employee expertise can be valuable in content creation because they have first-hand knowledge of your business. They know the ins and outs, the history, and the mission. This knowledge allows them to create accurate, relevant, and engaging content. 

In addition, employee expertise can help add a personal touch to your content. When customers read employee-written pieces, they better understand your company culture and what it’s like to work with you. Here is the perfect opportunity to show your company’s personality and what makes you unique.

Finally, employee-generated content builds customer trust. For customers to buy from you, they need to trust you. If they see that other employees are creating content and engaging with customers on your behalf, it goes a long way in earning that trust.

5 tips for leveraging employee expertise in content creation

Now that we’ve discussed the benefits of employee expertise in content creation let’s talk about how you can harness it. 

1. Brainstorm with employees to come up with content ideas

One of the best ways to get employee expertise involved in content creation is by brainstorming with them. Ask them what topics they’re passionate about and what they think would be valuable for customers to know. Brainstorming together is a great way to generate ideas and ensure that your employees feel involved in the process.

When it comes time to make the content, it’s important to assign specific roles. For example, you might have someone in charge of administering a content management system, someone else writing the actual content, and someone else editing and publishing the pieces. Assigning roles will ensure that the process runs smoothly and that everyone knows their responsibilities.

Throughout the content creation process, it’s important to encourage employee input to ensure that the final product is something they’re proud of and accurately represents their expertise. 

2. Ask employees to contribute to existing pieces of content

Ask your employees if they’d like to contribute if you already have some content created. Their involvement is a great way to get employee expertise without starting from scratch. Plus, it can help breathe new life into existing pieces of content.

For example, ask an employee to write a forward or introduction if you have an eBook about your company history. Or, if you have an infographic about your product line, ask an employee to write a blog post explaining it in more detail.

3. Create employee profile pages or blogs on your website

If you want to showcase employee expertise, consider creating employee profile pages on your website. These profile pages are a great way to let customers know your employees and learn more about what they do. Plus, it’s an excellent opportunity for employees to share their knowledge and show their personality.

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4. Have employees guest blog on other sites

In addition to creating content on your site, you can also have employees guest blog on other sites. Guest blogging is a creative way to reach new customers and spread the word about your company. 

For instance, if you have an employee who’s an expert in social media marketing, ask them to write a guest blog post for a site like Social Media Examiner. Or, if you have an employee passionate about sustainability, ask them to guest blog for a site like Inhabitat.

5. Leverage employee social media accounts

At the beginning of 2021, there were 4.2 billion social media users. Your employees are likely among them, so don’t forget to leverage employee social media accounts. 

For example, you can ask workers to share your blog posts on their social media accounts. Or, you can create employee-specific Twitter or Facebook accounts that feature your company’s content. This practice is a form of employee advocacy.

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All these tips will help you get employee expertise into your content and create informative and engaging pieces. So don’t be afraid to harness employee expertise in content creation. 

Optimizely can help you leverage employee expertise

Ever-evolving digital expectations and a sharp focus on customer and employee experience required greater agility, creativity and robustness across the technology ecosystem. 

Company executives and customers measure the success of a business by how well they enable a future-fit technology strategy, expressly by optimizing customer and employee experiences with integrated solutions, practices and partners.

Our team at Optimizely can help you create a better employee experience (EX) for your business that will increase engagement to deliver customer-centric results.

Contact Optimizely today to discover more about our products and services.