Miscommunication between sales and marketing is a well-documented issue, despite the fact these two departments obviously work toward shared goals. Breakdowns in exchanges of information, isolated workflows, and gaps between content that’s needed and content that’s created can all contribute to the feeling that sales and marketing exist on separate planets.
But there’s hope.
The differences between sales and marketing are far from irreconcilable, and there are various strategies for sales and marketing alignment that can be carried out in order to bring the two departments back into the same orbit.
Here, we look at five steps to synchronize sales and marketing using video as your primary tool:
Step 1: Integrate video into internal communications
While video is an invaluable tool for generating leads and sales, it also serves as a powerful form of internal communication.
Video is an inherently engaging way to share information, and it’s therefore an excellent format for distributing bite-sized bits of material on:
- Messaging, to help sales pitches stay brand compliant
- Internal product overviews that bring sales and marketing up to speed on new product functions
- New developments in the field that might impact marketing and sales efforts
- FAQs on content availability, best practices for editing and amending content assets, and more.
These types of in-house videos can come from either side of the sales and marketing divide and can be used to inform, educate, and build connections anytime, anywhere.
Since video also helps to drive your point home by conveying both tone of voice and physical expression, it’s even possible to use internal videos in place of standard email announcements or industry updates.
Step 2: Incorporate video into guided selling and sales training practices
Guided selling processes can help fortify the relationship between marketing and sales, particularly when it comes to surfacing appropriate content. These practices empower marketing to inform sales regarding assets that are most useful for specific scenarios or buyer stages.
When employing guided selling techniques, video tutorials can be a helpful solution for supporting sellers as they attempt to move their prospects through the sales funnel.
In addition, video used during sales training practices can help ensure marketers and sellers stay on the same wavelength.
One example: the real-time or pre-recorded roleplay training video.
These videos simulate actual sales interactions by having a trainer assume the role of “buyer.” Sellers then craft responses and reply in the moment or send a video of their rehearsed pitch back to their sales coach for assessment. This feedback can alert sellers to potential content gaps that should be filled in time for the next campaign, which is information the sales team can then pass on to their colleagues in marketing. Marketing will then be able to build new content based on sellers needs, or point sellers toward impactful content that may already exist.
Either way, video will help to keep sales and marketing in lockstep.
Step 3: Make video a top priority when mapping out content strategy
Marketers work to develop content that resonates with buyers. When this content helps land a sale, it establishes a cycle of trust among sales and marketing teams in which marketers support sellers by developing revenue-driving assets, and sellers validate this work by using the content in the field, offering up suggestions for optimization based on firsthand experience.
70% of B2B buyers will watch at least one product video over the course of their customer journey. As such, marketing should prioritize creating buyer-facing videos, since video has proven to be an undeniable force in generating interest.
In other words: Video will allow the cycle of trust to continue.
Step 4: Collaborate on video content to help improve results
Video offers an opportunity for sales and marketing to work side-by-side on certain campaigns. In some industries — software, hospitality, and healthcare, to name a few — it’s a useful strategy to put sellers front and center as the stars of “get-to-know-us” videos that introduce products and services to prospects.
Marketers can collaborate with sellers directly to create this type of content and, in the process, learn more about sellers’ personal goals and challenges. Plus, this kind of project can strengthen interdepartmental bonds and encourage each team to consider the other’s point of view, which can improve communication overall.
That said, marketing and sales should experiment with developing video content together, as each team will have a slightly different perspective on which video formats work best. Using their combined powers of observation and experience, marketers and sellers stand a better chance of reaching their target audiences at the appropriate buyer stages.
Step 5: Use video to support “closed-loop” practices
Once your customer-facing content has gone out into the world, video analytics deliver an impressive array of data that helps “close the loop” on content feedback.
It’s no secret that comprehensive video metrics can be translated into actionable reports. Buyer engagement data––such as viewer demographics, average engagement, and average watch times––provides insights into the types of narratives that affect buyers in a positive way. This data, combined with feedback from sales, informs future marketing messaging and content strategies.
With analytics on their side, marketers can constantly recalibrate videos according to various buyer segments and trends, so no video will ever come across as stale or ineffectual. The ability to optimize content in this way is key to streamlining sales funnel processes and adds yet another link to the sales-and-marketing alignment chain.
Video represents an untapped opportunity for many sales and marketing organizations. By integrating video into strategies and processes, both teams can reap obvious benefits. And while some organizations might require a more extensive infrastructural overhaul to get their sales and marketing alignment just right, video should definitely play a part in any efforts to get sales and marketing orbiting in the same atmosphere. Bring video into your business culture, sales training processes, and content silos, and take full advantage of video’s innate collaborative and analytical capabilities as you embark on your next sales project.
