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5 Ways to Optimize Sales & Marketing Alignment

By: Corinne Sinesi

Sagefrog Marketing Group has been delivering branding and integrated marketing services for more than twenty years. Behind our success is a team of managers, digital specialists, copywriters, designers, and developers who continually evolve processes and best practices to drive results. Welcome to the “Frogs Tell All” blog series, a place where you can be a fly on the wall and observe what we do best.

Attention sales and marketing teams: you need to work smarter towards the same goals—not against each other. There’s no reason Sally in Sales shouldn’t know what Mark in Marketing is doing (and vice versa), yet it’s quite common in B2B organizations.

B2B Sales & Marketing Alignment Best Practices

We’re constantly working towards sales and marketing alignment. The key is communication and collaboration. This blog will explore five ways we break down silos between our sales and marketing departments and tips you can begin incorporating today.

1. Align on Sales & Marketing Goals

Connecting with your team is essential, but that bridge is hard to build via email and chat. Hold regular, cross-functional meetings that encourage sales and marketing to hear each other out. These meetings will allow team members to surface what’s working and what’s not.

🐸 At Sagefrog, we coordinate weekly and monthly meetings to set clear expectations and goals for leads and deals. We’re a HubSpot Platinum Partner, which gives us the tools to organize and track our sales pipeline, ultimately growing MQLs and SQLs. We take these meetings as an opportunity to share our findings, identify concerns, and brainstorm strategies.

2. Collaborate on Content Creation

Brainstorm ideas on what issues prospects experience or need help with. The ability to tune into FAQs from discovery calls and all stages of the buyer’s journey ensures the Content team can create resources and thought leadership pieces that rake in the clicks.

🐸 At Sagefrog, we hold content brainstorm sessions on an as-needed basis. We also have set quarterly content meetings to ensure time doesn’t get away from us. We also re-evaluate and update buyer personas and journeys yearly, so we’re always targeting the right people.

Aligning Sales & marketing to optimize abm

3. Team up for Prospect Nurturing

A successful prospect or lead nurturing campaign starts with sales and marketing alignment and ends with more successful strategies and higher customer retention. Iron out the details together: what targeted content to leverage, which channels to engage, how frequently to contact prospects, where to personalize, and so on.

🐸 At Sagefrog, our sales and marketing teams collaborate on a weekly email nurturing campaign. Sales provides the topic of interest for any given prospect, and Marketing provides the most relevant blog or resource to promote based on the topic.

4. Analyze Sales & Marketing Data Together

Don’t set it and forget it. Take the time to analyze data from marketing campaigns and digital ads to determine which tactics bring in the most qualified leads and which bring in the least. Use these insights to optimize future tactics and improve lead generation and deals.

🐸 At Sagefrog, we regularly assess our Sales team’s close rates and break down any problem areas that may be holding us back. We lean on this information in everything we do, from prioritizing leads to pitching integrated marketing plans and planning content calendars.

5. Prioritize Cross-Departmental Culture

B2B sales and marketing alignment requires a positive attitude and willingness to work together. Fostering a relationship-based culture will help both departments find common ground and act as one, lending itself to an ongoing commitment to the continuous creation of value for customers.

🐸 At Sagefrog, we work together in the office at least twice weekly (and constantly Slack each other on the other days). We also hold team lunches, happy hours, and bonding activities. To us, the more in-person or virtual touchpoints, the merrier.

Get Aligned 🤝 See Results ✨

Aligning sales and marketing is no easy feat. Get in touch with Sagefrog to discuss what’s behind our successful branding and integrated marketing services: a team that values each other’s opinions and needs and loves working together toward your success.

how can we accelerate your success?