5 Marketing Tactics Every Salesperson Needs to Master

As a salesperson, you might think marketing is not your job. Your role is to close deals, hit quota and bring in revenue, right? Let the marketing team worry about fluffy things like content, social media and branding.

But in today‘s digital, buyer-driven sales landscape, the lines between sales and marketing are blurring. Prospects complete most of the purchase process independently online before ever talking to a rep. They expect salespeople to be trusted advisors and subject matter experts, not just order takers.

According to SiriusDecisions, 67% of the buyer‘s journey is now done digitally. Salesforce reports that the majority of sales reps (57%) spend 50% or more of their time on non-selling activities like researching prospects. And Forrester finds that 74% of B2B buyers choose the rep that first provides value and insight.

What does this mean for salespeople? You can‘t just rely on cold calling, elevator pitches and canned demos anymore. To succeed in modern selling, you need to think like a marketer.

The best reps embrace key marketing principles to attract prospects, earn trust and provide value throughout the entire buyer‘s journey. They work closely with their marketing colleagues to align messaging, content and data for a seamless customer experience.

Here are 5 powerful marketing tactics every salesperson should master to crush their quota in 2023 and beyond:

1. Heavily Research Prospects Before Engaging

One of the core tenets of marketing is to deeply understand your target audience. Marketers develop detailed buyer personas for each type of customer, mapping out their demographics, goals, pain points, buying triggers and more.

As a salesperson, you need to be equally rigorous in learning about your prospects before trying to sell to them. Don‘t just look at surface-level firmographics like company size, industry and location. Do your homework to uncover:

• The prospect‘s specific role and responsibilities
• Their most pressing priorities and challenges
• How your offer tangibly helps them achieve goals or solve problems
• Common questions and objections they might have
• Their evaluation and purchasing process
• Other decision-makers and influencers involved
• Your competitive differentiators for their needs

Use tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Crunchbase, Owler and Google Alerts to gather intel on prospects and their companies. Set up saved searches to get notified when they make the news. Check their social media posts and activity to understand what they care about.

If you have mutual connections, ask for an introduction or referral to learn more context. See if any of your existing customers used to work at the prospect‘s company for added insight. Look at their job descriptions and skill requirements to infer what matters to them.

The goal is to personalize your outreach and speak to their pains, needs and desired outcomes. Segment your prospects into different buying centers and personas, then adapt your messaging accordingly.

For example, a mid-level marketing manager will care about different things than a C-level executive or IT decision-maker. An early stage startup will have different needs than a mature enterprise. A company trying to enter new markets will face different challenges than one focused on customer retention.

Proven tactic: Several sales leaders I‘ve worked with have their reps create a "buyer empathy map" for each key prospect. This includes filling out what the buyer typically thinks, feels, says and does related to the buying process. It helps reps put themselves in the customer‘s shoes.

2. Match Your Approach to the Buyer‘s Journey

Marketers map out the buyer‘s journey that prospects take leading up to a purchase. The typical stages are:

• Awareness: Prospect realizes they have a problem or opportunity
• Consideration: Prospect defines their needs and researches options
• Decision: Prospect evaluates vendors and makes a purchase

Marketers use this framework to deliver the right content and messaging for each stage. Early on, they focus on educating and building trust. In the middle, they help prospects evaluate their product and compare alternatives. At the end, they make it easy to buy and onboard.

As a salesperson, you need to similarly match your approach to where the buyer is in their journey. An early stage lead needs different conversations than someone actively evaluating vendors. You risk losing the deal if you try to close too soon or wait too long.

How can you gauge a prospect‘s buying stage? Look at their digital body language – the clues they leave from their online behaviors. For example:

• Downloading an educational ebook signals they‘re likely early stage
• Viewing a product page multiple times shows active research and consideration
• Requesting a demo or pricing info indicates they‘re close to deciding

Also consider other insights like what pages they viewed on your site, what emails they opened and clicked, their engagement with your social posts, and more. Your marketing automation and CRM tools should provide this data.

Use these digital signals to tailor your sales conversations and content. Someone early stage needs thought leadership and best practices content to build trust. A buyer evaluating options will want case studies and detailed product info. A decision-maker is looking for pricing, contracts and customer references.

In a survey by TOPO, sales leaders said the #1 thing reps can do to improve results is "gain buyer knowledge and insights" and "tailor messaging based on buyer needs".

3. Lead with Your Unique Value Prop

The core of good marketing is a strong value proposition. What unique benefit do you provide? Why should someone choose you over competitors? How do you make the buyer‘s life better?

Marketers work closely with Product, Sales and execs to craft compelling messaging around their value prop. They make sure it comes through loud and clear in their website copy, content, ads, and sales collateral. Everything ladders up to those key differentiators.

As a salesperson, you‘re the one actually delivering that value prop to customers. It should be the core of every pitch, demo and meeting. But too often, reps get caught up in generic, self-serving statements that don‘t resonate. How many times have you heard:

• "We‘re the leading provider of…"
• "Our software is the most comprehensive…"
• "No one else can match our service…"

Buyers tune out this kind of empty chest-thumping. Instead, focus on the unique value you provide to that specific customer. What are their goals, and how do you tangibly help reach them? What pain points do they face, and how do you concretely address them?

Bring your value prop to life with stories, examples, and results. Paint a picture of how their world will be better with your help. Quantify their potential ROI whenever possible. Make it about them, not you.

For example, instead of saying "We have the most advanced AI algorithms", say something like:

"A customer in your industry was able to increase sales forecast accuracy by 25% and save 10 hours per week by using our predictive analytics. They went from spending half their time chasing bad leads to focusing on the most valuable opportunities. That led to a 15% increase in revenue in just 6 months. I think you could see similar results based on what you‘ve shared about your challenges with manual forecasting."

Of course, this requires thoroughly understanding the buyer‘s situation and needs first (see tactic #1). It also means being crystal clear on what sets you apart from alternatives. If you can‘t articulate your differentiators, work with Marketing to sharpen your value prop.

4. Attract Buyers with Helpful Content

The average B2B buyer consumes 13 pieces of content before making a purchase decision. Marketers have embraced content as a key way to educate prospects, earn trust and guide them through the buyer‘s journey.

But content isn‘t just for the top of the funnel. It‘s a powerful tool for sales throughout the entire deal cycle. Reps can use content to:

• Proactively answer common questions and objections
• Establish themselves as trusted advisors and thought leaders
• Nurture and engage prospects between meetings
• Add value to customers and expand existing relationships

The key is to focus on being genuinely helpful, not just promotional. Share content that addresses the buyer‘s pain points, goals and questions. Curate industry news and best practices. Teach them something new about their business or role.

This is where working closely with your content marketing team is crucial. Ask them to help map content assets to different buying stages, personas and use cases. Suggest new content ideas based on trends and topics you‘re hearing from prospects.

For example, if multiple buyers ask about measuring ROI, you could collaborate with Marketing on an ROI calculator or case study. If a new regulation is a hot button issue, you could co-author a blog post on how to comply.

Don‘t just wait for Marketing to create the content. Offer to be an SME and contributor to ebooks, webinars, podcasts, etc. Share your unique frontline insights. Buyers want to hear from practitioners and peers, not just polished corporate messaging.

Salesloft found that reps using content in their cadences had a 69% higher contact rate and 26% higher reply rate than those not using content.

5. Keep Providing Value After the Sale

Marketers know a customer‘s journey doesn‘t end at the sale. It‘s really just the beginning of the relationship. They continue to engage customers with helpful content, resources, events and programs.

The goal is to drive retention, loyalty, advocacy and expansion. Happy customers become repeat buyers and brand evangelists. Their referrals and testimonials help bring in new business. And there‘s often potential to grow their account over time with cross-sells, upsells and add-ons.

Salespeople need to adopt a similar mindset of post-sale nurturing. Too often, reps are so focused on closing the next deal that they neglect customers after the contract is signed. But acquiring a new customer can cost 5X more than retaining an existing one.

The best reps become trusted advisors to their customers. They help them get the most possible value out of the product or service. They share ongoing education and best practices. They proactively check in to ensure a great experience, not just at renewal time.

Set reminders to connect with customers on a regular basis. It could be a quick email or call to share a relevant article, case study or tip. Offer to do a free account review or health check. Ask how else you can help them be successful.

Also look for opportunities to provide extra value and deepen the relationship. See if you can make an introduction to a potential partner or peer they can learn from. Invite them to beta test a new feature. Nominate them for an industry award or speaking opportunity.

Above all, make them feel appreciated and valued. Thank them for their business and partnership. Celebrate their wins and milestones. If they take the time to be a reference or case study, send a sincere handwritten note or small gift.

According to Bain & Co, a 5% increase in customer retention can increase profits by 25-95%.

At the end of the day, sales and marketing have the same goal: to drive more business. But they often go about it in siloed, disconnected ways. Marketers generate leads, then toss them over the fence to Sales. Reps chase deals, but don‘t leverage the wealth of marketing insights and content.

The most successful salespeople take a unified approach. They understand that delivering a seamless customer experience requires tight alignment between sales and marketing. They actively partner with their marketing colleagues to better understand buyers, create value at every touchpoint and measure end-to-end ROI.

Embracing these 5 marketing tactics is a great starting point:

1. Heavily research prospects before engaging
2. Match your approach to the buyer‘s journey
3. Lead with your unique value prop
4. Attract buyers with helpful content
5. Keep providing value after the sale

But it‘s not just about copying marketing tactics. It‘s about fundamentally shifting your mindset from selling to helping. From pitching products to solving problems. From closing deals to building relationships.

That‘s the true power of thinking like a marketer. Not just hitting your number, but making a lasting impact on your customers.