Strategically-developed content is the tool that can bridge the gap between sales and marketing. Bold claim I know, but hear me out. If you’ve been in marketing for long, you’ve probably experienced the age-old cold war (or sometimes even outright battles) between sales and marketing. While we all know some of the reasons for that, we also know it shouldn’t be the case. And I’ve got a metaphor to explain why.
Content Sets Sales Up for Success
For better or worse, the metaphor is dating. If you think back on some of your most successful first dates, they probably had one thing in common: your date already knew and liked something about you before they showed up.
If the two of you were part of the same community or friend group, your date has likely heard your friends saying good things about you. If you met on an app, then maybe you had a fantastic profile and some witty message exchanges that really appealed to them.
When it comes to the sales-marketing dynamic, those friends’ words of praise and that magnetic dating profile is marketing. Overall marketing efforts get the attention of prospective customers. Quality content stokes their interest by giving them value (for free) and establishing your expertise.
A sales call is the first date. If you go into that without the prospect having shown interest and having heard good things about you already, it’s gonna be awkward. Specifically, that scenario puts too much emphasis on selling vs. listening and can lead to what feels like a high-pressure situation for the prospect.
Content Is Your Wingman
Quality content is that helpful wingman that sets sales up for success. It frees them up to listen more on that first call rather than extolling all the reasons your company is great and why the prospect should do business with you. If your marketing efforts have successfully put your content in front of your prospective customers, then they already know the talking points sales is often too eager to push on a call — the company’s unique value proposition, all the features and benefits of the product or service, your experience with clients in X industry, etc.
B2B buying is more complex than ever, and the more you can educate a potential buyer on your product or service and drive home the value you bring as a partner, the more likely you can streamline their purchasing experience and close the deal.
If prospects have seen some LinkedIn posts, read blogs on your website, downloaded a whitepaper, watched some of your videos, joined a webinar — then they should already have a strong estimation for your company and, therefore, don’t have to be sold as hard on your offerings.
The content a prospect has already consumed helps move that first sales call beyond a pitch and into discussing actual customer needs. I once heard someone say “If someone thinks you understand their problem, they’ll assume you have the solution.” Being able to truly ask questions and listen on your first sales call with a prospect gives you the ability to move from posturing to problem solving.
Content Enhances Ongoing Sales Outreach
And it goes beyond that first call. No one likes sending or receiving that follow-up sales email of “hey just checking in” or “circling back here” (please, never use that last phrase). If your company has created content relevant to a prospect’s specific stage in the sales cycle, then that follow up becomes a value-add opportunity.
“Hey, I know that [prospect’s company] is facing some challenges with X. Here’s a blog post that explains our thinking on that issue and some solutions for it.” Or, “We’ve got a webinar coming up on this very topic you mentioned on our call. Would you like to join?”
A B2B sales team enabled with valuable content for each stage of the buying process can more effectively engage with prospects, and the right content at each step of the journey works to further enhance prospects’ estimation of your company. In the end, quality content helps sales close more deals.
And, if we’re lucky, a marketing team that’s equipping their sales team with that kind of content will get more high fives than side eye.
