People today experience content overload; it can be almost instinctive for people to click away from things that don’t seem familiar or instantly grab their attention. Sales enablement content is no exception. Whether it be email campaigns, marketing collateral, social media posts, or blog posts, sales organizations are always trying to find new ways to keep their prospects engaged.
If you know what you’re doing, sales enablement content that you create can help you generate more leads and grow your business. Here are three simple tips to make your content stand out.
1. Be Mindful of Your Voice
Sales enablement content is oftentimes how prospects first learn about your company. And it’s important to remember that it’s not necessarily about what type of content you send, it’s the message that actually matters. To make your sales enablement content stand out, make sure your writing is authentic and you’re thinking like the buyer with every piece of content you write.
Authenticity in Content
In order to get customers to engage with your content, you have to present it in the right way. Think about it this way—do you have a “no soliciting” sign on your door? Do you like the idea of someone selling you something cut and dry? If you answered no, it’s time to apply that same school of thought to your sales enablement strategy. Authenticity in your writing voice is huge, it allows consumers to read your content faster and absorb more of the information you present. If your content is authentic and true to your brand, you’ll build trust and credibility.
An authentic writing voice is especially important for web content writing. According to HubSpot research, 60% of marketers say that inbound marketing (blog content, social media marketing, etc.) is their highest quality source of leads. Writing in a more casual, authentic fashion allows you to organically incorporate keywords and improve your search engine rankings (it’s not just your audience that likes authenticity; Google likes it, too). Authentic content marketing is so important because it helps readers trust you more and Google will see you as a more reputable source. When you rank well in search engines and have great content, more qualified leads will find you.
Thinking Like the Buyer
Lead qualification, or narrowing your potential targets to include only quality leads, is a good first step. But don’t stop there. When you’re reaching out to qualified leads, make sure you’re thinking like the buyer. Blind B2B lead generation is a thing of the past, and today’s best and brightest sales enablement professionals know that.
With every piece of content you create, you have to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. What’s in it for them and how will it solve their business problems? Why does this prospect NEED your product or service? Clearly communicating this in your content will help you to attract more interested buyers and schedule more sales appointments.
For example, if you’re a commercial cleaning company, think about why a prospect would need your services right now. What would help you generate more commercial cleaning leads? We’re currently in the middle of a pandemic, and businesses are trying to stay as clean and as safe as possible. Promoting COVID-19 cleaning services would be a smart sales enablement strategy right now, because a lot of your prospects are probably looking for this. You have to adapt to changing circumstances and always ask yourself, “how can I help the people in my market?”
The message is important, but so is timing. An opportunity is born when the right timing, target, and message intersect. Following up and nurturing leads will help you to reach more prospects at the right time, but why not be even more strategic? Take things a step further with these tips:
- If it’s a LinkedIn message, send it around 12pm when people are checking their phones during lunch hour
- Sending out an email blast? According to John Foreman, Vice President of Product Management and former Chief Data Scientist at MailChimp says to send it in the hours of “about 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.”
- Cold calling a list can be quite the process, but you’ll have the best luck between 4:00 and 5:00PM and between 8:00 and 10:00AM in the prospect’s local time zone. Also, avoid the hours of 11:30am to 2pm—there is a 164% qualifying success rate separation!
Overall, make your content authentic, deliver it in a way that your buyers will want to see, and be strategic about your timing when delivering content.
Get the sales enablement content you need to stand out.
2. Keep it Concise
No one wants to read an essay about a product or service. When writing and presenting sales enablement content, make sure it is something your potential leads can scan over in less than a minute. Most businesspeople spend multiple hours a day sifting through messages, emails, and calls, so getting to the point quickly is crucial in order to stand out.
Consider finding quality marketing collateral jam-packed with statistics, awards, and accolades, or perhaps create a one-page success story about a client in a relevant industry. Quick, digestible content packed with meaningful information shows you can work fast, and it also adds a sense of professionalism that you are respecting your prospective client’s time. Consider their time, and maybe they’ll consider what you have to offer.
The same is true for web content. Even though blogs and service pages should be content heavy, find ways to break up the text so that readers can quickly and easily find the information they came to the page for. Here are a few tips:
- Use a lot of headers (H1s, H2s, and H3s)
- Break up content with bulleted lists
- Use images in every piece of web content
- Keep paragraphs concise; no more than four lines if possible
Keeping text concise and making it easy for readers to digest will help you generate more leads with your sales enablement content.
3. Have Some Variety
Variety is the spice of life, and you should definitely have a variety of types of sales enablement content. While the message is important, every prospect has different preferences when it comes to consuming content. Plus, content comes in all forms, so why not mix it up? By sending your leads informational emails, quick LinkedIn messages, and dynamic marketing collateral, you keep prospects on their toes and create top-of-mind awareness.
Here are a few types of sales enablement content every organization should have:
- Web Content: Web content is a great form of sales enablement content, but it also doubles as a lead generation tool. While sales reps use existing content to send to prospects in their pipeline, content is also driving traffic to your website every single day. With great, SEO content, you’ll convert more website visitors into leads.
- Marketing Collateral: Some people are visual learners. Eye-catching marketing collateral is something that everyone is sure to love. It’s visually appealing and delivers a message about your product or service in a clear and concise fashion.
- Emails: They’re traditional, but they work. Emails are a great way to catch a prospect at their working desk, especially if they’re currently facing a problem in their office that you can fix (goes back to a previous point—make sure you’re thinking like the buyer!)
- LinkedIn Message: LinkedIn messages are an awesome way to quickly send a casual notification right to someone’s phone. Your prospect’s professional history, interests, and affiliations are all available at your fingertips, so you can make a targeted, customized message that is sure to stand out.
Every client is different in what they prefer to read, so having a variety of content types is important. Doing so will help you nurture more leads and develop a strong sales pipeline. Some people like to read blogs, while others would rather consume content on a social media site like LinkedIn. Meeting prospects where they will help you to be as successful as possible.
Sales enablement content is a key component to any successful sales program. When your sales representatives have great content to send to prospects, you’ll close more deals and grow your business. Are you having trouble making your sales enablement content stand out? Our team of marketing professionals can help. Let’s talk → schedule an appointment today.