“Well,” I said, “the marketing department thought it would benefit me to sit in on some of the SDR on-boarding process. When I write for our site, I’d like to be able to draw from a knowledge of what your team needs.” “So you’re going to work on content that drives lead generation?” our sales director asked. So, yes, I wanted to learn how to support the sales team more in my writing. Here are the most important insights about sales enablement content I learned along the way. Before you start, ask the sales team Before brands create content, they should know their audience. For sales enablement content, you may not be able to survey or interview leads directly, but you can talk to the next best audience: your sales team. That wasted effort could be avoided if marketers approached their sales teams for input before plotting out their editorial calendar full of case studies and product marketing assets. The answers to those questions need to exist in your sales decks, one-sheeters, and case studies. Figure out how much you need to explain B2C companies often have the benefit of selling recognizable goods, but B2B companies—say, content marketing software brands—often require content that explains what they’re selling in addition to why it’s useful. If you’re creating sales enablement content at a B2B company, don’t worry!
“What exactly are you doing here?”
That question was lobbed at me—politely—by Contently’s senior sales director when I sat in on his departmental training. In his defense, I had been tucked in the corner of the conference room while he doled out advice to our newest sales development representatives (SDRs), scribbling ominously in my notepad. I looked up, alarmed to have been directly addressed, and realized the sales trainees had all turned toward me. They all wanted to know why someone from marketing and editorial was creeping on their session.
“Well,” I said, “the marketing department thought it would benefit me to sit in on some of the SDR on-boarding process. When I write for our site, I’d like to be able to draw from a knowledge of what your team needs.”
“So you’re going to work on content that drives lead generation?” our sales director asked.
I nodded, circling that phrase in my notebook. This was one of the terms I had picked up in my first few months in the job—marketing qualified leads, sales enablement, top of funnel—and I had come to learn that the concept acts as connective tissue between two departments that need to be in alignment.
So, yes, I wanted to learn how to support the sales team more in my writing. In addition to listening to our sales managers training new recruits, I sat down with Dillon Baker, the product marketing specialist on Contently’s marketing team, to capture some of his top rules for good sales enablement content. He told me the processes of writing and creating needs to evolve as content travels down the sales pipeline.
Here are the most important insights about sales enablement content I learned along the way.
Before you start, ask the sales team
Before brands create content, they should know their audience. That’s non-negotiable. For sales enablement content, you may not be able to survey or interview leads directly, but you can talk to the next best audience: your sales team.
Too many content marketers put precious time and resources into creating the works they assume sales reps are going to use. That wasted effort could be avoided if marketers approached their sales teams for input before plotting out their editorial calendar full of case studies and product marketing assets.
Companies of all sizes tend to struggle with marketing and sales alignment when they’re launching content programs. And once both teams are set in their ways, it’s hard to catch up. But there are a few simple…
COMMENTS