Sales & marketing should be working as a single unified agency of your business with the sole purpose of bringing in more money. The problem is that there's usually a rift between the two - each complaining that the other is to blame for subpar performances.
It's no wonder too... Look how much closer digital marketing (a relatively new form of marketing) is to the sales process than traditional advertising. I come from a sales background myself - working the b2b channel for nearly a decade - and although we always had talented marketers on staff, us sales folk typically felt that the corporate marketing department was disconnected with reality, and they weren't providing the best tools for boosting the sales process - and THAT is a problem if you ask me.
But it's because they were still going about it "the old way," like most businesses, which means they hadn't yet discovered inbound marketing. And maybe that's a problem for you as well, but with such a massive shift occurring within the field, perhaps it's time for a change.
Before we jump into detail about what a creative agency can and should be doing for you, I first want to clear up some terminology. This really is a discussion about inbound marketing, which is a marketing methodology that ties together many digital disciplines, such as:
Each of them have technical requirements that must be fulfilled in order for the program to work the way it's supposed to. That said, with the right software platform (we use Hubspot) and ample bandwidth, just about anybody can get through those issues no problem. There are manuals for this kind of stuff, and maybe even some YouTube videos.
Get organized with your free marketing plan template HERE
There are even manuals that will help you get the ideas flowing (see resources library HERE) - but where some people miss the boat is the fact that you still have to get creative in order for this inbound stuff to work.
Enter, creative agency. When you combine the efforts of a creative agency (or a creative inbound agency like Orange Pegs Media) with the efforts of your sales teams, you get magic.
Marketing and sales work in unison. Your goals and vision are aligned. And your sales process becomes consultative and inviting.
Here are 5 creative design services that you can use to crush your sales objectives:
Your creative agency can redesign your website to be more sales friendly than ever. When was the last time you went through your website's sales process? Does it still make sense?
If it has been a few years since the last overhaul, there's a good chance that it's outdated and actually hurting your sales numbers. In addition to being clunky and displeasing to the senses (no offense, of course), it's also likely missing some major inbound marketing mechanisms that could be passively generating leads and customers for you.
I know it was costly the last time through, but you'd be amazed at how much easier and more cost effective website development is today, so don't put it off. (find out more)
This is your central voice - where every prospective customer will land at one point or another, and it should be your very best foot forward.
Your sales teams are all on LinkedIn waiting for you to help deliver content that they can leverage as talking points with their prospective clients.
Your business needs to be there too, supporting them. If you make it easy for your sales reps to pass along the gospel of your business, you're winning just a little bit more than before.
This should be right up your creative agency's alley.
One of the best things you can do for your social media strategy is to share blog posts written by your company. Your sales reps very likely feel the same way. They would love to share well-written, thought-provoking content that leads people back to your recently reconstructed website, where the updated sales process is smooth and enjoyable.
But seriously, your blog posts make it easy for your sales team to start discussions in LinkedIn and Quora. And they make you look like you know what you're doing.
Like I said, they're already on those platforms... and they're very likely sharing somebody else's content. It should by yours.
I used to send out fliers and testimonials like it was going out of style when I was in b2b sales. They created a certain sense of tangibility to me, and given the fact that I was cold-calling my way into my accounts across the country (California to New York), I needed as much of that as I could get.
Unfortunately, marketing wasn't really in tune with what our buyers wanted to see or hear about. They were putting out ad after ad after ad after ad... and all they did was talk about how great the company was. Sure, they may have helped establish credibility, which was helpful, but they did NOTHING to educate buyers about why they needed our services - or move them along through the sales process.
With content downloads designed to further educate your audience in a non-salesy manner, you'll empower your reps to call themselves legitimate "business consultants." This puts them in a very favorable position where lots of deals are made.
Sales will also be able to test the overall engagement and commitment levels of their prospects, while prompting them to take action on your website, where your company will continue to lead them through the different stages of their buyer's journeys.
Start with what you have
Your sales teams are your best assets when it comes to understanding what marketing should be doing to help them close more deals. Talk to them. Find out if any of this is true.
I spent a long time in sales roles where nobody was listening to those of us in the trenches, and the businesses I worked for suffered greatly because of it. If you can find a way to better align marketing with sales, you're 10 steps ahead of everybody else.
Want to learn more about marketing & sales alignment? Click HERE: