Content is not King or Queen.
There’s a corner of the business world where Content Marketing’s royalty status is not acknowledged or celebrated.
For many Sales-led B2B organisations, Content Marketing is, at best, a nice-to-have. It features a motivated group of team members, typically early-career professionals, who have been given some room to create content, post on social media, get excited about vanity metrics while keeping them engaged until they can progress to more important things (Read: sales) in the organisation. At worst, and more commonly, Content Marketing is seen as a distraction, especially when more experienced team members tasked with revenue generation and direct sales are drawn into it.
At first glance, this looks like a spillover of the perennial tussle between Sales and Marketing. After all, it is ‘Content Marketing’, not ‘Content Sales’. However, the definition of Content Marketing by the Content Marketing Institute clarifies this.
According to Content Marketing Institute:
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action. (Emphasis Mine)
Every time I’ve probed into why Sales-led B2B organisations don’t prioritise Content Marketing, it always boiled down to two things:
- Content Marketing champions focus solely on the first part: ‘…strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience’.
- They neglect the critical second part: ‘…and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.’, which is the key focus for Sales-led B2B organisations.
In the recent B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Outlook for 2025 survey, participants echoed this too when asked about Content Marketing Challenges (not related to content creation):
- Lack of resources (54%)
- Measuring the result of content efforts (47%)
- Aligning content with the buyer’s journey (45%)
- Aligning content across sales and marketing (43%)
The biggest challenge, however, is viewing content through a Marketing lens and not a Sales lens. They see it as ‘Content = Marketing = Noise’.
When viewed through a Sales lens, the role and impact of content become clearer, attract more resources, and are easier to measure.
Content as a Sales Enabler: Insights from B2B Leaders
To explore how content can drive sales directly, I asked B2B leaders to share how they leverage content to close deals. Here’s what they said:
Felix Bullinger – Managing Partner, Gain Theory
Content directly boosts B2B sales by serving as a sales enablement tool, playing three key roles: first, it addresses specific objections by providing targeted information and evidence to alleviate prospect concerns; second, it accelerates the sales cycle by delivering the right information at the right time, fostering quicker decision-making; and third, it increases close rates by building trust and confidence through showcasing value and addressing pain points, ultimately converting prospects into paying customers.
Caroline Carr – Growth Executive, Amigo Partnership
It builds buyer confidence. When sales teams share content that’s sharp, relevant, and answers the real questions — not just fluff — it clears the path to a yes. Think: Integration, FAQs, ROI calculators, or punchy one-pagers that help the buyer sell it into their boss. It shortens the sales cycle. It backs up what the rep’s saying. It makes the decision feel safe. Good content doesn’t just attract attention. It helps close the deal.”
Henry Regan – Managing Partner, Carbon Global
Content engages and educates audiences to be able to make better buying decisions based upon the knowledge you want to share with them. It deepens their understanding of your brand or product whilst also acting as a call to action.
Rosie Stano – Senior Product Consultant, Candyspace
Content is integral to building rapport with businesses throughout their buying journey. B2B sales cycles can often be lengthy, and sharing valuable content with your prospects is a good way to demonstrate an understanding of their business challenges and build trust with them. Timely and personalised content that educates and supports your prospect where they are at, in their buying journey, can help to convert a deal through funnel stages more effectively in a way that mass marketing will always struggle to do.”
Sean Pelser – Head of Growth, Because
At its core, B2B sales is all about adding value before making a sale. It’s about serving your prospects first, and content is one of the most effective ways to do that. Creating useful, relevant content gives you a natural reason to reconnect — something far more meaningful than a standard ‘just checking in’ email. Content is a brilliant tool for capturing prospect data, generating interest, and sparking conversations – all essential elements of any strong sales strategy.
Conclusion
Content may not be crowned King or Queen in Sales-led B2B organisations, but it has a powerful, often overlooked role. When executed strategically, content doesn’t just generate leads, it builds buyer confidence, accelerates sales cycles, and closes deals.
For Sales-led organisations looking to integrate content more effectively, the question isn’t ‘Should we do content marketing?’ but rather, ‘How can we leverage content as a direct sales tool?’
How are you using content to drive sales in your B2B business?
