For the majority of salespeople today, blogging is not a prospecting technique that is on their radar. However, when sales and marketing align around the content strategy, the return on investment goes way up. Here are 3 reasons why sellers should be part of the blogging process, either by helping to craft articles or by guiding the content strategy.
1. They know the sales process better than anyone
Salespeople are on the front lines talking with prospects and customers every day. They have a wealth of information about what’s going on in the industry, what’s working, what’s not working, and what their customers need to be successful. Salespeople can add real value to shaping the content strategy so that the articles and resources produced by marketing directly correspond to the information buyers need to move forward in the sales cycle.
2. They can use blog articles to nurture hot prospects
Here’s an example: I sold commercial insurance for a while. When I cold-called prospects, I’d learn their policy expiration date, which may not be for many more months. Often time, it was bad timing: insurance wasn’t on their radar. When I called back months later, the person I talked with before barely remembered me (if they remembered me at all), and I had to start from the beginning again. It was tough.
What I needed was to maintain regular and consistent communication with them until they were ready to enter the buying cycle. Posting relevant articles on social media and sharing them via email marketing is vital to developing a relationship with the prospect and keep the door open. It provides the means to demonstrate knowledge and expertise and builds credibility and trust.
3. They’ll get more incoming sales leads
As the blog article library grows, there are more and more chances for prospects to find you online as they search for information. Your potential customers will start seeing the relevant and interesting articles produced by your company and viewing your organization as a thought leader in the industry. They’ll be further along in the sales process because they have already researched a lot of their questions online. And best of all, they’ll have already come to the conclusion that you might be able to help them and be open to a sales call.
Blogging is usually seen as strictly a marketing function. But without the involvement of the sales team, it’s much harder to create content that hits the mark.
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