Why is content an important investment? | Selma Chauvin, Chief Revenue Officer, Agorapulse

Building trust starts long before the first sales call.

In this episode of Straight to Voicemail, Rachel Elsts Downey connects with Selma Chauvin,  Chief Revenue Officer at Agorapulse, to explore why content is the most valuable lever a CRO can invest in. Drawing from her experience leading global revenue teams, Selma shares how trust, education, and connection drive acquisition, retention, and expansion in modern B2B sales.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why content alignment between marketing and sales improves deal quality
• How education-based content builds trust before the first conversation
• Why scalable content can outperform headcount growth

Jump into the conversation:

(00:00) Why we wanted to talk to Selma Chauvin

(01:07) Why content is the most important lever for a CRO

(01:42) How cultural differences shape the buying journey

(02:12) Building trust before sales even begin

(02:23) Aligning content with the sales message

(02:36) How content drives retention and expansion

(02:50) Selling to marketers who see through surface-level content

(03:19) The scalability advantage of strong content

(03:40) Final thoughts from Selma Chauvin

Listen to the full episode to learn how content creates connection, scales trust, and drives sustainable revenue growth. 

Straight to Voicemail is for CMOs, CEOs, and Heads of Marketing in B2B tech who want insights from the people who’ve been there. Each episode centers on one big question answered like a voicemail you’ll want to play again.

Don’t miss this conversation! Follow Straight to Voicemail and explore Genius Cuts for more B2B content strategy insights.

What is Straight To Voicemail?

What are the best brands doing to stay relevant, build trust, and create content smarter?

At Share Your Genius, we have the same questions, so we're tapping the best in the space for their answers—one voicemail at a time.

Join us each week for quick hits of insights from b2b marketers and leaders.

[00:00:00]
[00:00:09] Rachel Elsts Downey: If you want leading indicators for B2B success, you have to shift your focus to what truly drives a buyer. Trust? Maybe education? I don't know, but Selma lives by that principle. Truth is the buyer has already made up their mind before the first sales call. Their opinion of your brand is sealed long before sales enters the picture. That's why she treats content not as a marketing expense, but as a mission critical revenue engine. I was eager to learn more about this, obviously because we're in the content game. But I wanted to understand how she thinks about it from an investment perspective. So I called and asked her: why is content such an important investment for a CRO? Here's what she had to say.
[00:01:07] Selma Chauvin: Hey Rachel, it's Selma from Agorapulse. I wanted to share a perspective that's been top of mind for me lately. You know, this thing about content and why it's actually the most important lever for a CRO. When you think about what a CRO does, most people think about sales and how to sell more and how to sell faster.
[00:01:23] And yeah, that matters. Of course, acquisition matters and retention matters, but you know, these are just outputs actually. If you do other things well, that will follow. And this is the output of a combination of trust, education, and connection. And you know what makes it all work together? Actually, that's content.
[00:01:42] Selma Chauvin: The buyers don't just want a product. They want to know that they're making the right choice. And you know, when they're in front of a salesperson, it's already too late for that because what will the sales rep tell them?
[00:01:52] Usually it's like, "Oh, please, can you do me a demo of the product?And can you tell me why it's better than the competitor ones?" That just is not enough.In some other cultures, like Germany for example, most of the process of buying a new solution is done without having a sales rep in the room. So how can you build that trust, that education, that connection, if you're not even allowed to be there?
[00:02:12] Selma Chauvin: And that's why actually content matters so much. It's because that helps to create that first relationship that your sales will just enhance instead of having to build that from scratch.
[00:02:23] And what helps even more is when it's completely aligned with what the sales rep would say. So if the content can speak for yourself, then the sales rep can just manage the relationship and the transaction, and that makes our lives so much easier.
[00:02:36] Not just only for acquisition, for retention, for expansion as well, because the relationship doesn't end when the contract is signed. For me, it matters that relationship is kept even after that,because who knows, we need to sign more next quarter. You know that.
[00:02:50] Selma Chauvin: You know, one last thing pops in my mind is that we think about content as a marketing thing. Blog posts, white papers. But here at Agorapulse, you know, we are selling like social media solutions. And what we observe is that we sell to marketing people. So these guys know how to write blog posts, how to write white papers. You can't fake them. So what you need to do is help them, educate them. And that's why every touchpoint matters. And that's why content is in many of these touch points.
[00:03:19] Selma Chauvin: And at the end, you know what I love is, content, it's a scalable tool. If you want to produce more business, usually what I am hearing is that, "Oh, just hire more reps." But you know, content? That scales. You can reach out to 10 times more people without having to hire one single rep. And because of that, when the discussion arrives to a sales rep, that is a good quality deal, and I love that.
[00:03:40] That was it, everything I wanted to share with you. I hope you enjoy your day and talk to you soon.