Marketing should own sales enablement technologies
Sales enablement tech is evolving, fast. Originally built to automate outbound selling—think Salesforce Sales Engagement, Outreach, Salesloft, Seismic—these tools help sales teams stay on top of outreach, automate follow-ups, and manage their pipelines. But the issue is that marketing’s role often stops at content libraries, leaving a massive opportunity untapped.
Marketing should take ownership of these platforms—not just as a supporting player, but as a strategic driver. Why? Because sales enablement is a growth engine. These tools collect data, track engagement, and create insights that can dramatically improve how businesses connect with potential customers. When marketing steps in, these systems transform from simple outreach automation into powerful, data-driven platforms that optimize engagement, increase conversions, and ultimately drive revenue.
Think about it: Marketing already owns the customer journey. They generate leads, create demand, and shape brand perception. If they also influence how sales teams engage with leads—when, how, and with what content—conversions go up. And marketing can bridge the gap between sales and IT, ensuring data integration between CRMs, automation platforms, and personalization engines. The result? Smarter outreach, higher-quality interactions, and better pipeline performance.
Sales enablement tools are martech, too
There’s a false divide between sales and marketing technology. In reality, sales enablement tools function a lot like marketing automation platforms. They track engagement, personalize interactions, and integrate with CRMs. The difference? Instead of broad audience campaigns, they focus on one-to-one selling. But the underlying mechanics—data, personalization, automation—are the same.
So, should these tools connect to your CRM? Yes. Should they use data to personalize outreach? Absolutely. Should prospects already know your brand before receiving sales communications? Ideally, yes. When marketing understands this and gets involved in sales enablement execution, everything clicks.
This isn’t blurring roles, it’s making sales smarter. Marketing can analyze engagement patterns, optimize outreach cadences, and provide insights that refine the sales approach. The more marketing-driven intelligence you inject into sales tech, the more effective sales teams become. And that’s the goal—streamlining sales, increasing conversions, and driving revenue.
Align sales outreach with lead sources and buyer journeys
Cold outreach is dead. At least, the old version of it is. Today, customers expect relevance. They want personalized interactions that align with where they are in their buying journey. And that’s exactly where marketing should step in.
Marketing generates leads. They know where each lead came from—was it a webinar? A LinkedIn ad? A thought leadership article? That context matters. When sales outreach aligns with the lead source, it feels less like a generic sales pitch and more like a natural extension of the prospect’s interest.
Take timing, for example. A lead that just attended a webinar is in a completely different mindset than one that downloaded an eBook three months ago. If sales teams understand that, their approach changes. The messaging shifts from “Hey, are you interested in our product?” to “I saw you attended our webinar on X—wanted to share a case study on how companies like yours are applying this in the real world.”
“Simple changes, big impact. When marketing makes sure outreach matches buyer context, conversion rates rise.”
Nurture prospects who aren’t sales-ready
Not every lead is ready to buy. That’s obvious. But too often, sales teams either push too hard or let leads go cold. The solution? Let marketing handle the in-between.
Sales enablement tools can integrate marketing-driven content—webinars, blog posts, industry insights—directly into sales cadences. Instead of a dead-end sales interaction, leads can be looped back into nurturing sequences that keep them engaged. The focus here should be on intelligently re-engaging prospects until they’re ready to have a real conversation.
Tracking links make this seamless. If a prospect clicks on a blog post inside a sales email but doesn’t respond to a meeting request, marketing can automatically add them to a retargeting campaign or a segmented email nurture track. That way, engagement doesn’t stop—it shifts into a more natural, less sales-heavy conversation.
When marketing and sales work together to nurture leads, conversion windows shrink. Instead of forcing deals before prospects are ready, businesses build relationships that naturally lead to higher-value sales.
Ensure email deliverability and engagement tracking
A sales email that never reaches an inbox is a waste of effort. Simple as that. Despite this, many sales teams struggle with email deliverability—messages end up in spam, get ignored, or worse, don’t even register as opened. This is where marketing expertise becomes a game-changer.
Marketing already masters email optimization. They understand email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), sender reputation management, and engagement tracking—everything that determines whether an email is successfully delivered and read. When marketing applies these best practices to sales enablement tools, email performance improves.
Here’s how it works: Marketing can monitor email open rates, track engagement signals (clicks, replies, forwards), and refine sending strategies to make sure sales emails get noticed. They can also apply A/B testing methods—different subject lines, formats, and send times—to identify what works best.
“If marketing steps in, email deliverability goes up, engagement improves, and sales teams waste less time on messages that never reach the right people.”
Use data-driven personalization for outreach
One-size-fits-all outreach is outdated. If you’re not using data to personalize, you’re losing deals. The good news? Sales enablement tools collect mountains of data—website visits, ad interactions, email engagement, content downloads—but most sales teams don’t fully leverage it. That’s where marketing comes in.
Marketing tools track behavioral signals: Who opened an email? Who clicked on an ad? Who spent three minutes on your pricing page? These insights help sales prioritize leads and craft hyper-personalized outreach. Instead of generic emails, reps can send messages tailored to a prospect’s actual interest.
Example: A lead just watched a product demo video on your website. A standard follow-up email might ask, “Interested in learning more?” But a data-driven approach lets sales say, “I saw you checked out our demo on X. Here’s a case study on how companies in your industry use it—let me know if you’d like a walkthrough.” The difference? Context. Relevance. Higher conversion.
Integrate marketing’s data insights into sales outreach, and you’ll stop guessing and start closing more deals with precision.
Performance tracking and sales optimization
If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. Sales teams want to know what works—what messaging converts, what outreach gets responses, which lead sources deliver real revenue. Sales enablement tools collect this data, but it’s marketing that can extract insights and optimize for better results.
Marketing has the analytical expertise to track engagement trends, identify underperforming cadences, and highlight which leads need more nurturing. They can pinpoint patterns:
- Are cold emails getting ignored? Maybe the messaging needs a tweak.
- Are webinar attendees converting at a higher rate? Double down on event-based outreach.
- Are certain lead sources consistently low-quality? Shift budget elsewhere.
More importantly, marketing can automate outreach sequences that work—removing the guesswork for sales teams. Instead of manually crafting each step, sales can rely on proven, data-backed cadences that maximize engagement. This then lets them focus on what they do best: closing deals.
Where should the sales team retain control?
Not everything should be handed off to marketing. While marketing supercharges sales enablement, there are critical areas where sales needs to stay in the driver’s seat.
- Defining what’s being sold – Marketing can highlight target accounts and ideal customers, but the sales team defines the value proposition in real-world deals. They’re the ones having direct conversations, uncovering pain points, and refining the pitch. That’s their domain.
- Sales coaching and enablement metrics – Marketing can provide insights—like which follow-up strategies work best—but training and coaching belong to sales. Sales managers know how to develop their teams, refine techniques, and adapt to real-time selling challenges.
- Building sales cadences and outreach timelines – Marketing automation emails and sales emails are not the same. Sales requires brevity, directness, and precise timing. Sales teams know best how often to reach out, what sequence to follow (call, email, LinkedIn), and when persistence turns into annoyance.
- Personalization beyond templates – Marketing can suggest content to include in outreach, but sales needs to add the human touch. That means referencing personal details—prospect’s location, shared connections, recent company news—things that make interactions feel real.
“Sales enablement is a shared responsibility. Marketing fuels the engine, but sales steers the vehicle. When both teams play to their strengths, growth follows.”
Key executive takeaways
- Marketing ownership fuels growth: Empower marketing to drive sales enablement tools for sharper, data-backed outreach and better pipeline management. Leaders should integrate marketing strategies into these platforms to maximize conversion and engagement.
- Data-driven personalization enhances engagement: Utilize behavioral data from sales enablement systems to tailor messaging and prioritize high-value prospects. Decision-makers should invest in integrating CRM insights to elevate personalized interactions and drive sales efficiency.
- Synergize marketing and sales for effective nurturing: Bridge the gap between marketing and sales by aligning lead sources and buyer journey stages. This collaboration ensures that prospects receive contextually relevant content, moving them steadily toward conversion.
- Clearly define roles for optimal performance: Maintain marketing’s responsibility for strategic oversight and content alignment while keeping sales in control of relationship-building and final negotiations. This separation ensures each team leverages its strengths to boost overall revenue growth.
