The B2B buying process has changed—and product marketers are now on the front lines of that transformation. That’s because buyers no longer wait for a sales pitch. They do their own research, trust peer reviews, and form strong opinions before ever talking to a rep.

According to Gartner, independent research also impacts whether a vendor is added to a buyer’s short list, with 83% of B2B software buyers adjusting their vendor shortlist based on that research. That means by the time a seller joins the conversation, the buyer may already be leaning toward a competitor.

To stay ahead, sales content must do more than inform. It must engage, persuade, and guide buyers—before sales ever steps in. And that’s where product marketers come in.

Success now depends on creating sales content that aligns with today’s B2B buying process and delivering it at exactly the right moment. When product marketers lead with strategy, activation, and buyer alignment, they don’t just support the sales team—they accelerate revenue.

The Modern B2B Buying Process: Self-Guided, Skeptical, and Research-Driven

The traditional, sales-led funnel is gone. Today’s B2B buyers don’t want to be sold. They want to chart their own path and discover, compare, and decide on their own terms. They’re skeptical of vendor claims and hungry for validation from real users.

In fact, “only 17% of the total purchase process is spent talking to potential suppliers, because so much is available through independent research,” according to Gartner. What type of independent research do B2B buyers look for? They want information from trusted technology news outlets (86%); analyst firms (79%); and their peers, colleagues, and vendor customers (85%), Forrester reports.

Only 17% of the total purchase process is spent talking to potential suppliers, because so much is available through independent research. — Gartner

This shift has made the B2B buying process longer, more complex—and far less visible to sales teams.

By the time a rep is looped in, the buyer is already well into their decision. The new buyer journey often looks like this:

1. Awareness – The buyer recognizes a problem or experiences a trigger event.
2. Research – Buyers build a working list of potential vendors based on reputation and visibility.
3. Shortlist – Deep research begins—buyers read case studies, seek peer recommendations, and analyze reviews, reducing their options to create a shortlist.
4. Engage Sales—Only after forming strong opinions do they reach out for a demo or trial.
5. Decide – The final choice and purchase are made, often quickly and with minimal vendor interaction.

This hidden half of the sales cycle is where product marketers make their biggest impact. It’s not just about supporting sales after the buyer shows up. It’s about influencing the buyer long before they ever raise a hand.

Why Product Marketers Are Critical to Enabling Sales Success

With so much of the B2B buying process happening behind the scenes, product marketers have become essential to sales success. They’re no longer just building content—they’re shaping the conversations reps will have and influencing buyer perceptions throughout the B2B buying process, often long before any meetings are booked.

As part of this new role, they must ensure their sales team has strategic, market-aligned content that speaks to real-world customer concerns, explains complex solutions, and meets buyers where they are in the buying process. If they don’t, sellers will revert to generic decks and off-brand messaging that don’t support buyers at critical stages in the B2B buying process.

To truly enable sales in this environment, product marketers must: 

• Preempt buyer objections by addressing concerns before they are voiced.
• Highlight differentiators that matter to informed, comparison-shopping buyers.
• Create scalable, tailored assets like battlecards, demo scripts, and email templates that give reps confidence and consistency in the field.

When content is built to support both how buyers buy and how sellers sell, it becomes a competitive advantage. Product marketers aren’t just supporting sales—they’re multiplying its impact.

Content Activation = Sales Productivity

Product marketers don’t just create content—they activate it. And in today’s B2B buying process, that activation is what turns content into a revenue-driving force.

When content isn’t easy to find, trust, or use, sellers struggle. Productivity drops. Deals stall. Reps spend valuable time digging through shared drives, outdated folders, or Slack threads instead of connecting with buyers.

According to Forrester, 60–70% of sales content goes unused—not because it lacks value, but because sellers can’t locate it, don’t trust it, or don’t know when to use it.

That’s a massive miss.

When reps can’t quickly access case studies, demo scripts, or objection-handling guides, they default to generic messaging—or worse, make it up. The result? Inconsistent communication, lower buyer trust, and lost opportunities.

Content activation, powered by AI sales content management, solves this by delivering the right content, at the right time, in the right format—aligned with the B2B buying process and directly into the seller’s workflow.

When powered by AI, content activation becomes even more effective. It enables teams to:

• Recommend content based on real buyer behavior and intent signals
• Use predictive analytics to refine messaging and optimize sales playbooks
• Provide real-time sales coaching and surface competitive intelligence

With smarter delivery and better timing, product marketers equip sellers to engage buyers more confidently during the B2B buying process—and move deals forward faster.

Embedding Content into the Buyer-Aligned Sales Motion

In a fast-moving, self-directed buying environment, timing and relevance are everything. By the time a buyer talks to sales, they’ve already done the research—and they’re expecting tailored, high-value conversations.

To keep up, reps need content that matches the moment. That means product marketers must embed content directly into the B2B buying process, not just store it in a repository.

When content is integrated into the tools reps already use—such as CRMs, sales enablement platforms, and digital sales rooms—it becomes more than just reference material. It becomes a real-time selling advantage.

Reps can respond faster, guide conversations more effectively, and tailor messages to buyer intent—without hunting for assets or guessing what works.

To make content truly buyer-aligned, product marketers should:

• Organize assets by use case, persona, and sales stage to surface the right content in the right moment
• Use AI to personalize content recommendations based on previous buyer engagement
• Integrate enablement tools with CRM and sales platforms to make delivery seamless and contextual
• Create digital sales rooms or content hubs that deliver curated experiences for specific buying teams

Accessibility to content is just as critical as relevance. Reps need just-in-time access to content from any device—whether they’re prepping for a live call, in a meeting, or traveling.

That might mean embedding links in calendar invites, meeting prep checklists, or sales notifications—ensuring content is available when and where it matters most.

When product marketers embed content into daily workflows, they do more than support sellers. They empower them to meet buyers exactly where they are in the B2B buying process—and guide them forward with confidence.

Metrics Product Marketers Should Track to Prove Impact

Activating content is only part of the equation. Proving it works earns product marketers a strategic seat at the table. 

To show how sales content contributes to sales success and drives revenue, product marketers need to track the right metrics—ones that link directly to seller performance and buyer behavior across the B2B buying process. Then they must continually refine their approach based on the data. 

Here are four key metrics product marketers should track and why they matter:

1. Content Adoption Rates
   If sellers don’t use the content, it’s not helping. High adoption means your assets are accessible, relevant, and aligned to seller needs.
2. Buyer Engagement
   Track views, clicks, shares, and downloads. These signals show which content resonates—and which pieces influence decisions early in the buying journey.
3. Deal Velocity and Win Rate Improvements
   When content is well-aligned to buyer needs, deals move faster. Use these metrics to tie your content strategy to tangible sales outcomes.
4. Seller Feedback
   Qualitative input rounds out the picture. Ask reps what’s working, what’s missing, and where they need support. These insights help you refine content and uncover gaps across the B2B buying process.

Together, these metrics tell a compelling story. They prove that product marketing isn’t just creating content—it’s driving performance, enabling sales, and shaping outcomes across the entire B2B buying process.

Is Your Sales Content Strategy Aligned with the B2B Buying Process?

The B2B buying process has changed—and that means your approach to sales content must evolve with it. Product marketers who thrive in this new landscape don’t just create content. They deliver the right message, in the right format, at exactly the right moment.

Ask yourself:

• Is your content strategy aligned with how today’s buyers actually make decisions?

• Are your sales assets built for the early, self-directed stages of the buyer journey—or just for when sales gets involved?

• Can reps easily find and use your content in the flow of their work? Or are they still searching, improvising, or going off-brand?

• How often do you collect feedback from the field to improve your materials?

• Are you tracking how content performs across engagement, adoption, and deal velocity?

• Is AI powering your content delivery—or are you relying on static folders and outdated decks?

If you paused on any of those questions, you’re not alone. And you’re in the right role to lead the change.

By rethinking how content is built, delivered, and embedded into the buying journey, product marketers can become the engine behind sales productivity—and a measurable driver of revenue growth.

Product Marketing’s Moment: Leading the New B2B Buying Reality

The B2B buying process no longer starts with sales—and it rarely ends there either. It’s nonlinear, self-directed, and largely invisible. But this is exactly where product marketers thrive.

When your content strategy mirrors how buyers actually buy, you’re not just supporting sales. You’re shaping decisions before a rep ever gets involved. You’re empowering sellers with messaging that lands. And you’re turning content into a true competitive advantage.

Not only that, but by aligning with today’s B2B buying process, product marketers can improve sales efficiency, accelerate deal cycles, and contribute directly to revenue outcomes.

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About the Author: Barry O’Leary is senior product marketing manager at Allego with over a decade of experience in competitive intelligence and product marketing. He’s held key roles at Tripadvisor, Zillow, and Dell and also founded a consultancy helping global brands expand into the U.S. market. Barry is passionate about uncovering what makes a business stand out—and turning that insight into messaging that moves the needle.

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3 Ways Marketers Bring Sales Content to Life with Digital Rooms

Want to see content activation in action? Learn how leading marketing teams are transforming static assets into interactive buyer experiences using digital sales rooms. Discover real-world strategies to boost seller engagement, personalize content delivery, and drive faster deal cycles. Watch the webinar recording.