The 5 Most Common Types of Sales Enablement Content for Remote Selling Success in 2024

In today‘s digital-first B2B sales landscape, having the right content to educate, persuade, and guide buyers through their journey is more critical than ever. According to Gartner, by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions will occur in digital channels. Without face-to-face meetings, sales reps must rely on content to build relationships, establish trust, and close deals.

That‘s where sales enablement comes in. A robust sales enablement content strategy equips reps with the assets they need to engage buyers, differentiate from competitors, and accelerate the sales cycle – no matter where they are working from.

But with so many potential types of content to create, where should you focus your efforts for maximum impact? HubSpot‘s 2024 Sales Enablement Report surveyed 500 sales leaders to find out. Let‘s take a deep dive into the five most common (and effective) types of content they cited and explore best practices for putting them into action.

1. Email Templates (Used by 53%)

Email outreach remains one of the most important channels for connecting with potential buyers. But with the average person receiving over 120 business emails per day, generic mass emails no longer cut it. To stand out and drive responses, reps need to send hyper-relevant, personalized messages at scale.

That‘s where email templates come in. Effective templates go beyond just filling in basic fields like name and company. They allow reps to quickly customize messaging based on the recipient‘s industry, role, pain points, and prior interactions while still maintaining brand standards.

Tips for creating effective sales email templates:

• Keep subject lines clear, specific, and under 9 words
• Lead with a personalized opening line to grab attention
• Focus on benefits and value, not just product features
• Use social proof and credibility builders like case studies or awards
• Make the call-to-action specific and low-pressure (e.g. request a call vs. sign a contract)
• Optimize for mobile since 81% of business emails are read on smartphones
• A/B test different versions and measure results

Here‘s an example of a strong prospecting email template from HubSpot:

Plugging this template into a sales engagement tool like HubSpot Sales Hub or SalesLoft allows reps to quickly personalize and send at scale while tracking opens, clicks, and replies.

2. Call Scripts (Used by 41%)

Sales calls – whether conducted by phone or video – are often a make-or-break moment in the buying process. The most effective reps treat these conversations as an opportunity to listen, build rapport, and tailor their pitch to the buyer‘s unique needs.

Call scripts serve as a helpful guide to keep reps on track while still allowing for flexibility and personalization. Unlike a verbatim script that sounds robotic, a good call outline highlights key points to cover while leaving room for the rep to adapt based on the flow of the conversation.

When crafting call scripts, consider:

• Beginning with a personalized opening based on research about the buyer and their company
• Asking open-ended questions to uncover pain points, challenges, and goals
• Actively listening and taking notes to identify opportunities to add value
• Sharing concise examples and stories that relate to their situation
• Handling common objections with empathy and proof points
• Ending with a clear and mutually beneficial next step

Of course, the script should be tweaked based on the type of call (cold outreach, discovery, demo, etc.) and stage of the sales process.

Gong.io analyzed over 519,000 discovery calls and found that there is a clear difference between successful and unsuccessful conversations:

The key takeaway? Winning sales calls are not one-size-fits-all pitches but rather collaborative conversations focused on the buyer. Use call scripts as a foundation, but empower and train reps to go off-script when needed to build authentic relationships.

3. Pre-Call Checklists (Used by 37%)

Preparation is essential for productive sales calls, but it can be time-consuming for reps to research each prospect from scratch. Pre-call checklists streamline the process by outlining the key information reps should gather before each conversation.

Items to include in a pre-call checklist:

• Buyer‘s name, title, and role
• Company information (size, industry, location, etc.)
• Recent company news or events
• Identified pain points and challenges
• Potential use cases and goals
• Competitive landscape and alternatives
• Personalized value proposition
• Relevant case studies or references
• Specific questions to ask
• Next steps and call to action

Integrating pre-call checklists into your CRM allows reps to easily access and collaborate on account research. Sales enablement platforms like Seismic and Highspot can automatically surface relevant content based on the details reps uncover.

Here‘s a sample pre-call checklist template from Lucidchart:

By operationalizing the pre-call research process, you ensure reps are consistently prepared to tailor each conversation to the buyer‘s needs. According to Corporate Visions, 74% of buyers choose the sales rep that first provides value and insight. Use pre-call checklists to set your team up to be that go-to resource from the first touch.

4. Product Demos (Used by 36%)

For many B2B buyers, seeing is believing. Product demonstrations give reps a chance to showcase your solution in action and help the buyer envision how it could drive results for their business.

In a remote selling environment, reps may conduct live demos via screen share or provide on-demand video demos that buyers can access on their own time. In either case, the goal is the same – to make your product the clear choice by highlighting relevant features and use cases.

Tips for crafting compelling product demos:

• Personalize the demo based on research about the buyer‘s needs and priorities
• Tell a story that focuses on outcomes and value, not just features and functionality
• Use real-world examples and success stories to make it relatable
• Whiteboard or visually illustrate concepts to break up long stretches of screen sharing
• Keep it concise – up to 20 minutes – to respect the buyer‘s time
• Leave plenty of room for questions and dialogue vs. a monologue
• End with a strong call-to-action and concrete next step

Tools like Demostack, Navattic, and Walnut make it easy to create interactive, personalized demo experiences without the need for live reps or technical resources. Reps can quickly spin up customized sandboxes based on the buyer‘s profile.

Check out this product demo video from Vidyard as an example:

Notice how it highlights specific use cases and value points for sales while still showcasing the breadth of the platform. The demo ends with clear next steps to book a personalized consultation.

The best product demos seamlessly blend high-level business outcomes with granular features to address the needs of different stakeholders. Arm your reps with modular content blocks they can mix and match to tailor demos on the fly based on each audience.

5. Customer Testimonials & Case Studies (Used by 36%)

Modern B2B buyers are increasingly skeptical of traditional sales and marketing tactics. They don‘t want to be sold to; they want to be educated and inspired by real-world success stories from their peers. That‘s where customer evidence content comes into play.

According to Demandbase, 65% of B2B buyers say case studies are a "very important" factor influencing their purchase decision:

Weaving social proof into sales conversations via testimonials and case studies helps build trust and credibility. The key is to curate a library of assets that map to different industries, company sizes, use cases, and stages of the buyer‘s journey.

Effective customer testimonials and case studies include:

• Direct quotes and soundbites focused on business outcomes
• Quantifiable results and KPIs improved
• Specific benefits achieved that are relevant to your target audience
• Storytelling elements like challenge, solution, and results
• Engaging formats like video, infographics, and interactive content

For maximum impact, integrate customer evidence into multiple touch points throughout the sales process. This could include referencing similar success stories in prospecting emails, highlighting case studies on discovery calls, ending demos with customer soundbites, and sharing relevant testimonials in proposals.

Tools like Vocal Video and Case Study Buddy make it easy to capture, organize, and embed customer proof points across your sales collateral.

Here‘s an example of a compelling customer testimonial video from Shopify:

The video combines high-impact soundbites with visual storytelling to demonstrate how Shopify enabled the customer‘s growth. For busy buyers who prefer to skim, pull out key text quotes and results that reps can easily reference.

Build a process for consistently capturing customer feedback and transforming it into sales-ready proof points. The more relevant customer stories reps can draw upon, the easier it will be to establish rapport and inspire buyer confidence.

Bringing It All Together

While each of these sales enablement content types has merit on its own, they make the greatest impact when used in concert throughout the buyer‘s journey:

• Attract: Reps proactively share educational blog posts and infographics to build awareness and credibility
• Engage: Reps use personalized email templates and case studies to capture attention and book a meeting
• Discover: Reps leverage call scripts and checklists to identify needs and position relevant solutions
• Advise: Reps deliver tailored product demos with use cases and success stories
• Close: Reps include testimonials and ROI calculators in proposals to build urgency and consensus
• Grow: Reps continue providing value-add content to drive account growth and advocacy

Of course, enabling reps with the right content is only half the battle. To drive consistent usage and results, you must also invest in training, coaching, and tools to empower reps to use content effectively. This is where a sales enablement platform can help by:

• Organizing content in a centralized, searchable library
• Using AI to automatically recommend the best content for each scenario
• Tracking content engagement and correlating it with sales outcomes
• Enabling reps to personalize and share content from any device
• Collecting feedback and analytics to continually optimize content

By combining a robust content strategy with smart enablement technology, you equip your sales team to add value at every stage of the buyer‘s journey – no matter where they are working from.

The Future of Sales Enablement Content

As remote selling continues to evolve, so will the content that fuels it. To stay ahead of the curve, keep an eye on these emerging sales enablement content trends:

• Interactive Content: Buyers increasingly expect dynamic, immersive content experiences like assessments, ROI calculators, and virtual product tours.
• Video-First Selling: Video is becoming the dominant medium for remote sales conversations, from prospecting videos to live video demos to customer testimonials.
• Personalization at Scale: AI and machine learning tools will enable reps to instantly tailor content to each buyer‘s unique profile and context.
• Modular Content: To enable remixing and reuse, break lengthy assets like presentations and case studies into bite-size "content chunks" that can be assembled on demand.
• Conversational Content: From chatbots to voice assistants to interactive video, the future of content is increasingly two-way and guided by the buyer.
• Actionable Insights: Predictive analytics and real-time content engagement data will help identify the assets and approaches that drive the most pipeline and revenue.

By staying agile and adapting your sales enablement content approach to align with these trends, you‘ll be well-positioned to engage modern buyers and close more deals in an increasingly virtual world.

Content is the currency of remote selling. Invest in a strategy based around these five essential content types, and empower your reps with the training and tools to use them effectively. The sales organizations that do will build deeper relationships, shorten sales cycles, and drive repeatable revenue – from anywhere.