Are you including your sales force in your content marketing?

A recent IBM survey of C-suite executives found that the top priority of most CEOs is developing a more customer-centric organization. In the age of the customer, which is also referred to as the age of relevancy, delivering customer-centric content is critical. With as much as 60 to 80 percent of the buying process occurring online prior to a prospect speaking with a sales rep, B2B marketers must develop and deploy highly relevant content in order to sustain a competitive advantage in our always-on digital world.

Though customers travel unassisted further into the buying journey than they did only a few short years ago, the sales rep is as vital to the selling process as ever — perhaps more so. Because customers and potential customers are so well educated at the point at which they engage with a sales rep, ensuring alignment between the online marketing messages and in-person selling messages is of utmost importance. According to IDC, the inability to align sales and marketing teams costs companies 10 percent or more in revenue annually.

To ensure a consistent and compelling experience at every touchpoint of the buying journey, all content marketing efforts must be strategically aligned to your Corporate Messaging Platform, which defines who you are, what you do, the value you deliver and your key points of difference. And then content must be strategically promoted to your external customers to support the self-service phase of the buying journey and your internal customers (i.e., your sales team) to support sales enablement efforts and in-person selling conversations. Including your sales team in your content marketing efforts helps bridge the gap between the self-service and sales phases of the buying process and strengthens the alignment between your online and offline messages.

Watch this short video to learn how you can bridge the self-service and sales phases of the buying process.