Your blog can be used for multiple purposes. As a marketing sales company we have found that if you focus on the “sales” in marketing sales then (at least part of) the “marketing” will take care of itself. So we suggest that you start by looking at what content your B2B sales team needs to move deals through the pipe because we believe the sales conversation, the digital marketing sales conversation and the social media conversation are all the same conversation.
As a second strategy we recommend that you don’t think about this from your “sales” cycle perspective but instead from your customer’s “buying cycle” perspective.
So if you have not looked at your blog strategy as a marketing sales company we recommend you look through a sales marketing lens. Here are some things for you to consider:
Thought Leadership. Although some old school marketers would disagree we feel like the voices of your top sales reps are a great place to look for thought leadership. It may not always feel like it but your sales reps are talking to customers all day long helping them to solve problems and if they are doing their job they are solving a lot of problems. You already possess a great deal of industry expertise in high volume. Your customers and prospects will be grateful if that information is shared so they can access it 24/7.
SEO. The more relevant your content is for your customers the more relevant your content will be for Google. And the more content you create in your industry space, the more relevant your company will seem to search engines. As a marketing sales company we also recommend you align the input of your sales reps contribution with your keyword research to ensure you are getting the full benefit from inbound leads.
Calls to Action. Make sure you have calls to action in your blog. After all your customers and your sales leads are already engaged with your content, so when inbound leads hit your site because you are optimizing for SEO you need to make it easy for them to reach out to you. Your blog is the perfect place to turn the one to many conversation into a one to one conversation with your sale rep. Always offer some additional content within your blog and also make it easy to reach out to your sales team. Just make sure your blog does not become a billboard for your company. Focus on adding value for your readers first. Readers will reach out when they are ready.
Email sign-up. The easiest way to generate leads from your blog is the simple and oft forgotten email sign up. If your content is provides enough value, readers will exchange their email address for keeping up to date with your posts. It’s a great way to start building a relationship.
Reuse old content. Content has a long shelf-life, but getting full use out of a well-crafted piece of content can be hard. Your blog provides a great way to link back to this older content where applicable, squeezing value out of your content for years to come. Ask your sales reps for the one off content they may have created without marketing’s input and turn that into content as well.
If you would like to learn more about how a sales marketing company can help you align your inbound and outbound efforts for a fatter pipe and more closed revenue please feel free to CONTACT US for a free initial strategy conversation.
If you are having cultural issues between sales and marketing we suggest you check out B to B Demand Generation Requires Sales and Marketing Alignment. You can also checkout our Free White Paper on 10 Tips and What to Avoid to Sell Smarter and Faster.
