How to repurpose your blog content
Oct 04, 2023
Sales collateral is designed specifically with your sales team in mind, giving them the resources they need to build relationships, convert customers and drive sales.
The most effective sales collateral works in tandem with your buyer’s journey, which means designing sales collateral for each stage of the buying process.
According to HubSpot, the buyer's journey can be broken down into three defined stages:
In this blog post, we share with you five examples of how well-known pieces of sales collateral can be aligned to the buying process with great effect.
5 examples of sales collateral:
1. Pillar page
2. Webinars
3. Case studies
4. Brochures/buyer’s guides
5. Product presentations/demos
In the awareness stage, a prospect knows they have a problem and is searching for more information.
Pillar pages are excellent sales collateral for prospects as a result. Informational by design, they give a comprehensive overview of a broad topic, providing prospects with the answers they are looking for. Unlike similar types of content such as a gated ebook, visitors aren't required to fill in a form to access the information.
But how does that help your sales team?
The SEO benefits of ungated content are huge, driving traffic to your website that otherwise may not have found you.
But that doesn’t stop you from adding an option to download the pillar page as a PDF in exchange for contact details. If a visitor can access the information without filling in a form, but still chooses to give you their contact details, that’s a signal that they’re not against hearing from you.
For example, an exit-intent pop-up that reminds visitors to download your pillar page as a PDF as they go to leave is a great way to capture their details without adding friction to their experience.
Webinars are another great piece of sales collateral to target those in the awareness stage. With 67% of B2B marketers running webinars and their popularity increasing during the pandemic, this number will continue to rise.
There are lots of different types of webinars you could consider, for example:
But they should always have the same goal – to share knowledge, positioning your business as an expert in your field. Resist the temptation to turn it into a sales pitch – remember, in the awareness stage, attendees are looking for information, not a solution.
During your webinar, use Q&A sessions and polls to collect useful information about your attendees. You could ask them about their pain points, their likes/dislikes, and their opinions on what's being discussed - information that you can later pass to your sales team.
And the biggest benefit for your sales team? Attendees need to register. Not only does this indicate interest in your company, but it enables your sales team to follow up with attendees and start a conversation.
In the consideration stage, a prospect is aware of their problem and is actively looking for a solution. But they have yet to be convinced that your business is the one to solve it and will be comparing your solution to your competition’s.
Case studies allow you to showcase your success stories and demonstrate how you’ve solved similar problems for others. In each case study, describe the challenge your customer faced, the solution you gave them, and the tangible results they received.
Don’t make a prospect work for the information by hiding it behind a form. Your case studies should also be straight to the point, include relevant statistics, and be visually appealing.
These make terrific sales collateral because they represent the views of your customers. It’s the ultimate example of ‘show, not tell’.
Brochures and buyer’s guides outline the core benefits and features of your product and/or service. They are incredibly useful for a prospect in the consideration stage, as they clearly outline how your business could help them.
Comparison guides are similar, but directly compare your solution with your competitor’s. It may sound counterproductive to name your competition in your sales collateral, but in our experience, your prospect will have already searched for them. Better to be upfront and directly answer the question ‘why should I go with you, and not them?’ rather than pretend there is no competition.
Your prospect knows they have a problem, have considered their options and now they need to decide who can best solve it for them. This is where product presentations and demos, conducted by the sales team, can really make a difference.
A good sales presentation focuses on the customer’s needs. You may be eager to show them all the brilliant functionality your solution offers, but are you really listening to what they need?
Remember these prospects have come to you because they have a problem you can solve. So you don’t need to try too hard. Be genuine, authentic and demonstrate how much you believe in your product and they’ll believe in it too.
And there you have it, five examples of sales collateral that can help boost your inbound sales pipeline, aligned to the customer journey and the way they purchase. Once you’ve produced this fantastic new collateral, don’t forget to tell your sales team and empower them to use it to its full effect.
