Table of Contents
- The problem with ‘cookie-cutter’ sales enablement content
- Why public sales enablement content works: people don’t care what you say, they care what you publish
- What does ‘typical’ sales enablement content look like?
- Three examples of sales enablement content that will help you sell faster
- Sales enablement content that builds trust and loyalty
It’s easy to fall into the trap of treating content marketing and sales as two separate entities.
Content marketers get the leads.
Sales teams take the leads and transform them into customers.
But some content (often referred to as sales enablement content) bridges the gap between the two. It’s a content asset that supports your sales teams to close sales faster.
The problem with ‘cookie-cutter’ sales enablement content
A recent study looking at sales enablement content showed that just 13% of teams rated their content as extremely or very different from their competitors’ content.
It’s clear that sales enablement content is failing to stand out, so us marketers have to pluck up the courage and create content that’s a little bit different.
Ultimately, you’ll have to publish the kind of content that answers the questions your competitors aren’t prepared to answer, and do this publicly for all to see.
Why public sales enablement content works: people don’t care what you say, they care what you publish
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but people can be a little sceptical of salespeople.
I’m sure you or whoever is responsible for sales in your business are honest, but I’m also sure there’s a point in your life where you were mis-sold something or experienced buyer’s remorse, right? It makes us all a bit jaded.
So when we ‘hear’ something from a salesperson, we can treat it with a little suspicion.
But when something is published out there for the world to see, there’s no going back on it, there’s less chance of misinterpretation and it comes from the company as a whole, not just one salesperson. It shapes confidence and credibility.
Better still, if sales enablement content is freely available on your website, your audience can make their buying decision without having to speak to anyone. They can self-serve the content that leads them to a buying decision.
Unfortunately, 88% of small business owners report that they don’t get regular leads and sales from their websites – something, clearly isn’t working with the content on our websites. And that has to change!
What does ‘typical’ sales enablement content look like?
So how can you create the kind of content that assists your sales teams or allows your audience to ‘self-qualify’ for your products or services?
You’ll be aware of a lot of sales enablement content already:
- case studies
- product demos
- use cases
- explainer videos
Don’t get me wrong, these are incredibly useful sales tools, but they don’t answer ALL of your prospects’ questions.
To do that, you’re going to have to focus on a different kind of content. I go through some examples of this below.
Three examples of sales enablement content that will help you sell faster
1. ‘Why?’ content
‘Why?’ content is simple. It tackles the most common objections that prevent your customers from buying from you.
Take one of the most common objections of all: ‘why are you more expensive than XYZ?’
Now imagine a piece of content that goes into detail about why you’re more expensive than your competitors – that helps your prospect understand the value of your product or service.
You may think this sounds scary as you’re voicing a ‘negative’, but actually, it’s incredibly powerful to tackle your prospect’s objection before they bring it up. Ultimately, it puts your prospects at ease.
An example of ‘why’ content.
In her incredibly helpful and transparent blog post, Why Am I More Expensive Than Other Dog Parks? Katie, the owner of Dogwood Adventure Play, explains why her dog park is priced the way it is.
2. ‘Price raiser’ content
It’s quite common for B2C companies to give you a heads-up when they’re increasing their prices (it seems never-ending for furniture stores!); however, many companies still don’t explain why their prices are increasing.
Content that explains (in detail) why your prices are going up can boost sales because it gives your audience an understanding of the extra value they’re getting.
Like the ‘why’ content, it draws attention to a perceived negative. But if you tackle this head-on, you’ll create much more trust and loyalty than you would with a clandestine price increase!
It’s also an opportunity for you to encourage people to buy before the price increases (if you’d like to, that is).
An example of ‘price raiser’ content
When we worked in website design, we decided to write a blog post called ‘Why we’re raising our prices’.
The content ultimately summed up the added benefits our customers were getting and why our new prices had to reflect that. It got us five new clients in a week.
3. ‘How to find the right…’ content
If you’ve ever read StoryBrand by Donald Miller, you’ll know the importance of becoming ‘the guide’ for your potential customers. In basic storytelling terms, the guide helps the mighty hero overcome their problems.
That’s your job too. You’re here to help solve your customers’ problems (not be the star of the show).
That’s why ‘how to find the right XYZ’ content is so useful. You guide your prospects to find the right company that will best fit what they need.
The scary part is, you’re not there to position yourself as the best and only solution. In fact, you might recommend other companies if they meet a particular need better.
This will close sales faster as your prospects will quickly be able to qualify or disqualify themselves from your products or services – and if you are the right fit for them, they’ll be much more likely to invest in you. After all, you’ve been so open and transparent, that they’re bound to fall in love with you!
An example of ‘how to find the right…’ content
ScoreApp are a quiz software provider, who tackled the question of how to find the right quiz software.
Even though their software is primary tailored to ‘scored quizzes’, they talk about all the different types of quizzes their audience might need, such as personality quizzes or trivia quizzes. This blog post comes from a place of helping rather than being salesy.
Sales enablement content that builds trust and loyalty
Even though this type of sales enablement content can be a little unnerving to publish, it develops trust and loyalty with your audience, who will appreciate your honesty.
Ultimately, these topics above will make you stand out in a sea of ‘samey’ sales enablement content.
This is a guest blog post by Lyndsay Cambridge – Lyndsay is the co-author of the best-selling book Content Fortress and director of Jammy Digital – an award-winning content marketing and SEO agency.