You've invested time, resources, and expertise into crafting valuable marketing content—blog posts, case studies, white papers, ebooks—all of it. You collaborated with subject matter experts (SMEs), it speaks directly to your target audience, educates them about your solutions, and positions your brand as a thought leader. But your work isn't done once you hit publish. The content you create is also a valuable sales enablement tool for your selling organization.

What is Sales Enablement?

First, a definition.

Sales enablement means strategically equipping your sales team with the resources, knowledge, and support they need to provide solutions to customers and prospects. This can come in the form of blog posts, social media and email copy, brochures, line cards, or all of these things assembled into a guide. You’re giving them additional tools to use in their interactions.

But creating great content and dumping it on your sales team isn't enough – you need to empower them to effectively leverage this content so they know how to maximize its value in conversations with customers and prospects.

Bridge the Knowledge Gap

Some sales reps may be unfamiliar with the intricacies of content marketing. Much in the same way you need to show the value of your content to the public, you need to do the same thing for your selling organization. Start by showing them how the content fits into the buyer’s journey. Explain how different formats address different needs at different stages, from blog posts that build awareness to white papers that create decisions. This understanding will help them choose the right content for each customer or prospect.

Train for Engagement, Not Just Sharing

Don’t just tell the sales team to share the content you create, show them how to do it strategically and how it can help them achieve their goals. Remember, the sales team is just as busy as you are with their own responsibilities. By showing them how they can use your content to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently, you’re more likely to get their buy in. The last thing you want to do is make them feel like they need to do even more work.

A common process I use when publishing blog posts for SMEs is to:

• Send them the link to the blog post
• Send copy for social media with a relevant image so they can post it on their own profiles
• Encourage them to bookmark the post in case they need to use it to answer a question
  
  

Create a Content Library, Not a Black Hole

You need to have one central location where everyone can access sales enablement materials – like an internal wiki – where the sales team can easily search for content based on topic, industry, buyer persona, etc. Make sure it’s organized, searchable, and accessible from any device.

Encourage Collaboration and Feedback

Break down the silos between marketing and sales by having open communication, regular meetings, feedback sessions, and joint brainstorming. Encourage the sales teams to share their success stories and challenges and give them a voice in the creation and review process. This will allow you to refine your content and sales enablement materials to create more relevant, impactful pieces.

Your marketing content is a powerful tool, but you can maximize its power far beyond external publication by showing your sales team how to use it for their benefit. The marketing and sales team will become strategic storytellers, leveraging your content to help more people.

Remember, your content is a powerful tool, but it's only as powerful as the hands that wield it. By investing in sales enablement and educating your team on the value of content, you'll transform them from passive sharers to strategic storytellers, leveraging the power of your content to close more deals and fuel your sales engine.

We’re always ready for a good conversation about this, and we’d love to connect! AMA | Rochester is a place for local marketers and communications professionals to collaborate, learn, and grow together. Reach out to us today. 

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