Expert-led content—content that is substantive and grounded in expertise—is a powerful way to earn attention and build trust with your audience.
When we talk about this approach with companies, there’s one concern that comes up again and again: “Won’t it take too much of our experts’ time?”
It’s a fair question. Experts are busy leading departments, product strategy, and, in some cases, entire companies. But here’s the good news: You don’t always need an expert’s time to produce an expert-led content asset.
That’s because much of the expertise that makes content compelling has already been captured. You know those presentations, speeches, and process documents that have been created over the years? They’re all excellent sources of both individual and organizational expertise.
While the content at your fingertips might be too raw or technical in its existing form, with the right approach, you can repurpose it into the substantive content your audience craves.
9 Sources of Expertise That Are Hiding in Plain Sight
Here are nine sources of expertise you might be sitting on, each ready to be transformed into a new expert-led content asset.
1. Existing content
When was the last time you went through your archives? Old blog posts, podcast episodes, and social posts hold sharp insights that may simply need a refresh to align with your current messaging. The expertise is there, it just needs to be brought to the surface again.
(Fun fact: This very blog post that you’re reading was originally published a few years ago and has been refreshed using this method.)
2. Case studies
Case studies don’t always start out as polished, published assets. Sometimes, they begin as internal documents created for sales teams or leadership presentations. Even when rough or intended for internal eyes only, these assets still contain valuable insights.
A case study captures how your organization helped a customer solve a specific problem. That information can be repurposed to show not only the solution you provided but also how your organization’s perspective and expertise impacted the approach.
3. Client testimonials
Testimonials are powerful content fuel. Beyond offering social proof, they can highlight how your organization’s expertise shows up in practice: the way you solved a problem, simplified complexity, or delivered results.
Keep in mind that not every great testimonial comes neatly packaged as a formal review. Sometimes, it’s a line in an email, a note dropped in Slack, or a quick DM after a project wraps. Don’t let these words of praise stay buried in inboxes and chat threads. Sanitize or anonymize if needed, pull them into the light, and get them in front of your audience.
4. Webinars and presentations
Whether it’s an external webinar for industry peers or an internal presentation for your own team, these assets are rich with expertise. They show how an expert succinctly explains even the most complex concepts. Don’t let that kind of concentrated expertise be forgotten after the event ends.
If you’re not doing so already, make a habit of recording all webinars and presentations. With today’s AI tools, it’s easy to pull transcripts and extract information that can be repurposed into strategic content assets.
5. Speeches from industry events
When an executive takes the stage at an industry event, their speeches are often rooted in compelling thought leadership about where the industry is headed. These valuable perspectives deserve a life beyond the podium.
Whenever possible, capture the moment, even if that means making an audio recording on your phone (with permission, of course). You can then mine the recordings for nuggets of expertise.
6. Sales presentations and marketing collateral
Sales presentations and marketing collateral are filled with valuable information about an organization’s services and approach. By grounding yourself in this critical context and framing up front, you can maximize whatever time you have with an expert to dig deeper, capturing the insights and perspectives that only they can provide.
Look for the narrative baked into these materials. A strong sales presentation often tells a story that doesn’t live anywhere else outside the deck. Think about how you can externalize that story in other places.
Even individual slides often contain nuggets of content gold. A three-step process illustrated in a single graphic, for instance, is a ready-made outline for an article. A proof point buried in a “results” slide might be the perfect hook for a case study.
7. Client emails
If you think you don’t have content on a certain topic, look again. Some of the strongest explanations and best advice are often hiding in personal correspondence.
An expert may have already written a detailed email to a client, breaking down a process, clarifying a complex idea, or highlighting the company’s point of view in plain, human language. Repurposing that information helps experts avoid rehashing the same points and gives content teams authentic, ready-made material to work with.
8. Internal process documents
SOPs and process documents may seem too dry and technical to consider using, but they often contain detailed information about exactly what sets your company apart.
For many companies, the process itself is the differentiator. The steps you take to guide a customer through an engagement, or the way you handle internal workflows, are what yield a better or more consistent result. Those details are usually captured in process documents.
When reframed for an external audience, your processes demonstrate not just what you do but how you do it—and why your approach delivers value.
9. Proposals
Proposals are more than sales tools. They’re detailed blueprints of a company’s expertise. When you pull from proposals, you don’t have to ask an executive to start from scratch on messaging or storytelling. The context is already there: what you sell, how you position it, and where the true value lies.
Why Start from Scratch If You Don’t Have To?
Sometimes, interviewing an expert is the only way to capture a fresh perspective or unpack a complex topic. And there is no doubt that when content teams have consistent access to experts, the content they produce is better.
But all those existing materials—emails, proposals, process documents presentations—help build the background and context around that expertise. They give content teams a head start, so instead of spending precious minutes with an expert rehashing basic concepts that could be found elsewhere, you can use that time to go deeper.
At Every Little Word, we’re committed to creating expert-led content that earns attention and builds trust without overburdening the experts we work with. We’ve finessed, refined, and repurposed everything from a sales presentation to a two-sentence client testimonial into winning content for our clients. (That’s one example of what “Be Resourceful,” a core value of ours, looks like in practice.)
If you’re ready to see how much expertise is already hiding in plain sight, let’s talk. Book a Discovery Call with our team today.
