Bridging the gap between marketing and sales means smarter approaches when dealing with potential customers. That’s why you need a sales enablement content strategy.
Demands for a good sales enablement strategy are always on the rise, as more businesses understand the need for providing their commercial teams with more valuable information to make smarter sales.
Besides that, having a sales enablement content strategy helps define the purpose of your creations and how they allow you to reach your goals.
Both marketing and sales teams can benefit from this, as they’ll all become able to deliver better results. Sadly, few businesses understand the value of this.
Such a strategy allows you to deliver the right piece of content to your potential customers to draw them closer to conversion. For that to work, marketing and sales need to work together toward the same goals.
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What Is Sales Enablement?
Sales enablement is the term used to refer to the process of providing the best information to the sales team that might help sell more effectively.
Such data allows for more strategic approaches, smarter ways to engage a potential buyer, and understanding of the customer’s cycle better.
To generate the benefits this strategy is capable of, your sales enablement strategy needs the right focus: the buyer. For instance, say you’re working on a B2B marketing plan.
It involves understanding the people the sales team will engage with, their needs, motivations, and fears. Sales enablement is all about offering the right tools for the salespeople to close more deals.
We cannot discuss sales enablement and ignore the importance of good content.
Salespeople need content to engage with potential buyers in effective ways, depending on how close they are to converting. Also, the way your customers use your content can even inform you about their needs.
Measuring the right data is essential to a good sales enablement strategy. It involves tracking the metrics related to sales cycles, reached quotas, and average deal size.
You also need to consider the goals of your business and the numbers that help you understand your success.
Principles of a Sales Enablement Strategy
Here you can find a summary of the principles that will guide a good sales enablement strategy.
Commitment to the Process
To work properly, a sales enablement strategy needs commitment.
That means building a working structure based on the best practices this approach requires.
It’s also a continuous process that requires constant improvement as it evolves through time.
Top-down team involvement
Working with sales enablement can be a big change for a business, depending on how far behind it is in terms of strategy.
A top-down approach helps to set the priorities right with the rest of the sales team, so everyone gets their priorities aligned.
Success metrics measurement
What goals do you have?
A good sales enablement strategy can help you reach them, but that requires measuring the right metrics.
Keep in mind what your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are, like traffic generated, lead generation, average deal size, attainment, time to close, and others.
Bite-sized and timely content
You must learn your potential customer’s needs and expectations to provide just the right content for that state of mind.
This means an approach focused on bite-sized and timely content, instead of long and large presentations that won’t keep their attention.
Why Is a Sales Enablement Content Strategy Important?
A sales enablement content strategy involves looking at the customer journey and determining which touchpoints may require additional content to help the sales team move the customer through the funnel.
Then, the sales team can provide input regarding what should be included in that content to accentuate their interactions with the customer.
Finally, the content delivery team can create these pieces for sales reps to start using immediately.
There are five reasons why it’s crucial to develop a comprehensive sales enablement content strategy:
- Empowering your sales team – No longer rely on individual skills, but rather the quality of your content.
- Ensuring consistent outcomes – If all sales reps use the same content pieces, you can expect similar results from everyone.
- Better customer interactions – Most customers prefer to do their research, and this content allows them to go at their preferred pace.
- Makes your brand more competitive – Sales content can make your brand more appealing than companies relying solely on sales calls.
- Cohesive messaging between marketing and sales – Facilitate better collaboration between these teams for a smoother customer experience.
There are several types of content your business can use to affect your audience positively as it becomes closer to conversion. Those will allow you to provide value to your public and solidify your presence as an authority in your field.
Build a Sales Enablement Content Strategy in 7 Steps
Now that you understand the importance of a good sales enablement content strategy, the next step involves learning how to do that the right way.
Your success depends on how well you’re able to align your content to your target audience’s expectations to get information for a good sale.
Check out the right steps towards how to build a strong sales enablement content strategy for your business.
Step one: determine your goals
First and foremost, what do you want this content to do? Move customers through the funnel, close deals, or help qualify leads?
Also, remember that individual pieces of content can be used for specific goals, so only some things have to focus on the same objective.
For example, a white paper may move a customer to the next stage of the funnel, while a sales presentation is designed to close the deal.
In this case, the sales team should develop the goals so the marketing team can create targeted, high-value content to deliver them. You can also use a marketing calculator to determine an estimated ROI.
Step two: outline the customer journey
It takes up to eight touchpoints on average before a lead converts to a customer.
The exact number may be higher or lower for your business, but it’s crucial to outline them within the sales funnel.
In this step, the sales reps can dictate which points require additional content to help them move the prospect to the next stage.
Reps may also collaborate with the marketing department to develop some rough ideas.
Step three: choose the right content types for each touchpoint
As we’ll discuss later, there are tons of options for sales enablement content, including blog posts, white papers, and more.
Some touchpoints may need multiple content pieces, while others are best left undisturbed.
In this step, sales and marketing teams should collaborate to discuss what will work best and the type of information that should be included.
Step four: rank content pieces by priority
At this point, you should have a laundry list of content pieces to produce.
Since it’s impossible to create everything simultaneously, your sales team should rank these pieces by priority.
That way, the marketing team can focus on the most valuable content and work their way down the list. You can also use sales enablement tools to develop your rankings.
Step five: start producing content at scale
Realistically, it’s best to produce as much content as possible so your sales team can start converting more leads. Fortunately, it’s easy to outsource content production with sites like WriterAccess (for blog posts and content writing) and Ion (for interactive content). This way, you can produce multiple pieces simultaneously and quickly knock out the list.
Step six: use a sales enablement manager for smoother implementation
With both sales and marketing departments working on this strategy, it’s easy for problems to occur with so many people involved.
So, it’s best to appoint a sales enablement manager who can have a bird’s-eye view of both teams to ensure everyone stays on target.
This manager can also verify progress and step in to solve any problems that occur along the way.
Step seven: analyze results via customer feedback
Ideally, your sales enablement content will generate results immediately.
However, you may need to tinker with some of these pieces to make them more effective.
After implementation, the sales team can provide feedback based on their interactions with customers or solicit feedback from customers directly.
Then, the marketing department can make changes as necessary.
Choose the Types of Sales Enablement Content Your Team Needs
Thankfully, plenty of content types can help your sales team move customers through the funnel. Here’s a list of 13 options you can use:
1. Blog posts
Your company’s blog will be an invaluable resource for marketing, and sales reps can link to specific articles or use snippets in their interactions with customers.
2. Case studies
Sales reps can show prospects how your company has helped other clients succeed. This real-world validation is more likely to convert a lead into a satisfied customer.
3. E-books
Research is a critical part of the sales process; customers are savvier than ever. Providing a comprehensive e-book gives them more information to decide if they want to move forward or not.
4. Testimonials
As with case studies, customer testimonials work as social proof that your brand delivers results. Be sure to have your sales reps request reviews and testimonials from your current customers, so you have as much content as possible.
5. Email marketing campaigns
Your sales team can segment prospects based on preliminary data; the marketing team can send targeted messages to help them move through the funnel.
6. Interactive content
Improve customer engagement with interactive content that they want to see. Products like Ion make it super easy to incorporate this content type into your sales enablement strategy.
7. Sales playbook
This content is designed for reps, not customers, but it can still be a valuable tool for your team. A sales playbook offers guidance and tips on addressing specific questions or concerns a prospect may have. This way, your reps are prepared for any situation that arises.
8. Pitch deck
A pitch deck is a condensed package that shows all the products your company has to offer (or those that may appeal to a specific customer). These informative and engaging decks can enhance a sales call with high-quality visuals.
9. Explainer videos
Video content is always valuable; you can create videos explaining your products or the value they can bring to your customers. Animated videos are engaging and easy to produce quickly.
10. White papers
A white paper helps position your brand as an authority within the industry, which can instill confidence in a prospect that you’re the best option for their needs.
11. Product sales sheet
This content is a page from an enormous pitch deck. It highlights the features and benefits of a product and can even be used for marketing purposes.
12. Sales presentation
Instead of relying on in-person sales presentations, you can create a video and share it with prospects for a more streamlined approach. This option works well because you can combine audio and visual elements into a complete package.
13. Webinars
A webinar is like a video version of a white paper, but it can also be more promotional. A webinar aims to be informative and answer potential questions that a customer may have about your product.
Get Better Sales Enablement Content With Rock Content!
With so much content to produce, it’s easy for your marketing team to get overwhelmed.
Luckily, we can connect you with high-quality writers across every industry imaginable.
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