How to Be the Go-To Subject Matter Expert in Your Niche
Need in-depth guidance on a nuanced subject or training in a technical area? Ask a subject matter expert (SME) who knows the topic inside and out.
Even better, become the SME that colleagues turn to for guidance and insights. Learn how to establish yourself as a trusted expert and be the go-to specialist in your niche.
What Is a Subject Matter Expert?
A subject matter expert is a person with deep knowledge of a certain topic. Most SMEs have both practical and theoretical expertise, which they gain through advanced education and years of hands-on work experience.
So, is an SME just a senior-level professional? Not exactly.
For SMEs, sharing expertise is a key part of the job description. A typical subject matter expert distributes knowledge via guidance, documentation, or mentorship.
Say you’re a scientist who has a PhD in biotechnology and several years of experience with clinical applications. As an SME for a health tech company, you might serve as a technical expert for the sales team (helping them close more deals) and act as a product expert for the customer success team (helping them train new users).
In some cases, sharing subject matter expertise might only be a small part of your job. Suppose you’re an attorney who specializes in mergers and acquisitions. In addition to managing your own legal cases, your firm might rely on you to guide junior teams through acquisitions or advise about regulations.
SME vs Consultant: What’s the Difference?
If you think an SME sounds a little like a consultant, you aren’t wrong. Both roles rely on niche experience to build and refine solutions. But there are a few important differences between the two
Consultants typically work independently, offering temporary guidance to a number of different clients. SMEs are more likely to be employees, providing expertise to a single organization.
Businesses tend to bring in consultants to act as advisors and develop strategies in the beginning stages of a project. SMEs tend to be more hands-on and provide guidance on an ongoing basis.
Consultants usually have years of experience in a number of areas, making them generalists. SMEs usually have extensive experience in a certain area, allowing them to become specialists.
What Do Subject Matter Experts Do?
While the specifics depend on the company and the role, a typical SME role requires the following capabilities.
Create Documentation
Subject matter experts often advise about guidelines, map out protocols, and document best practices. For example, suppose you’re a user experience (UX) designer who works for an online education platform. You might be responsible for developing best practices for the platform’s UX, such as creating accessibility guidelines for learners and documenting the optimal style for learning progress indicators.
Advise on Research and Development
When organizations consider launching new products or updating existing services, SMEs frequently use their knowledge to assist with research and development and provide strategic guidance. Building on the example above, you might support a product manager’s initiative to deploy a major platform update. Your role might include carrying out usability studies and advising about UX trends.
Train and Mentor
To distribute knowledge across the organization, SMEs often host training programs for cross-functional teams or mentor junior employees. As a UX designer, you might be tasked with training software developers on UX principles to cut down on development time. And you might hold monthly talks for junior designers, advising them on both UX principles and career development for designers.
Partner with Marketing Teams
SMEs are becoming increasingly involved in marketing initiatives, especially with projects led by content marketing teams. By sharing their first-hand experience, SMEs can add originality to content and make it more authoritative.
For example, when your website team plans a site refresh, you might be tasked with reviewing landing page copy for UX courses to make sure it appeals to potential students. Or you might share insights from your educational path with a content marketer writing a blog post on the top UX design courses.
Support the Sales Process
Many SMEs also work with sales teams, answering technical questions and providing them with in-depth knowledge that helps them build connections with prospects and hit quota. As a UX designer, you might help create sales enablement material that highlights how different types of users can adapt the educational platform to meet their usability needs.
What Separates Real from Checkbox SME Work?
Not every SME role involves true expertise. You’ll end up doing checkbox SME work if your role is relatively superficial, relying on you to follow standard steps without thinking critically or engaging meaningfully.
Genuine subject matter expertise requires:
- Deep Knowledge: As a domain expert, you have to go beyond a theoretical understanding and gain practical knowledge so you can provide reliable guidance. In addition to extensive education, you need hands-on experience in your area of specialty. Many SME roles require 5+ years of experience.
- Ongoing Education: A degree or certification can certainly help you build a foundation in your focus area. But as an SME, you have to commit to continuous learning so you have a deep understanding of emerging trends and current best practices.
- Creativity and Innovation: From advising colleagues to training team members, you have to think creatively to generate real value. As an SME, it’s up to you to question standards and think of new ways to use your specialized knowledge for problem-solving.
- Eloquent Communication: Establishing an area of expertise is just the first step in becoming an SME. To excel in this role, you need to know how to share your knowledge via verbal conversations and written documentation.
Why Become an SME?
Is it really worth putting in the time to become a great subject matter expert? The answer is yes, absolutely, if you want perks like:
- Establishing yourself as an expert in your specific area and getting invitations to speak at industry events
- Making a positive impact in your niche by advancing knowledge and helping others make smarter decisions
- Setting yourself up to earn a better salary, as greater expertise can often increase your earning potential
- Gaining the ability to teach and mentor, as SMEs often manage educational programs
However, being an SME isn’t for everyone. You may want to reconsider if you don’t want the responsibility of being your organization’s go-to person for specific problems. Or if you’d rather become a generalist so you can stay flexible and pursue a wider range of career options.
How to Become an In-Demand SME
Use these steps as a guide to become a subject matter expert or take your current SME role to the next level.
Define Your Niche or Angle
First, get clear on your strengths and your particular areas of expertise. Have you already completed a certification and proven yourself knowledgeable in a specific subject? Do you already have several years of hands-on experience in a certain niche?
Avoid making a decision based solely on your interests. Instead, use them as a basis for market research. For example, search for relevant job descriptions or do keyword research for the topic to assess search volume. Seek out competitors to see how many similar SMEs already exist.
Then, think about how to position your expertise in a unique way. Consider highlighting your hyper specific knowledge in a trending area or your extensive experience gained from working with a large number of clients.
Keep Improving Your Knowledge
The degree or certification you earned several years ago won’t set you apart from others with the same education. As a successful subject matter expert, you should never stop learning or seeking opportunities to engage with new information in your focus area.
Gaining new credentials is always an option, but it isn’t the only way. You should also follow official outlets like professional associations and regulatory bodies. Find and follow the best unofficial sources of knowledge for your niche, including newsletters, podcasts, blogs, and membership groups.
Build Relationships with Collaborators
Once you step into an expert role, make it as easy as possible for colleagues to depend on your SME knowledge. Prove your reliability by adhering to deadlines and following through on commitments.
Show curiosity about each project and request the context you need to understand how you can provide value. Focus more on contributing to larger project goals and less on establishing yourself as an authority.
Learn to Share Meaningful Insights
When sharing expert advice, keep your audience in mind. Explain advanced topics using language everyone can understand. Make them more approachable by sharing examples and real-life experiences. Most importantly, invite questions and take time to answer them thoroughly.
Take care to understand the right type of contribution for each situation. Know when you need to provide detailed guidelines with sources to back them up and when to share an original opinion that sales and marketing colleagues can quote.
Seek External SME Opportunities
To build your authority, look for opportunities to share your expertise outside your organization. Identify outlets that include external SMEs in their content marketing strategy and respond to calls for contributions. Proactively build relationships with content marketers who need quotes from experts in your field.
Balance quotable statements with nuanced insights that show your deep understanding of a topic. Focus on sharing original contributions that reflect your first-hand experience and original take.
5 Signs It’s Time for an Organization to Hire an SME
For managers, it isn’t always clear when to add an SME to the team. These five signs indicate that it’s time to hire:
As an SME, keep an eye out for organizations in your field that show these signs. Watch for job listings or proactively connect with employees to start building relationships.
