This Week: Educating the Market

There are three things we believe (and the data proves) to be true:

1. Buyers want to self-educate before engaging with a salesperson.
2. Sharing a mixture of corporate, industry, and personal-experience-related content on relevant channels is the way to buyers' hearts and wallets.
3. Salespeople are almost never trained on how to share content in a way that makes sense for them and their target buyers.

With 71% of B2B buyers under 45 years old and indicating they want a self-serve way to research solutions, sellers are better positioned than Marketing to provide the sort of content that educates their prospects and unlocks the psychological safety buyers need to comfortably engage.

Salespeople's on-the-ground knowledge from discovery meetings and existing customer relationships gives them the ability to master 1:1 and 1:few content distribution—if only they could receive the training to enable them to do so.

Just like field marketers have to think like sellers, in the current business environment, salespeople have to think like field marketers.

That means asking themselves, "If someone I haven't met yet sees my name and looks me up on LinkedIn, what will they see? Do I look like a professional who can solve their business issues? Am I sharing valuable content that would demonstrate I'm an expert in their industry? That educates them on how my company's solution can help?"

Technology, innovation, AI, etc., are great, but they're no replacement for Reputation. Sellers must take control of their professional brand in the market, and the best first step is a solid understanding of how to share the right content on the right channels.

The Next Evolution of ABM

Forrester Principal Analyst Nora Conklin echos what many CMOs have found: ABM done right can yield wildly successful results. Her latest blog ABM Won, But It's Not Done Changing The Game underscores the enduring value of strategic ABM, particularly in targeting key accounts that significantly impact business direction and success.

Read More Here. >>

A Word From The Team

Here's a quick-fire challenge: Could you effectively explain your company's value proposition and offering in under five sentences to a four-year-old? Give it a try!