Epic Sales Enablement in a Content Marketing WorldFive Smart Steps to Sell the Sellers on What They Really Need

By Shelly Lucas

Smart Packaging Sales Acceleration

E P I C S A L E S E N A B L E M E N T I N A C O N T E N T M A R K E T I N G W O R L D

Dun & Bradstreet | 2

The way your B2B marketing team churns out sales

enablement content would make Henry Ford proud.

A sales rep mentions a “need,” and you whip up a

new data sheet, upgraded PowerPoint, fresh white paper or (if

fate smiles) a prized case study. You serve it up promptly and with

aplomb, a little smug that you’ve triumphed over history yet again.

(In 2013, 76% of content marketers were reported to “forget

about” sales enablement? That’s definitely not you.)

S O W H Y A R E N ’ T YO U B R E A K I N G I N TO A

H A P P Y DA N C E ?

You’re probably peeved. And frankly, I don’t blame you. Look—

you spend a lot of time, thought and effort creating this stuff,

right? Yet your stellar sales enablement material gets fewer views

than The Adventures of Pluto Nash. (Now what’s that about?)

And surely you’re not the only marketer who’s steamed. The AMA

says 90% of marketing-produced content is not used by sales.

It’s mighty hard to swallow.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

But bellyaching about it isn’t going to help. Neither is producing

more, better and faster material. It’s time we called sales to the

carpet. You bet your Granny Smith apples it’s time. But wait—I

need to say one more thing: It’s time we marketers joined them.

As much as we may want to play the blame game, the brutal truth

is sales and marketing are in this together. In a content marketing

world, it takes a strong partnership between the two teams to fix

what’s broken with sales enablement.

Don’t worry, this isn’t the garden variety “marketing and sales

alignment” ebook. I’m not going to share tips for playing nicely

together. Instead, I’m going to focus on the one thing marketers

must do to make sales enablement work, and that’s sell the sellers

on the content they really need to close deals.

In a content

marketing world,

it takes a strong

partnership

between sales and

marketing to fix

what’s broken

with sales

enablement.

E P I C S A L E S E N A B L E M E N T I N A C O N T E N T M A R K E T I N G W O R L D

Dun & Bradstreet | 3

# S A L E S C O N T E N T FA I L : T H E W H Y ’ S

– They assume what they want doesn’t exist and won’t

be available anytime soon. They stick by the stuff they

can throw together themselves or have stashed away on

their desktops.

Looking at this list, you can see the burden of sales content

failure doesn’t lie neatly on one team’s shoulders. Nevertheless,

this ebook is about what we, as marketers, can do to turn around

the dismal state of sales enablement content. The finger-pointing

ends here.

Despite dismal content usage levels, sales enablement

is a priority among B2B sales groups. In fact, 50% of

B2B sales enablement functions are currently managed

by the sales organization. Yet, how many sales teams give marketing

detailed feedback on why they feel sales content falls short?

We’ve been at this long enough to come up with feasible reasons.

If sales teams aren’t viewing or using our sales enablement content,

it’s because:

– They can’t find it.

– They don’t know how to use it; the content doesn’t fit

intuitively within their customer/prospect interactions.

– They use it as a scapegoat for failed sales interactions.

They expect the content to map out the conversation

and open the way to a pitch; it doesn’t, and so it’s not

worth using.

– Their customers simply aren’t interested in the material.

– The content is outdated and/or doesn’t stack up well to

competitors’ materials.

Only 38%

of B2B

marketers think

they are effective

at content

marketing

(Content Marketing

Institute).

If we were better

at selling that

content, the

percentage would

be higher.

E P I C S A L E S E N A B L E M E N T I N A C O N T E N T M A R K E T I N G W O R L D

Dun & Bradstreet | 4

W H AT S A L E S WA N T S ≠ W H AT S A L E S N E E D S

In the spirit of that goal, when sales requests a slide deck or white

paper, ask them about the customer’s mindset: the persona, buyer

stage, pain points and personal values. What is the main message

they want to convey and the ideal behavior they’d like to trigger

with the content? Also ask how they intend to use it. Are they

going to email it to a prospect and follow up with a phone call?

Maybe they’re going to share it during a VIP breakfast at a

customer relationship management technology conference.

These are two very different settings (and possibly different

audiences) that may impact content format and delivery—not

only of the initial piece, but also follow-up material.

WITH ANY CONTENT REQUEST, CONTEXT MATTERS.

First and foremost, snap out of order-taker mode.

Just because two sales reps ask for a white paper on

data privacy doesn’t mean that’s what they really need.

It may be, but it pays to investigate—especially if you discover sales

reps are better served with three to five conversation-starters about

how improper shredding practices are putting businesses in peril

(and, oh by the way, here’s what clients can do to safeguard their

companies right now). Imagine how much of marketing’s time and

effort would be saved by supplying a few provocative facts and

follow-up questions in place of a lengthy white paper.

This is not to say we should kill the white paper. B2B marketers have

had a long-time (and fairly satisfying) love affair with the format,

primarily because marketing has been laser focused on serving up

leads. Today, because the B2B buying process has become more

autonomous, there’s conceivably a content need for every situation.

Sales pros need engaging content to support more consultative

interactions. Everything they share with prospects and customers

must add clear business value.

Everything sales

pros share with

prospects and

customers must

add clear

business value

in the moment.

E P I C S A L E S E N A B L E M E N T I N A C O N T E N T M A R K E T I N G W O R L D

Dun & Bradstreet | 5

O R G A N I Z E Y O U R C O N T E N T C H A O S

Sales enablement platforms like Showpad offer customized

“channels” for content organization and feedback functionality

for sales teams to post comments and rate marketing materials.

Showpad also has a mobile app that enables sales pros to access

content on the go, online or offline. For even more seamless access,

sales enablement technologies (including Showpad) offer

integration with CRM and marketing automation systems.

How many times have you recommended a specific

sales enablement piece to sales, only to be met with

a blank look and “Great…Now where would I find

that?” It’s as maddening as suggesting your best friend wear

his gingham shirt to his mother’s birthday lunch—and he’s

clueless as to where it is in his chaotic closet. If it’s not easy to find

(and use), it’s a hard sell. The same applies to sales content. If it

doesn’t check the box on these two criteria, it’s ripe fodder for a

digital rendition of Storage Wars.

Quite understandably, sales teams are tired of rummaging through

skeletal, kludgy enterprise interfaces and tapping

scattered solutions like Google Docs and Dropbox. In fact,

65% of sales reps say they can’t find content to send to

prospects. Thanks to technological advancements, sales

enablement content searches are getting a whole lot better.

And burgeoning sales enablement budgets are prime for sales

asset management technology spend. (In the past two years, sales

enablement technology spend has increased by 69%.)

65% of

sales reps say

they can’t find

content to send

to prospects.

Browse-worthy: Kapost’s Library looks more like a Pinterest board than a content repository. Image: Kapost.

E P I C S A L E S E N A B L E M E N T I N A C O N T E N T M A R K E T I N G W O R L D

Dun & Bradstreet | 6

Sales enablement

technology can

make your sales

content more

findable, but it

won’t be

successful without

marketing’s

commitment to

maintain it –

and sales teams’

commitment

to use it.How can your sales enablement content win a bigger slice on this pie chart? Image: Leadtail and Hoovers, “How Do Sales Leaders Engage on Twitter?”

MOST POPULAR CONTENT SOURCES SHARED BY SALES LEADERS

48%

38%

11%3%

Type title here

Mainstream MediaIndustry MediaSocial MediaOther

48%

38%

11%3%

Type title here

Mainstream MediaIndustry MediaSocial MediaOther

Not to be outdone, content management systems are also delivering

direct workflow integrations for sales and marketing teams. For

example, Kapost plugs into Marketo, Pardot and Eloqua, as well as

Salesforce CRM. (Disclosure: Dun & Bradstreet is a Kapost client.)

The Kapost Library feature is tailor-made for sales teams; users can

browse the newest content or search via a specific product, persona,

buyer stage or any other custom parameter. Think of it as a

California Closet for your disorderly sales content.

Shareability is another feature growing in demand, especially social

selling organizations. In Kapost, as in other content management

tools, users can share a piece of content via email or social channels

directly from the library. Marketers can add sales notes (messaging,

suggested usage tips, etc.) to any piece of Kapost Library content.

Keep in mind that technology can simplify content searches, but

ultimately, your sales content hub won’t be effective without

(1) your team’s commitment to administer and maintain it;

(2) sales teams’ commitment to use it. Prepare to invest time to

sketch out a taxonomy for organizing content in a way that makes

sense to sales—or, if you’re moving to a sales/marketing model

(e.g., persona-based), thoughtfully map your content catalog and

delivery to that future state. Be sure to consider desired sales

process/mindset changes in your tool onboarding and sales training.

E P I C S A L E S E N A B L E M E N T I N A C O N T E N T M A R K E T I N G W O R L D

Dun & Bradstreet | 7

D ATA = A C O N T E N T P I T C H ’ S B E S T F R I E N D

as well as overall usage by time period and the most popular assets

viewed, shared and rated. These analytics can help marketers decide

which sales-driven content requests to prioritize, table and pursue.

As you prepare your content pitch, be sure to assess the sales team’s

content usage within a broader marketing analytics context—i.e., how

specific pieces are performing outside sales interactions. Sharing with

sales the content that’s “hot” in your paid campaigns or on your web-

site just might encourage reps to use previously overlooked materials.

For example, sales pro Larry may not have had any luck generating

interest with a “Data Wars” slideshow, but your SlideShare views,

shares, downloads and registrations indicate high engagement from

visitors fitting Larry’s targeted persona. Even more compelling, let’s say

you’re a Kapost client. Using Kapost’s Content Scoring, you can track

the actual marketing-qualified leads, opportunities and revenue dollars

that a specific slideshow generated.

To be sure, you won’t need to do a deep content analytics

drill-down with Larry, but you can share high-level observations

(all of which are backed by data). Hopefully, this wider analytics

context raises the question in Larry’s mind, “What am I doing—

or not doing—with this content that is keeping me from moving

leads forward?”

Whether you’re persuading sales about what they really

need—or the content they should be using—have data

and insights to back up your recommendations. Be aware,

however, that content development and analytics/metrics are two areas

around which B2B marketing and sales teams report the least alignment.

Whether this divide is caused by a lack of agreement and/or simply not

talking to each other, it creates a content selling opportunity.

The question is, do you have the data-inspired goods to back your

content pitch? Do you know which sales enablement materials are

really working? Today, only 40% of sales enablement efforts are

measured, but it won’t take long for this percentage to climb. In an age

of data-inspired marketing, it’s not enough to base content decisions

on scattered anecdotal feedback. Marketing teams must have acute

content intelligence and the ability to test and adapt on the fly.

Get insight into what content sales is using, how they’re using it and

how well the content helps bring about a desired outcome. As we’ve

already seen, tools with content rating and commenting functionality

make it easier for sales teams to let marketing know what is and isn’t

performing for them. Some of these technologies also provide sales

team usage analytics. For example, Showpad’s “report” capabilities

include the ability to view individual sales pros’ content activity levels,

Analytics on

high-performing

content should

get a sales rep

to wonder,

“What am I

doing—or not

doing—with

this content that

is keeping me

from having that

level of success?”

E P I C S A L E S E N A B L E M E N T I N A C O N T E N T M A R K E T I N G W O R L D

Dun & Bradstreet | 8

S M A RT PA C K A G I N G = A T I M E S AV E R

This one-sheet concept, advocated by B2B marketing strategist

Ardath Albee, instantly makes your ebook usable. You don’t have

to design a fancy PDF for the overview; you can easily incorporate

it into your content tagging/digital cataloguing practices.

From there, sales teams can quickly access what’s relevant; skim the

overview; and start dialing, emailing, sharing and discussing.

Larry’s question is a valid one. And it should be

answered—at least in part—by marketing. I know,

I know…You’re probably thinking, Why on earth would

marketing spend even more time creating content about

how to use the content that isn’t being used? This shouldn’t come as

a surprise, but sales reps don’t spend their lunch hours and weekends

with their eyeballs glued to your fascinating content.

Chances are, a new ebook called “Five Surprising Ways Master Data

Management Can Transform Your Marketing” probably won’t pump

up sales teams. But if you can package the content in a way that

reduces the time required to respond to a sales opportunity, well,

that little ebook is on its way to becoming a winner. Sales teams may

not spend 15 minutes reading about the “Five Surprising Ways,” but

they’re likely to take five minutes skimming a one-sheet overview of

the ebook highlighting:

– Buyer persona (ideal audience for the content)

– Buying stage most likely to engage with the content

– Topic

– Premise/Main point

– Key supporting points

– Related questions, fast facts, conversation starters

– Follow-on content the buyer may find valuable

“Most salespeople

don’t understand

your content

strategy. They

don’t know where

to find the right

content, what

to do with it,

or fathom how

it can help them

accomplish

their goals.”

~ Ardath Albee

A shot of Idio’s content recommendation engine used inside Salesforce.com. Image credit: Idio.

E P I C S A L E S E N A B L E M E N T I N A C O N T E N T M A R K E T I N G W O R L D

Dun & Bradstreet | 9

Tools like First Research help sales reps close the gap between what they’re selling and client business challenges.

Don’t have time to sort through and label your sales enablement

material? Believe it or not, you can automate it—at least in part.

Idio’s content intelligence platform uses Natural Language

Processing (NLP) to categorize content and add it to CRM systems.

The tool also tracks individual customers’ and prospects’ content

consumption patterns and engagement levels. From there, sales

pros can tap Idio’s recommendation engine, which suggests

specific content pieces most likely to be relevant to specific buyers

at a particular time.

Not a fan of creating content usage instructions? They aren’t the

only way to improve the packaging of your sales enablement

material. Third-party data and information providers can also

provide a contextual “package” for your content, improving reps’

ability to connect your brand’s offerings to customers’ business

challenges. You can achieve this without sacrificing sales teams’

efficiency by streaming third-party content into your CRM system

and other sales tools. For example, if your sales organization

wants to beef up its industry knowledge for vertical-specific

selling, products like First Research (a Dun & Bradstreet offering)

might be a consideration.

“The new

conversation

economy is based

on salespeople

being great

problem finders,

not just

problem solvers.”

~ Tim Riesterer

E P I C S A L E S E N A B L E M E N T I N A C O N T E N T M A R K E T I N G W O R L D

Dun & Bradstreet | 10

Marketers can reduce the time sales spends on non-sales activities with better content packaging.

Now that we’ve discussed various ways content can prepare sales

pros for engaging conversations with prospects and customers,

it’s important to remember that these interactions are dynamic and

unpredictable—which brings us to our last sell-the-seller strategy…

The ability of

sales pros to

connect offerings

to client business

issues is the top

concern among

sales leaders

(Sirius Decisions).

How is your

content helping

sales understand

client needs?

With increasing quotas and longer sales cycles, sales enablement must focus on improving reps’ productivity.

Within its industry profiles, First Research highlights news and

social activity, management changes and industry health indicators.

It also provides industry-specific call prep questions for sales

conversations with executives.

E P I C S A L E S E N A B L E M E N T I N A C O N T E N T M A R K E T I N G W O R L D

Dun & Bradstreet | 11

As your B2B sales enablement efforts gain strategic

momentum, it’s critical to think of future and emerging

content needs. You may have read about “adaptive

content” on marketing blogs. Typically, this term refers to creating

content once and publishing it everywhere. However, this concept

is already being expanded and refined, which is exactly what needs

to happen when we think of “adaptive” as it relates specifically to

sales content.

What does being “adaptive” mean in the world of a sales rep? This year,

building adaptive competencies will be a key focus for sales training,

says Tamara Schenk, research director at MHI Research Institute:

Adaptive competencies refer to the sales professional’s ability to

quickly adjust skills and align behaviors to new, changing and complex

situations. Those competencies are more and more a key differentiator

in today’s ever-changing and complex buying environments.

As demand grows for adaptive sales competencies, content will

need to keep pace. Sales content that is flexible and modular may

soon become the number one need for top sales performers. How

can your marketing team create materials that are adaptable to a

number of buyer scenarios—while maintaining process simplicity

and use convenience for sales?

A D A P T O R D E C E L E R AT E

Social selling rock

stars are adaptive

masters—not

only are they

great at real-time

interactions,

they’re 23%

more successful

at exceeding their

sales quotas.

Continue to focus on the relevant information that supports buyer

goals. But also think about how you can create content that

empowers sales pros with enough agility to serve up a customized

conversation across multiple channels and devices. Adaptive content

is a natural progression in the sales enablement arena, given the rise

of social selling and its propensity to turn B2B sales pros into

consultative experts and thought leaders—and superstars who are

23% more successful at exceeding their sales quota.

B2B marketers are not anywhere near adaptive content nirvana;

available technology is piecemeal, and content creation resources

usually won’t stretch to accommodate it. Nevertheless, it’s valuable

to think about the future reality of sales and how we in marketing

can tailor our content so it’s an irresistible and easy sell to sales reps.

#EPICSALESCONTENT REQUIRES A SALE

Persuading sales to use your content becomes much

easier when you’re pitching what they truly need. Use

smart packaging, intuitive organization and data-inspired

recommendations. Developing epic sales content will require some

observation and investigation, and likely some new technology, but the

investment will be well worth it.

So get a move on. There’s no time to waste. Save your sales content

from the unenviable equivalent of a Razzie Award. Start selling it, baby.

ABOUT DUN & BRADSTREET

Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE: DNB) grows the most valuable relationships in business. By uncovering truth and meaning from data, we connect customers with the prospects, suppliers, clients and partners that matter most, and have since 1841. Nearly ninety percent of the Fortune 500, and companies of every size around the world, rely on our data, insights and analytics. For more about Dun & Bradstreet, visit DNB.com.

© Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. 2015. All rights reserved. (DB-4226 4/15) www.dnb.com

A B O U T T H E A U T H O R

S H E L LY L U C A S

Content Marketing Director

Dun & Bradstreet

Shelly (@pisarose) 15+ years of experience delivering value and results through B2B social networking, public relations, corporate

communications, analyst relations, and marketing programs for organizations ranging from global Fortune 200 companies to small,

not-for-profit businesses. Shelly holds a B.A. in English from Central College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Literary Theory from the

University of Nebraska-Lincoln.