Sales and marketing are harder than ever. As markets become increasingly overcrowded and competitive, budgets are tighter. Prospects are pickier. And traditional marketing tactics have become less effective. But one strategy has emerged as a crucial driver of ROI: sales enablement marketing.
Sales enablement marketing goes beyond traditional marketing tactics. As marketing attracts new prospects and moves them along the buyer journey, sales enablement bridges sales and marketing by…
- Giving sales the collateral and resources they need to better communicate with potential buyers
- Creating a seamless buyer experience that ensures the sales team follows through on the marketing team’s promises
- Leveraging technology to streamline the sales process
Ultimately, this strategy helps teams work more effectively, close quickly, and maximize investment all around.
Sales Enablement Marketing: What Buyers Want
B2B-buying practices have changed in the last few years—largely driven by an increasing desire for self-serve options. While traditional marketing practices help build your brand awareness, as potential buyers move along the path to purchase, they want a supportive but not intrusive buying experience. This is exactly what sales enablement provides: an organic, intentional way for sales to engage with prospects.
Interestingly, Gartner research finds that although 75% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free experience, 43% of buyers who use self-service digital commerce report higher purchase regret. With strong sales enablement, you can support your potential buyers by giving them the independence they want and the education they need to become customers (and maintain confidence in their purchase).
Sales enablement is the perfect blend of autonomy and engagement.
If you haven’t built up your sales enablement practice, now is the time. It’s likely a shift your competitors are already making, as Gartner predicts that sales enablement budgets will increase by 50% by 2027. And it is one you should make because it delivers some of the best ROI.
Why Sales Enablement Marketing Helps ROI
ROI has always been a pain point for marketers, as so many of our efforts focus on top-of-funnel content. But as marketing efforts move people down the funnel, that enthusiastic welcome shifts as they’re shuttled into the hands of salespeople trying to make a hard pitch. Sales enablement works to bridge that gap, creating more focused and tailored content that convinces people to buy. This results in higher ROI across the board, helping your sales team, your employee relations, and your bottom line. Here are some of the biggest benefits you can expect when you implement an efficient sales enablement practice.
1) Improved Sales Efficiency
Sales enablement content provides sales reps with the information and tools they need to engage with prospects more efficiently. By having access to well-crafted email templates, product collateral, and other resources, your sales reps can streamline their outreach efforts and focus on closing deals, ultimately leading to higher productivity.
2) Shortened Sales Cycles
Sales enablement content is designed to address prospects’ specific needs and pain points at different stages of the buyer journey. By providing relevant content to prospects at the right time, your sales reps can nurture leads more effectively and shorten the sales cycle, resulting in faster revenue generation and a higher ROI.
3) Increased Win Rates
Effective sales enablement content helps sales reps build credibility and trust with prospects. Case studies, testimonials, and other forms of content that demonstrate the value of your offerings can help overcome objections and increase win rates. As a result, sales reps can close more deals.
4) Reduced Costs
Sales enablement content can also help reduce costs associated with the sales process. By providing sales reps with the tools and resources needed to engage with prospects effectively, you can minimize the need for expensive face-to-face meetings or lengthy phone calls. This not only saves time but reduces travel and other related expenses, contributing to a higher ROI.
5) Data-Driven Decision Making
Sales enablement content is often accompanied by analytics that provide insights into how prospects engage with your content. By analyzing these metrics, you can gain valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences, helping you make data-driven decisions that improve your marketing and sales efforts.
According to Gartner, 65% of B2B sales organizations will transition from intuition-based to data-driven decision-making by 2026.
6) Improved Customer Retention
Sales enablement content helps you acquire new customers and retain existing ones. By providing customers with content that helps them derive more value from your products or services, you provide a better customer experience that improves customer satisfaction and loyalty, leading to repeat business and a higher customer lifetime value.
7) Better Team Alignment
Because sales enablement is a product of cross-team collaboration (through marketing and sales), it helps you cultivate a stronger, more unified team that is eager to collaborate, happy to support each other, and proud of the wins they accomplish together. This directly contributes to employee satisfaction, retention, and overall productivity.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 45% of B2B marketers say aligning content efforts across sales and marketing is one of the biggest situational challenges they face.
How to Start Creating Strong Sales Enablement
If you want to create a strong sales enablement practice, you need to understand your audience, build a strong content infrastructure, and collaborate effectively.
- Learn about the key differences between marketing and sales content to understand what your current content looks like and what gaps you need to fill.
- Look for ways to optimize workflow, increase communication (e.g., regular meetings), and effectively brainstorm. Start with these tips to create strong sales content that empowers your team.
- Consider tools that salespeople and prospects can use together to improve the buying experience. Think templates, interactive experiences, or AI tools that can facilitate communication. (For more tips and ideas, find out everything you need to know about sales enablement.)
That said, if your team is overwhelmed by your current workload, a fresh pair of eyes can help you identify gaps in your buyer journey and offer support to create the right content. If you’re on the hunt for an agency partner, start with our tips to find an agency with the right expertise or learn more about what it’s like to work with us.
Either way, whether you take sales enablement in-house or use outside support, the most important thing to remember is that the goal is always to serve your customers’ needs. Focus on solving their pain points, answer their questions proactively, and create a seamless buyer experience from start to finish. The more you prove to be a valuable resource, the more they’ll want to keep working with you.
