By Katelyn Perman
When you’re on a small marketing team, every piece of content must pull its weight. We’re not just looking for volume, we’re looking for value. Let’s be honest: There’s no time (or energy) to create things that sit untouched in a shared drive.
The real magic happens when marketing and sales are in lockstep, sharing what works, tossing what doesn’t, and building content together that actually drives results.
Here’s how we do that at Parker Technology. Hopefully, it sparks some ideas for your own team.
Ask, don’t assume
If you’re guessing what sales needs, chances are you’re getting it wrong. Don’t spend hours perfecting a cut sheet that never sees the light of day. Just ask.
At Parker, we meet with our sales team bi-weekly to stay aligned. We talk through the pipeline, clear up anything that’s murky, and review content needs based on what’s coming up in conversations.
Pro tip: Sit in on (or review) a few sales calls. You’ll pick up real-time feedback, hear objections, and find ideas for assets that actually help close deals.
Create once, multiply forever
Our team repurposes everything. A podcast episode becomes three social media posts, a blog, a YouTube video, and sometimes even an email campaign. One piece of content becomes five, with consistent messaging and less lift.
Repurposing saves time, keeps our messaging consistent, and maximizes every idea we bring to life. When you don’t have the luxury of a 10-person team, repurposing is how you keep showing up without burning out.
We’re also experimenting with artificial intelligence workflows to speed things up and scale our efforts. We’re building processes that take one original piece and spin it into multiple formats, all while keeping our voice, tone, and messaging on-brand and consistent.
Build the content buffet
To make things easy on our sales team, we created a content matrix that serves as a one-stop shop. It’s packed with links, descriptions, tags, and filters, so anyone can quickly find exactly what they need, organized by vertical, audience, or content type.
No more digging. No more Slack messages asking, “Do we have anything on this?” Just fast, easy access to what works. It also helps us spot gaps, so we know what to create next.
We also recently added a “Quick Links” feature in our customer relationship management program that houses key resources, right where sales already lives. No extra clicks, no bouncing between tools. They get what they need, fast.
Sales doesn’t have time to hunt. They need resources ready to go.
Keep the feedback loop open
We never create content in a vacuum. Everything goes through our sales team before it’s finalized, whether it’s a cut sheet, email campaign, or video. They’re not shy with feedback, and we wouldn’t want them to be.
We also lean into the mindset of “sharing before you’re ready” advocated by Max Yoder, the CEO and co-founder of the training software company Lessonly. That means looping in other teams early, not just at the end. When sales helps shape the concept from the start, you avoid last-minute rewrites and get better buy-in across the board.
Instead of throwing content out there and hoping it lands, we treat sales as true collaborators. When you welcome their input and listen with curiosity, the content gets better, every single time.
Create with the end (user) in mind
At the end of the day, we’re not just creating for sales. We’re creating for the buyer.
That’s why our leadership team regularly reviews and refines our ideal customer profiles to make sure we’re speaking to the right people in the right way.
It’s also important to recognize that sales and client success hear from customers more than marketing does. Tap into that. Partner with them to surface the questions, concerns, and opportunities you might not otherwise hear. You can’t incorporate what you don’t know.
We’re all on the same team. Let’s work together to figure out what really matters and create top-notch content that reflects it.
Marketing is storytelling. Sales is storytelling with a “close” button. Let’s make sure we’re writing the same story.
Teamwork makes the dream work
When marketing and sales are aligned, the whole business feels it. Content hits harder. Decisions happen faster. Customers and prospects get what they need, when they need it.
Not sure where to start? Start with one question: What’s the one piece of content you wish you had right now?
Then get to work. Because great content doesn’t wait, and neither do deals.
KATELYN PERMAN is the content marketing manager for Parker Technology and a contributing member of the Parketing Collective. She can be reached at [email protected], while the collective can be reached at [email protected].
