The world of Content Marketing is a constantly changing one. Blogs, articles, and social media posts have all become integral parts of any Content Strategy.
However, sales-enablement content writing has not been given the same focus as other types of content. In this article, we will discuss 7 ways to write effective sales-enablement content that gets results!
1. Know your Audience
The first step to writing sales-enablement content is understanding who you are writing for. Identify the people on your team who will need this content in order to sell effectively and discover how they prefer to receive information.
Are they more likely to read an article or a blog post? Do they need it broken down into specific tasks with checklists? Figure out what works best for each individual and write your content to suit their needs. Once you understand who you are writing for, you’ll be able to better tailor the tone and language of your articles so that it resonates with them.
Keep in mind that while some companies have very sales driven cultures where many employees are expected to contribute revenue, some companies are not as sales driven and the employees aren’t expecting to contribute much revenue.
If you’re writing content for a company where it’s more of a collaborative environment, be sure to treat your colleagues with consideration so that they don’t feel overwhelmed or overworked by sales-enablement material.
2. The 5 “W”‘s
The Five W’s are a tried and true journalistic technique used to get all of the details surrounding a certain topic across in an interesting way.
It also works well when you need to write naturally about complex topics in order for them to resonate with your audience! Let’s take this Sales Enablement definition from B2B Marketing Insider for example and see how applying the Five W’s would work:
Sales Enablement is the process of providing sales teams with content including training, tools and messaging to enable them to generate revenue.
- What – Process, Content and Tools
- Who – Sales Teams
- Where – Fits into the Company’s Sales Strategy and Communication Plan (if applicable) What about Messaging? ]
- Why – To Help Sales Effectively Communicate with Leads and Customers
- How – Collaboration between Marketing/PR/Tech/etc. So that each group understands how they contribute to the marketing goals of the company.
Once you’ve answered those questions, you’ll have a solid foundation to build on as you write the rest of your content.
3. The “F’s”
The Seven F’s are another technique typically used for academic writing and journalism that can be easily applied to sales-enablement content.
This is a great way to ensure that you cover all of the relevant points without going off on tangents that will take away from your primary messaging.
Let’s say you’re writing about sales enablement, but in order to do so, we need to define what Sales Enablement means: Sales Enablement refers to providing training, tools, and messaging materials that help sell company products or services more effectively by enabling faster responses and better support during the customer buying process.
- What is it?
- Where does it come from?
- Why do we use it?
- Who does it affect the buying process?
- How does it help companies develop better relationships with clients/customers six months down the line when they’re already using a company’s product or service?
- What are some of the benefits and drawbacks?
This is an effective way to ensure that your content touches on all major points without getting too in-depth into any one particular topic.
4. Tying everything together with a Call-to-Action
After reading through your sales-enablement article, blog post, or social media update, you want readers to feel empowered enough to take action!
Did you share a relevant article about how Sales Teams can improve productivity during their day as a call to action for readers? Did you give an overview of Company X’s latest product releases as a call to action for salespeople and marketers?
A good CTA could encourage readers to check out your content if they’re interested, ask questions, or share their thoughts in the comments below. Remember that any time clients are exposed to new information about a company or industry, it creates an opportunity for them (and you) to learn something new!
5. Be mindful of tone with your audience
Thought Leadership through Sales Enablement is all about establishing yourself as someone who is understanding of client needs and has the ability to provide solutions for them. In order to do this over time, you need to consider the tone that will resonate best with your audience and not be too sales-y.
Tone can vary depending on the industry or company you’re writing for, but it’s important to understand how open people are to Sales Enablement in the first place.
Industries that are more technology-driven like Software as a Service (SaaS), IT, and Financial Services tend to be more receptive to new processes and ideas, whereas other industries might need more convincing before they take onboard any Sales Enablement practices.
You also want to remember that there isn’t a one-size that fits all solution when it comes to tone. Using words such as “fascinating,” “genius” or “exciting” could backfire if you apply them to the wrong sort of content. In the same way, overused expressions like ‘game-changer,’ or ‘synergy’ might not resonate with your audience if you’re using them too often.
You need to keep in mind that Sales Enablement is still a new concept for many businesses and it will take time before they are receptive to your thought leadership articles or blog posts.
You’ll want to focus on establishing yourself as someone who is approachable and knowledgeable so that people come back to you when they have more questions about how Sales Enablement can benefit their company.
6. Start a dialogue!
One of the best things about using Thought Leadership as part of your Sales Enablement strategy is that it encourages other people to talk about your ideas and contribute their own points of view.
Encourage people to leave comments on your blog posts, articles and social media updates, and be sure to reply when they do! You might want to direct them towards relevant content or offer suggestions based on what they’re saying.
You can also ask questions that will encourage others to share more about their thoughts, as well as like/ share/ retweet any material you publish so that other people can learn from it too.
Asking for input is a great way of engaging with people who are interested in what you have to say. It’s important not to sound preachy or like you know best all the time; encouraging people to participate in the conversation will help reinforce your credibility as a knowledgeable source.
7. Take the next step with Sales Enablement Content Marketing
By now you should have a better understanding of what Thought Leadership is, how it can benefit your business, and what elements need to go into any Sales Enablement article or blog post that you’re writing.
To learn more about how you can use Sales Enablement content marketing in your own organization, get in touch with us here at Vertical Measures. We’d be happy to help!
