Data shows that 58% of pipelines stall because sales reps cannot provide their leads with enough value. That means if your team could start increasing the amount of value it offers sales prospects, it could increase its success rate considerably.
One way to help your team reach its lead goals is to set them up with digital marketing content to provide that extra value to potential clients.
In this article, we’ll tell you about the major types of sales enablement content and give you some strategies you can implement. Keep reading to learn more.
What is sales enablement content? Why does it matter?
Sales enablement is the practice of giving your team the content they need to close more deals. This can include text-based content, infographics, tools, and other resources that help a salesperson convince a lead to buy your products.
Here are some statistics about sales enablement that highlight why it’s so valuable:
- Companies that use sales enablement have a 49% win rate on forecasted deals, while those without it are at 42.5%
- 84% of sales training is forgotten within the first three months
- 76% of marketers forget about sales enablement
- 50% of sales time is wasted on unproductive prospecting
Statistics like these show you can effectively create a sales process that stands out from the competition by using sales enablement content.
Internal vs. external enablement content
This is one of the first vital distinctions regarding the types of sales enablement content that your team can use.
Internal enablement content is meant for your team’s eyes only. It provides them with the information they need to be more effective when dealing with sales prospects. External content is intended to be shown directly to sales prospects.
Leveraging these two major categories of digital marketing enablement content will be vital to getting as much out of this strategy as possible.
Examples of internal content
- Sales scripts
- Product sheets
- Buyer persona breakdowns
- Presentation decks
Examples of external content
- Pre-written social media messages
- Blog posts
- One-pagers
- Videos
- Emails
- Testimonials
Other types of enablement-focused digital marketing content worth using
Your team can leverage multiple types of sales enablement content to reach its goals. Don’t hesitate to go through some trial-and-error testing to see which is best for you.
That said, here are four of the most impactful types of successful sales enablement content:
Competitor research
When a sales prospect deliberates, they aren’t just thinking about whether or not they want to buy the product you’re selling. They’re also considering if they want to buy it from you or one of your competitors.
That’s why your salespeople need to differentiate what your company offers from what the competition does.
Detailed competitor research reports should include any information that your sales team can use to separate your company from others in the same industry. This can include:
- Pricing
- Marketing angles
- Strengths and weaknesses
- Customer reviews
It can also be a good move to include how your company compares in each of these categories. Instead of just giving your team a sheet showing the competition’s strengths and weaknesses, highlight your own.
When you make this information explicit, it becomes easier for your salespeople to hit their lead goals by demonstrating why your company is the best to buy from.
Case studies
Humans tend to connect with a good story than abstract numbers and data. That’s why case studies are another valuable type of sales enablement content.
Case studies are effective because they highlight the real-world impact your company can have on a client. It’s one thing for a lead to read that you can reduce their costs by 20%, but another thing entirely to see how that’s enabled another business to achieve its goals.
Webinars
Data shows that 73% of B2B marketers cite webinars as the best way to find and convert high-quality sales prospects. So if your company isn’t using them yet, now could be an excellent time to get started.
When creating a webinar, you want to cover topics that your target audience finds truly valuable. You need to clearly understand who your customers are and what they care about to achieve this.
You can typically pull this information from buyer personas. If you don’t have personas you’re happy with yet, consider refining those before putting together your webinars.
Onboarding content
One of the reasons that leads are often hesitant to buy a new product is that they dread having to onboard their team. If you can show them that this process will be much easier than expected, it could boost your conversion figures considerably.
One way to do that is by sharing high-quality and easy-to-follow onboarding content. If your salespeople can show leads that you have a clear and straightforward method for onboarding new customers, that could instantly give you an advantage over the competition.
Tips for leveraging enablement content to reach your lead goals
Start with a comprehensive plan
The most important part of achieving sales enablement content has a plan. If you don’t know where you’re going and the strategies you’re going to use to get there, you have no way of analyzing the progress you’re making.
A good sales enablement plan will need to have clearly defined goals. These should reflect your broader goals as a company and be measurable.
Analyze your historical performance
There’s a good chance you’re using at least a few types of sales enablement content already. If so, it’s smart to analyze how those have worked for you so you can decide if you want to continue using them in the future.
If you find that a specific type of sales enablement content isn’t getting the results you want, then there’s no need to sink more time into it. Instead, shift your focus to a new type of content or make changes to the content channels that have been underperforming.
Train your sales staff
Even if you put together the best sales enablement materials in the world, they won’t be effective unless your staff knows how to use them correctly. That’s why you may need to put your sales team through sales enablement training as part of your broader efforts to get more out of this strategy.
This training could include lessons on:
- When to use different types of sales enablement content
- How to reference sales enablement content in ways that feel authentic
- How a customer’s buyer persona can impact which sales enablement content will be most effective
- Strategies for measuring individual sales enablement performance and adjusting to becoming more effective
Never stop analyzing and adjusting
It’s essential to constantly maintain a high-level overview of your sales enablement content strategies as a whole. Ideally, you want someone assigned to keep track of how the content you produce impacts your sales figures so it’s easy to see when adjustments are needed.
If you don’t have someone in this role, it becomes tough to figure out what’s working and what isn’t. In that scenario, it’ll be a real challenge for you to get as much out of your sales enablement content as you could be.
LeadLander can help you create more effective sales enablement content
Are you ready to start leveraging sales enablement content to achieve your digital marketing and lead goals? If so, LeadLander can help.
Our website visitor tracking software will provide you with a wealth of information about your leads. With it, you can learn what information they care most about so you can make high-quality sales enablement content to address it.
You can sign up for a free 14-day trial of LeadLander today to see how we can help.
