You might be kept awake at night wondering how to ensure your content converts prospects into leads, or how to support your sellers in moving deals through the funnel.
Today’s most successful organizations are using content management, sales guidance, and buyer engagement capabilities in one sales enablement solution to align teams and increase the effectiveness of B2B content for sales. That said, having the right technology in place is just the beginning — here are three foundational best practices to support your sales team and drive business growth together.
Understand the New Reality
The customer journey has drastically transformed with 53% of buyers viewing three to five pieces of content before even getting in contact with a sales rep. This shift means that buyers are more informed than ever when they engage with a seller — and they expect value that goes beyond what they have already learned. Sales teams require content to provide a personalized experience at every touchpoint. Modern buyers are busy, and their time should be used wisely.
Marketers need to understand the new selling reality in order to appropriately equip sellers. Today, your sales team needs the right content paired with guidance on what to know, say, and show for every unique selling scenario. It’s about how well you can support sales, and through them, the buyer, to help optimize the customer journey.
Improve your content approach by listening to your salespeople and your customers. What persuaded them to buy? What may have slowed their purchase decision? What content did your colleague use to close that deal? A combination of advanced analytics and first-hand insights will help you uncover the content that makes an impact.
Build Better Rapport
Rapport is built when people believe that you have their best interest at heart. This principle holds true for your sales team and buyers alike.
To maximize the adoption and effectiveness of your content, you first need to deeply understand your sales team’s needs. Alignment is key to unlocking content success. After you’ve created content, invest time in showing your sellers what’s in it for them and how your content helps achieve their goals. Marketing teams often miss the opportunity to convince sales of their content’s value — you have a small window of opportunity to demonstrate how your assets can change the game.
You can take a similar approach when creating content for your buyer personas. People want to feel understood — and buyers are people, too. Great marketing content delivers “moments of delight” when buyers realize a vendor not only understands their problem, but offers steps to a solution. Earn trust through creating content that explains where buyers are today and how your company can take them to where they want to be.
View the Whole Picture
The smartest business decisions are made when you have a clear view of the whole picture. Sales enablement solutions provide you with metrics that matter to your business, such as how your content is being used by sales and engaged with by customers and prospects.
Metrics such as “closed-won deals” or “influenced revenue” will tell you what content was used in successful deals, from case studies to thought leadership pieces. This kind of data will not only help prove the business value of your work, but can inform your strategy moving forward.
While data and technology have incredible potential, they are not replacements for human empathy and intuition. Technology should augment the human touch in B2B marketing and sales. Personalized, authentic content and engagement from one person to another is what underpins a successful deal. Buyers need guidance and assurances in ways only a real person can provide.
Create Real Customer Engagement from the Bottom Up
Marketing teams have great power and great responsibility to support their sellers in being the best they can be. Through understanding the new sales dynamic, nurturing a relationship founded in trust, and leveraging a combination of technology and intuition, you will have laid a strong foundation for driving your business forward together with sales.
