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How to Get the Information You Need: Building Technical and Marketing Collaboration

Posted by [email protected] on Mar. 1, 2023 / Program Recap / Subscribe 0

March Coordinators' Club: How to Get the Information You Need: Building Technical and Marketing Collaboration

As a marketer in our industry, getting the information we need from subject matter experts is no easy task. Extracting the information from their head when time is limited and the client is the number one priority is often a battle. Luckily, Katie Davidson, Capture Planning Lead with KCI Technologies, and Lauren Gessner, Communications Lead at S&ME share with us some helpful tips and tricks on how to bridge the gap of technical and marketing collaboration. They guide us through directing successful meetings to efficiently get technical information, communicating the value of marketing and keeping technical teams engaged, and building successful relationships with subject matter experts.

Directing Successful Meetings to Efficiently get Technical Information:

Successfully directing meetings to efficiently get technical information requires a few key steps. It’s always important to never go into a meeting cold. Always do your research and preparation prior so you will be able to better communicate with the team the big picture and convey exactly what you need from them. Giving clear and specific parameters of information needed helps ensure that the end product will be what you are looking for. It may also be useful to ask for bullets, ranked info such as top-three takeaways, or even ghostwriting.

Asking effective questions is key to getting the information you need in a meeting. Katie and Lauren shared several helpful techniques that will ensure that you are asking the right questions to get the information you need. Make sure you ask questions in the correct sequencing and use open-ended questions that allow the technical team to explain the information in their own words. Avoid double/triple-barreled questions that could lead to confusion. In addition, use reflective listening and try to summarize the information that you hear. It can also be beneficial to rephrase the same questions asked if you aren’t getting the information that you need. Finally, don’t be afraid to make it a little awkward with silence. Often, this encourages the technical team to go into more depth, and it can also help you sort out your thoughts.

With these steps in mind, you can ensure your meeting is efficient and effective in gathering the technical information you need.

Communicating the Value of Marketing and Keeping Technical Teams Engaged:

A big key of getting the information you need has to do with communicating the value of marketing to the technical team. During your meetings, it is essential to understand the “So What” of the project. Knowing this will help you to convey the bigger picture. Be sure to address the 3 B’s: Bigger, Better, and Brighter Angle. This will help the team think beyond the stats, and help them to understand and think about how it can impact the community.

Now that your team is talking…it may be time to reign it in a little bit. Always keep charge of your meetings and make sure to come into the meeting with clear objectives and an agenda. Inviting only essential personnel to the meeting and suggesting a separate meeting for discussions that venture down the rabbit hole is effective for staying on track. Finally, it is OK to blame it on the clock. Before you go, make sure you ask some wrap-up questions so everyone is on the same page:

What’s the number one thing I should take away?
Is there anything else I should have asked?
Who else should I talk to?

Asking these questions along with providing a summary of what you have learned along with the next steps is a great way to end the meeting.

Building Successful Relationships with Subject Matter Experts:

Building successful relationships with subject matter experts are essential for getting the information needed. Some tips on how to nourish relationships are below:

Be Positive
Be Organized
Be Authentic
Take Initiative
Ask for Feedback
Be a Lifelong Learner
Learn How your Team Works Best

Another component to learning how your team works best is by understanding your team’s communication styles: Analytical, Functional, Intuitive, and Personal. By learning and adapting to each other's communication styles, teams can foster effective collaboration and get the information they need in a timely manner.

Finally, to continue to build relationships after the proposal has been submitted or the blog post has been published, make sure you go the extra mile. Continue to reach out to your key technical team members, share interesting info that you find, try to understand their goals, follow up with analytics and success stories, and it might be fun to change your location and treat the team to a coffee.

While knowledge extraction is an ongoing challenge in our industry, with Katie and Lauren’s strategies, we can bridge the gap between technical and marketing teams and get the information we need.