How to use content marketing to close deals

Why is content marketing important for closing deals?

Content marketing has been long recognized for its effectiveness in reaching and engaging audiences. As well as building brand awareness and generating leads, most crucially for businesses – it closes deals. But how, exactly?
By providing prospects with what they need to make a purchasing decision.

As we know as consumers ourselves, we are inundated with information online. Traditional sales tactics rub us up the wrong way and feel too intrusive for our liking. Relevant, high-quality content that addresses our needs and interests is what’s going to stand out and engage us. (Agree?) Throw in some smart, data-driven personalization and we’re more likely to respond and convert into a customer because, quite frankly, we feel seen and valued – and can see the value in the purchase.

By producing a mix of educational and engaging content such as blogs, social posts, whitepapers, and email campaigns, businesses can position themselves as industry experts and benefit from thought leadership lead generation – becoming a source of trustworthy information. Trust is key for closing deals, especially in the B2B world where transactions tend to be longer-term and of higher value.

Content marketing also plays a pivotal role in engaging leads over time, helping to establish strong relationships. By consistently delivering valuable content, businesses stay top-of-mind, and when the prospect is ready to make a purchase decision, they are more likely to choose a brand they are familiar with and trust.

A well-optimized content strategy helps businesses rank at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) for core keywords. This visibility drives quality leads, as they are already proactively looking for your solution and are likely to be transaction-minded. Your sales team simply focuses on chaperoning these leads toward conversion with closing content.

What is closing content?

Closing content refers to strategic and targeted marketing materials designed to assist with the final stages of the sales process, leading to a successful conversion or deal closure. This type of content is specifically crafted to address the unique needs and concerns of potential customers who are nearing a decision.

Closing content aims to overcome any remaining objections, provide reassurance, and guide prospects towards making a purchase.

For example, closing content can include case studies, testimonials, product demonstrations, and personalized messages. These materials are tailored to showcase the value and benefits of a product or service, reinforcing the advantages and alleviating any lingering doubts the prospect may have. By presenting compelling evidence of the product’s efficacy and highlighting positive experiences from existing customers, closing content aims to solidify the prospect’s decision to move forward.

Effective closing content is not only persuasive but also aligns closely with the prospect’s decision-making criteria. It’s that dangling carrot that gets them over the line.

How to use content marketing to close deals

Closing deals in the B2B space requires savvy content marketing methods that go beyond flashy gimmicks.

Understanding your audience is the first port of call before crafting your content.
What are they finding challenging, and frustrating? What are their aspirations, goals? Get your tape measure out and start tailoring your content to address their specific needs and concerns. Speak their language and show that you understand the intricacies of their business.

Personalized content is powerful.
It doesn’t have to involve creating bespoke content from scratch – look back over your content assets and see what you can adapt that meets their needs. For example, if price is a sticking point, is there a case study you could send that shows investment vs ROI for a current client? You might just need to top and tail it to talk directly to your prospect.
You can even take it a step further by creating personalized content for specific decision-makers. CFOs may be interested in ROI, while IT managers may focus on compatibility and security. Content that addresses the unique concerns of each stakeholder is sure to seal more deals.

Marketing original content stands out and speaks volumes about your brand.
It shows you care enough to do the legwork of industry research while diving into the data to spotlight any new shifts in the industry or amongst customers (which you can feed straight back into a data-driven content marketing strategy). By sparking talking points, you drive the conversation around solutions. Your offering is promoted through positive association. (Plus, if it’s original, your competitors can’t compete!)

Showcase social proof by featuring success stories, testimonials, and case studies from satisfied clients.
Highlight how your product or service has positively impacted their bottom line. Authentic recommendations from peers can significantly influence decision-making.

Develop engaging product demonstrations or tutorials.
B2B buyers are often looking for solutions to complex problems. This type of content will help show how your offering solves their specific problems. Use visuals and interactive content to showcase the features and functionality of your offering.

Use targeted email campaigns to deliver content directly to key decision-makers.
Share relevant blog posts, case studies, and exclusive content that adds value. Craft compelling subject lines and personalized messages to capture attention.

Provide B2B clients with free tools, templates, or resources.
These not only help them in their daily operations and add value but also position your brand as a helpful partner. An example of this is our ICP template which gives prospects a framework to define their target audience.

• Download your free ICP template – Google Docs
• Download your free ICP template – Excel

Encourage decision-making with time sensitivity. 
Incorporating limited-time offers or exclusive deals into your content prompt prospects to make choices. This creates a sense of urgency, prompting potential clients to take action.

Align marketing and sales to ensure your content is relevant at every stage of the sales funnel.
Marketing (the content creators) and sales (the deal-closers) need to work closely together to ensure everyone’s clear on the target accounts that sales are focusing their efforts on, and the types of content that will be needed for these accounts. (Adopting an ABM strategy can help with this collaboration – all working together on different content strategies designed to close deals amongst VIP prospects.)

Understand what type of content to deliver at the decision stage.
For example, short-form top-of-funnel content is best at the awareness stage. Prospects might only be interested in more detailed, long-form content when they reach the decision stage. Prepare this content in advance, addressing popular sticking points, then adapt it per prospect when you need to. This will address final concerns quickly and keep sales momentum going.

Check out these B2B content marketing examples if you need some inspiration to get those creative juices flowing – and to start creating deal-closing content of your own.

Top tips to ensure you close the deal

Closing the deal using  B2B content marketing is like hitting the bullseye – it requires precision and strategy. Here are some extra tips to close those on-the-fence deals.

Dive into the treasure trove of intent data

Analyzing intent data is one of the best ways to find and target decision-makers to close more deals.

Intent data is pretty much the digital equivalent of ‘reading the signs’ in social situations. By understanding online behavior signals, you can adapt content based on where prospects’ interests lie, or their readiness for specific products/services.

And here’s the best bit (drumroll please) – once you’ve promoted some content pieces and started to build your intent data bank, you can use these behavioral insights to help you make better content in the first place. The more targeted content from the get-go, the higher the quality of leads and demand you’ll see in the first place. The result? You close more deals (without all the faff).

You can also use intent data to eliminate friction from the buying process. Analyzing how visitors interact with your content will help identify where their intent lies – and what might be preventing them from converting e.g. are CTAs clear? Are ‘buy’ buttons above-the-fold? What’s the user experience like on a mobile device? Smooth out the purchasing journey and you’ll close more deals.

And let’s not forget the critical role of intent data on personalized follow-ups. By spotting any changes in behavior and preferences, marketers can adapt their approach for maximum impact.

But what if you’re struggling to get your hands on decent intent data? Two words: interactive content. Using intent data from content engagement for lead generation steers your strategy toward its revenue goals. The more engagement, the more you know. The more you know, the more you can connect and close those deals.

Click on the below to watch our webinar ‘How to use digital content to judge buyer intent and influence B2B decisions’

The human connection

Yes, data is crucial. But so is the heart and soul behind your brand voice. That’s how you connect with people.

Make sure to weave narratives into your content. Share success stories, testimonials, and anecdotes to humanize your brand, making it more relatable and trustworthy. Coax better connections with your audience by appealing to their human side. Strike that balance between data-led insight and human connection. (Closing the deal is both a science and an art.)

Psychological tips: Copy guide

Brands are pretty much expected to be 24/7 content publishers these days. But rather than churning out chunks of copy because you can, take a step back and think about how you can make less copy work harder.

As you know we love weaving psychological insight into content publishing, so it’ll be no shock to see we’ve put together the below copy guide detailing 25 psychological tips for more persuasive copywriting.