Instantly integrate your content into the sales process For every piece of content you plan to publish, the ultimate touchstone is this question: if we publish this, can we immediately integrate it into the sales process and use it as a way to help our potential buyers make smarter decisions A buying decision tool? If not, you should probably focus on more important and urgent things. This is probably the most common weakness I see in companies that try to accept that they ask themselves, you answer. You can't get a return on investment from content work solely on search traffic. We have to move from a “marketing first” perspective to a “sales first” perspective, judging the success of content based on how helpful it is to the industry mailing list team. (We'll discuss how to measure this in the next step.) Also, don't assume that because the content is there, the sales team knows how to use it. Teach them how to integrate content into their process and how to use it effectively. related information Playbooks: Integrate Content into Your Sales Process 7. Track, measure and be consistent When we get to the end of the first 12 months, the last thing you want to say is "Does this really work?" The only way for you to know is if you are measuring it. If we don't have numbers, we won't know what to focus on and what to give up. But what exactly are we measuring? Marcus Sheridan wrote in their Ask, You Answer that you should measure different things at different stages of your content journey. Months 1-3: Hit Publish, get the sales team involved, and implement task sales right away. First, focus on partnering content with your sales team and integrating it into the sales process as soon as it’s generated.