Content marketing is becoming increasingly more important to the world of sales due to the steady decline in traditional marketing methods and savvier web users. Businesses have to work much harder now to get their products and services in front of their desired audience.

For instance – if you’ve noticing a huge drop in the effectiveness of your ads that were previously working for you, these could be the reasons why:

• Clickthrough rates on display ads across all formats and placements is .06%
• More than half the clicks on mobile ads is accidental
• Ad blocking grew by 41% over the last year costing publishers nearly $22 billion

So, how can businesses acquire new customers? The answer is content marketing.

When it comes to tools for sales success, sales people often overlook content marketing. To give your salespeople a competitive edge, equip them with useful content that will support their efforts when meeting with buyers and help them stay competitive in their industry.

What Is Content Marketing?

In its simplest terms, content marketing is creating and distributing content that your target audience will find value in. It isn’t pitching products or services—rather, it’s giving potential customers information that will make them want to reward you with their business, or at the very least, subscribe to your blog or a Facebook Like.

There are several types of content marketing you can create, including: presentations, podcasts, infographics, white papers, blog posts, videos, and newsletters.

Here are 4 ways you can use content marketing to elevate sales and close deals.

1. Show that you know what you’re talking about.
The Internet’s vast source of information is easily accessible by your buyers. Having so much information at their disposal, they are very knowledgeable – sometimes knowing more or just as much as you do. When they’re looking to buy products or services that will solve their problems, they want to feel they’re in good hands and that you know what you’re talking about.

Fact: Content that you produce yourself can help establish the credibility of your company and build your reputation with buyers. Useful, insightful and provocative content in the form of infographics and blog posts can be used to establish thought leadership, position your company as an expert, and bring buyers into the conversation.

2. Establish your trustworthiness.
Let’s be honest, most buyers view salespeople as being less than forthcoming and over-promising. This type of behavior is one of the many reasons why buyers will usually do their own research before approaching a sales professional. They want to equip themselves with at least enough information so they’re not completely clueless going into the sales conversation.

This is not to say, the behavior of a few applies to the actions of the masses. Most sales professionals are honest and transparent about the capabilities of their products and services. This is where content can help build trust with buyers who are skeptical.

In addition to buying based on functionality and features, buyers also buy based on emotional factors. If a buyer knows why your company does what it does, they are more likely to buy. Through relevant and interesting content, your company can communicate this why and get buyers to buy into your own perspective.

3. Keep the conversation going.
Given the price of enterprise software, the average sales cycle is 6 months to a year. During this time, it’s very easy for the buyer to stop communicating with you. To stay top of mind, sending the buyer new, personalized, and relevant content in the form of blog posts and other types of content will help keep communication open. So as not to impede your own efforts though, ensure that you’re not being annoying or obtrusive.

4. Provide pertinent information to the buyer.
Towards the end of the sales cycle, the conversation becomes more about pricing, security, implementation, case studies, and other specific topics. Due to the value of these types of content for sales success, it’s important that the sales professional work with the respective company’s marketing team to ensure that the messaging is accurate and consistent.

Producing content that is thoughtful and useful can help sales people do what they’re supposed to do: sell more.

Hazel Burgess

Hazel Burgess
FOUNDER/SEO DIRECTOR

Hazel is the Founder & SEO Director at Envisager Studio, a premier website design agency specializing in WordPress website design, development and internet marketing. In her spare time, she writes about search engine optimization, website design, and internet marketing.