8 Essential Content Types for Sales Enablement

Creating content for your brand that is in line with your buyer personas is a crucial part of sales enablement, and it can make or break your sales process. Top-notch sales enablement solutions are designed to help your brand reach high-potential prospects, increase conversions, and close high-value deals.

Often, digital marketers are responsible for creating content for both content marketing and sales enablement. So, how can you leverage your content marketing efforts to help your team increase sales?

What is Content that Enables Sales?

Content is any information or online experience that helps build your brand narrative and provides an online experience for a user. Whether it’s a high-quality infographic, long-form blog post, or a video explaining the benefits of using your service or product, content is key for digital marketers and sales professionals to engage with an audience and develop meaningful connections with high-quality prospects.

When it comes to sales enablement solutions, the types of content that you create can have a major effect on the number of sales that you close. A survey by DemandMetric provides some examples of what may be considered sales enablement content, including:

• Informative blog posts
• Case studies
• Customer testimonials
• Interactive content
• Print materials
• Email campaigns

From a sales content management perspective, digital content is a high-value aspect of any effective online sales funnel. These materials are developed to keep high-potential prospects moving through the sales funnel and connected to the sales process.

However, it’s important to note that content created for sales enablement is quite often different from content created for content marketing purposes. According to Seismic, content created for the conversion and closing stages of the sales funnel is classified as sales enablement content, while content created to attract leads and convert them into prospects is content for marketing purposes.

When a marketing and sales team are aligned in the types of content created for sales enablement versus that created for content marketing purposes, a sales team can utilize well-placed drips across various touchpoints to make the final conversion from prospect to loyal customer.

The following list highlights the eight essential content types you can use as high-quality sales enablement solutions:

1. Competitor Research and Analysis Materials

For sales teams to effectively understand their customers’ needs, they need to understand their competition. Competitor research and analysis content allow brands to gain insights into how their competition is connecting with their target audience while highlighting the areas where they are lacking.

When sales professionals know where their company outperforms others in the industry, they can provide future-forward information and solutions that demonstrate the advantage of choosing their product or service. A high-quality, competitive analysis document educates sales professionals on how they can best persuade a high-potential prospect to make the final step in the online sales funnel.

2. Case Studies and Other Customer-Centric Content

As an example of another sales enablement document for the eyes of sales professionals, high-quality customer-centric documents help to create an enhanced understanding of your customers and their wants, needs, and preferences.

Well-rounded customer-first content demonstrates the struggles and challenges that your target audience is facing, guiding a sales person to share content and information that shows how their product or service can be the high-value solution they’ve been seeking.

This type of customer-centric content can be provided to sales teams in many forms, such as case studies, video testimonials, or written customer recommendations. Ideally, this type of content will communicate the value that your business provides to its customers.

High-quality customer-centric content will quite often explain the challenge that required a solution, how a brand stepped in to make a positive difference, and the results generated from utilizing a specific service or product. These documents are fantastic references for late-stage prospects that would benefit from seeing proof as to how your solution is the game-changer they need.

3. Blog Posts

Even though content marketing and sales enablement materials are developed for different uses, some content marketing materials like informative blog posts can be utilized during the late stages of an online sales funnel. As sales enablement tools, blog posts are high-value references that can educate sales professionals and be used by them to nurture prospects and close a sale.

From a digital marketing perspective, it’s vital that documents like blog posts are easily accessible to sales professionals in cloud-based storage systems like Google Drive or Dropbox. Rather than being labeled as blog posts, you can share them as quick one-page reference documents for accessibility purposes.

4. eBooks and Whitepapers

Although they’re traditionally used for content marketing purposes in the early stage of the sales process, gated content like eBooks and whitepapers are invaluable materials for both content marketers and sales professionals alike.

When sales teams and marketing departments maintain an active line of communication, they can ensure that these eBooks and whitepapers speak to the needs of high-potential prospects, most of whom will be found further down the sales funnel.

These full-circle documents and resources often contain statistics and educational information about how a brand’s service or product will provide the solution that a prospect needs. If a sales professional is in need of a last-minute drip or pitch, they can reference past eBooks and whitepapers for an informational boost.

5. Sales Scripts

This is where traditional marketing techniques meet digitally-enhanced sales enablement strategies. Ring DNA defines sales scripts as a “prescribed set of talking points” to be used by sales professionals in the late stages of the sales funnel.

When sales scripts are done right, they are an integral facet of a sales strategy. These scripts should be consistent with information that a prospect has been provided, while also providing new educational content that could persuade them to make a final purchase decision. These scripts provide a base for consistency throughout the sales funnel, as well as between various sales professionals on a team.

However, it’s important to remember that for sales scripts to be effective sales enablement solutions, they should be used as a guide rather than read word-for-word to a prospect. Rather, they provide the correct voice and tone that align with a brand and guide a conversation with prospects as they move between sales funnel phases.

For digital marketers who are developing sales scripts, it’s vital that you actively communicate with sales professionals so that you know what aspects of a sales script are working, and where you can further optimize the talking points to create a streamlined reference for sales professionals.

6. Social Media Content and Messages

Social media channels provide a high-converting platform for both content marketers and sales professionals. The messaging aspects of these channels are especially important sales enablement solutions, as they provide a base for meaningful prospect engagement.

Content and digital marketers are often in charge of curating and crafting high-quality content to maintain a brand’s active social media presence. Whether it’s an in-depth blog post or 30-second video, this content can be of high-value to sales professionals trying to maintain a connection with prospects.

For example, sales teams can send links to previous social media content that followers engaged with well.

7. Onboarding Content

Often overlooked from a digital marketing perspective, the training and onboarding materials developed for sales professionals are a critical sales enablement tool. Not only do these documents provide new sales team members with information on the company, but they demonstrate the ideal voice and tone to be used during customer interactions.

When you’re developing these sales enablement materials, make sure that you include content like your company’s mission, values, and tips on how sales professionals can successfully use pre-developed content to their advantage.

8. One-Pagers

One-pagers are one-page glimpses that create a streamlined understanding of a specific aspect of your brand. When used as sales enablement solutions, one-pagers can clearly articulate the benefits of a product or service and how it acts as an effective solution to a challenge faced by a high-potential prospect.

These quick reference sheets should be kept in a cloud-based online location that’s accessible to all, as they’re perfect tools for sales professionals to boost their knowledge or to send to prospects who are currently in the decision-making process.

At the end of the day, high-quality sales content management can help increase conversions and your organization’s bottom line. Sales enablement content can be utilized by both content marketing teams and sales professionals to generate leads and engage with prospects throughout the sales funnel.

Conclusion

For digital marketers looking to help enhance the success of the sales team, aligning content creation with the immediate needs of sales professionals can help streamline the process for all parties involved. The best kind of sales enablement content serves the greater good of the business by enabling salespeople to be successful in their endeavors.

Get started today by discussing the customer pain points that must be immediately addressed, and use your content-creating abilities to develop high-value content that addresses these issues.

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