From campaign to conversion: activating sales with the right plays. Don’t stop at launch—equip your sales team with the tools, context, and content they need to close the loop.
Too often, teams assume that once the emails go out and the ads are live, the work is done. But without clear alignment between marketing and sales—especially around campaign messaging and targeting—buyers get conflicting messages or get dropped altogether.
Today’s buyers are self-educating longer, expecting more relevance, and involving more stakeholders. That means sales has less time—and fewer chances—to make a meaningful impression.
What they need isn’t more leads.
They need context.
That context comes from the work marketing has already done: the campaign messaging, the persona insights, the pain points, and the narrative arc.
But it needs to be translated into something sales can use in the moment.
A sales play is a repeatable, situational strategy that equips sellers with the messaging, assets, and timing to guide a buyer through a specific scenario—whether it’s responding to a trigger event, overcoming a common objection, or following up on campaign interest.
Think of it as a curated story toolkit. Not a script. Not just a deck.
A good sales play delivers the right message, to the right buyer, at the right moment—without forcing reps to reinvent the wheel or go digging for content.
When built from your campaign messaging, plays ensure the momentum you’ve built with marketing doesn’t stop when the lead hits sales.
Use this step-by-step framework to build aligned, high-impact plays for your sales team:
Step 1: Anchor to the campaign message
Start with the core pain point your campaign is addressing. This becomes the foundation of the play’s narrative.
Step 2: Choose the sales scenario
Is this an outbound cold sequence? A post-webinar follow-up? A conversation starter for a warm lead? Clarify the context.
Step 3: Match the persona
Tailor tone, proof points, and CTAs based on who the rep is talking to—e.g. Demand Gen cares about volume; the VP Marketing cares about pipeline.
Step 4: Assemble the toolkit
Each play should include a focused mix of assets:
Talk track or call opener
Follow-up email or InMail copy
1-pager or short deck snippet
Social proof or quote
Recommended CTA
Step 5: Enable and activate
Don’t just drop the play into a folder—walk sales through how to use it. Record a short Loom or run a live session to explain the play’s intent, ideal timing, and how to customize it.
#1 Persona Play
What it is:
A targeted outreach approach built specifically around a key persona’s goals, challenges, and objections.
When to use it:
Early-stage outreach or follow-up when the campaign is focused on a specific decision-maker or role.
What to include:
A persona-specific 1-pager or deck snippet
Top business outcomes aligned to their function
Tailored proof points or customer quotes
Clear CTA based on their priorities (e.g. download, book a call)
Why it works:
You’re not just personalizing by name or company. You’re speaking their language—and positioning your product as the solution to their daily pain.
#2 Objection Handling Play
What it is:
A proactive response toolkit for common pushback tied to your campaign theme.
When to use it:
When reps encounter consistent objections during calls, especially tied to cost, competitors, timing, or internal resources.
What to include:
Talk tracks for top 2–3 expected objections
A competitive comparison slide or matrix
ROI calculator or time-to-value proof
Optional follow-up email copy
Why it works:
You remove friction before it stalls the deal—arming sales with confidence and shifting the conversation back to value.
#3 Trigger-Based Play
What it is:
A quick-response play triggered by specific campaign actions (e.g. guide download, webinar attendance, pricing page visit).
When to use it:
For high-intent leads that engage with your campaign but haven’t yet converted.
What to include:
Follow-up email tailored to the specific action
Soft CTA: invite to event, offer checklist, quick audit
Asset aligned to the original pain point
Talk track for call outreach or video follow-up
Why it works:
It creates continuity. The buyer has already shown interest—you’re meeting them where they are and helping them take the next step.
#4 Expansion Play
What it is:
A sales play designed to drive cross-sell or upsell by connecting the campaign’s value to other use cases.
When to use it:
For existing customers who responded to your campaign or where the campaign theme connects to adjacent solutions.
What to include:
A slide or insert showing how this feature/product expands value
Use case story or mini-case study
Persona-specific outcomes for the expansion motion
CTA to discuss roadmap, pilot, or upgrade
Why it works:
Your campaign opened the door—this play keeps it open by tying the message to tangible growth paths for the customer.
Once your campaign is built, the next step is operationalizing it for your sales team. This is where collaboration between product marketing, demand gen, and sales enablement becomes critical.
To get full value from your sales plays, collaboration is key. Here’s how to bring it all together:
Kick off together. Run a joint meeting to walk through the campaign, messaging, and playbook.
Co-create objection responses. Loop in top-performing reps to sharpen language and tone.
Keep the plays visible. Use your enablement platform or internal wiki, and link directly from CRM or Slack.
Make it easy to personalize. Include snippets, editable slides, and modular content reps can tweak.
Track what’s working. Check usage, conversion rates, and rep feedback to improve over time.
When sales and marketing align around shared messaging and strategic plays, you turn interest into intent, and pipeline into revenue.
If you're ready to build campaigns that convert and equip sales to close with confidence, let’s talk.