The most successful companies know that communication isn’t just a one-way conversation between the marketing department and prospective customers.
Content marketing for sales is a big process with multiple discussions happening all the time — between stakeholders, the press, influencers, employees and — an often-overlooked group: the sales team.
The sales team are often those who are the direct point of contact between your brand and the outside world. Yet, it’s surprising how often this group doesn’t communicate with the marketers — the other department that talks directly to the customers.
In an ideal world, these two should be working together: the marketing department starts the conversation, and the sales team seals the deal. To help you out, we’re going to explain how to foster a stronger relationship between the two — and how to use content marketing as a key part of your sales enablement strategy.
Marketing + Sales = Your team’s next revenue superpower. Sales enablement content is content designed to help customers make their purchasing decisions. Learn how expert marketers bring the marketing and sales team together and drive results in our B2B Trends panel.
What is Sales Enablement?
According to LinkedIn, fewer than 20% of organizations reported using sales enablement in 2013. By 2019 that figure had grown to 60% as more and more businesses embraced it.
Sales enablement describes the collaboration between marketing and sales teams.
What is Sales Enablement Content?
Sales enablement content is anything that fosters a conversation between your business and the intended audience. It doesn’t rely on aggressive sales-style tactics designed to confuse and dupe, à la The Wolf of Wall Street. It should be, first and foremost, helpful, informative, and have real value.
Let’s run through some of the most popular formats of sales enablement content:
Blog Posts, Articles, and Thought Leadership Pieces
Blog posts can be used throughout the sales funnel. They are valuable sales enablement content tools that educate, build brand awareness, and foster a sense of community around your business.
They’re easy to create and share and can double as reference documents for your sales team.
E-books and Whitepapers
Considered lead magnets, these content marketing for sales tools help your sales team provide value to high-profile contacts. They contain in-depth information about how the brand will answer the prospect’s needs and can also work as a pitch document for salespeople.
They can be linked to your website, or shared digitally via email, on social media, or at a virtual networking event.
Case Studies
Case studies are customer-focused pieces that help both sales teams and prospects gain a better understanding of your customers and their needs. They should make it easy for your salespeople to explain how your business has demonstrated its value, made a positive impact on customers, and satiated a market need.
They’re often used as proof of value for late-stage prospects and can be a useful tool in content marketing for sales.
Social Media Content and Email Marketing Campaigns
Social media and emails are high-converting channels for marketers and sales teams alike to help create engaging sales enablement content. Marketers create useful, entertaining, and informative content, which is then used to foster relationships between prospects.
They count as both lead generators at the start of the funnel, and relationship-building communication at later stages of the funnel.
Product Demos
Product demos are one of the most impactful tools for enabling sales teams to showcase your offering in action. These can be pre-recorded or live demonstrations that provide prospects with a clear understanding of your product’s capabilities and value. Sales teams can tailor demos to address specific pain points, helping prospects visualize how your solution can meet their needs.
Interactive Content
Interactive tools such as ROI calculators, quizzes, or assessments are excellent for engaging prospects and providing personalized insights. For instance, an ROI calculator can quantify the value of your solution, offering prospects a tangible metric to base their decision on. This type of content not only drives engagement but also positions your business as a thought leader in the space.
Sales Playbooks
Sales playbooks serve as a go-to resource for sales teams, offering detailed guides on how to approach different scenarios. These may include scripts, objection-handling techniques, and strategies for navigating complex sales cycles. Playbooks ensure consistent messaging and equip teams to handle any situation with confidence.
Video Content
Video is a versatile and engaging format that can take the form of explainer videos, tutorials, or customer testimonials. It’s particularly effective in capturing attention and delivering key messages quickly. Sales teams can use video content to communicate complex ideas more effectively and create a lasting impression on prospects.
FAQs and How-To Guides
FAQs and detailed how-to guides address common concerns or questions prospects might have. These resources build trust by proactively providing clarity, helping prospects make informed decisions while reducing potential objections during the sales process.
On-Demand Webinars
On-demand webinars allow prospects to consume content at their convenience. They are particularly effective for deep dives into specific topics, showcasing expertise, and addressing industry pain points. Sales teams can share these webinars as follow-ups or during the decision-making phase to reinforce your value proposition.
By diversifying your sales enablement content with these additional formats, your team will be better equipped to connect with prospects, answer questions, and move leads efficiently through the funnel. This enhanced approach ensures a comprehensive, engaging, and impactful sales strategy.
Creating Content for the Sales Funnel
When creating content, remember to match it not just to the audience, but to different stages of the sales funnel.
Blog posts, social media updates and newsletters are ideal for generating leads. They are optimized for search engines to make them easy to find and should always encourage readers to share them. Leads magnets, like whitepapers and ebooks, work in a similar way and can put sales teams in contact with high-value leads.
Supplemented with webinars, FAQ sheets, surveys, and emails, this valuable content can attract new customers as well as save your sales team from having to answer numerous questions at later stages of the sales funnel.
This means you’ll have warmer leads coming your way, and your sales team’s job will be much easier, especially when content marketing for sales.
With the right process, involving sales enablement content, sales and marketing can go together like peanut butter and jelly.
How to Make Sales Enablement a Part of Your Sales Strategy
Well-executed, content marketing helps your business garner attention, start conversations with high-profile prospects, and close deals. So, how do you use sales enablement content to do all of this? Let’s look at the barriers standing in the way.
Use Data to Inform Content Decisions
Leverage engagement analytics to identify which types of content perform best. Tools like the ON24 Platform’s content hub provides insights into how prospects interact with your content, from webinar attendance to downloads. Use this data to refine your content strategy, doubling down on formats and topics that drive results.
Incorporate Personalization
Personalized content is no longer a luxury; it’s an expectation. Tailor your sales enablement materials to specific industries, personas, or even individual accounts where applicable. Simple personalization—like adding a prospect’s name or industry-specific data—can make a significant impact. Sales and marketing alignment ensures that the content delivered is always relevant and timely.
What Are the Barriers to Sales Enablement?
According to SiriusDecisions, 65% of content goes to waste. In addition, sales teams have to look in an average of six different places to find what they need. Here are three of the main issues:
- The marketing team creates loads of great content but doesn’t share it with the sellers.
- The sales team doesn’t find or study marketing content.
- Both teams are too busy and don’t communicate with each other.
Overcoming barriers is never easy: old habits die hard and if your organization currently struggles with silos and/or a hectic schedule, then it’ll be tough. The good news is, it’s not impossible.
Change the Relationship Between Sales and Marketing
We need to change the way sales teams and the marketing department see — and communicate — with each other. It may be helpful to think of them as being on the same team: they’re both there to show the customer how useful your business is.
The marketing team creates the answers, then, armed with helpful sales enablement content, the sales team communicates these solutions to the customer.
Three Tips on Fostering Collaboration Between Sales and Marketing:
- Align the teams by introducing them to each other. Encourage regular catch-ups or opportunities for information-sharing.
- Let the sales team know where they can find content and train the marketing team to explain that content to sales.
- Take advantage of content experience software. Tools can empower sellers to customize their outreach and let marketing teams maximize the value of the content they create.
Metrics and KPIs for Measuring Success of Sales Enablement Content
Measuring the impact of your sales enablement content is crucial to refining your strategy and driving results. Start by evaluating how prospects engage with your materials. Metrics like content views, time spent on page, and downloads offer valuable insights into what resonates with your audience.
For sales-focused metrics, track how often your team uses content in their outreach and whether it helps convert leads into opportunities. Monitoring conversion rates from lead to opportunity—and opportunity to closed deals—can reveal how effectively your content supports the sales process.
Don’t forget to measure engagement during webinars and events. Metrics like poll responses, questions submitted, and resource downloads provide actionable feedback on audience interest. Additionally, qualitative insights from customer feedback help ensure your content meets expectations.
Ultimately, tie these metrics back to revenue. Identifying how specific content influences deals not only validates your efforts but also informs future strategies to optimize performance. When measured consistently, these KPIs create a roadmap for building even more impactful sales enablement content.
Why Content Marketing Should Be a Key Part of Your Sales Strategy
Content marketing and sales enablement have the same goals: to generate leads and boost sales by telling customers about products. The best content for content marketing for sales aligns with the overall goals of the business and enables salespeople to develop mutually beneficial relationships with customers.
Creating sales enablement content — from blog posts and how-tos to whitepapers and e-books — should be a key part of your marketing and sales strategy.
Whether you’re topping up your blog stash or catching up with clients on social media, keep your audience’s needs at the forefront of everything you create. That way, when the sales team uses it, they can position themselves as the kind of supportive, helpful people customers want to talk to.
Prafull Sharma is the Founder of content marketing agency LeadsPanda. He shares tips to 2x your content marketing results on the LeadsPanda blog.