New Study: Why Sales Still Isn’t Using Marketing’s Content—And How to Fix It

A fresh Forrester survey of 450 B2B sellers found that 67 % of
marketing collateral goes unused. Content is hard to find, feels off-target,
or arrives too late in the deal cycle—so reps build their own slides or skip
content entirely. That wastes budget and muddies your brand story.

Why Sales Ignores Marketing Content

• Poor discoverability: files live in scattered folders or email threads instead of one searchable hub.
• Mismatched formats: reps want short decks, interactive ROI tools and customer stories—while marketing ships 20-page white papers.
• No feedback loop: sellers don’t know what converts, and marketers don’t know which assets closed deals.
• Out-of-date messaging: product pivots make last quarter’s collateral risky to share, so reps default to DIY slides.

Four Fixes That Work

1. Centralise with a sales-enablement platform
   Tools like
   Seismic, Highspot or Showpad index every asset, auto-expire old versions and surface
   AI-based recommendations inside CRM.
2. Build persona-based content kits
   Bundle a one-pager,
   social proof slide and FAQ for each buying role so reps can copy-paste instead
   of hunting.
3. Loop usage data back to marketing
   Track opens, shares
   and time-in-asset; retire low performers and double down on content tied to
   won deals.
4. Involve sellers in planning
   Quarterly “content council”
   calls let reps pitch topic ideas and flag gaps before production starts.

ROI Snapshot

Teams that deploy a content-enablement hub report 15–20 % faster
sales cycles and up to 30 % higher average deal size thanks to
consistent, on-brand messaging (Seismic Benchmark Report, 2024).

Implementation Checklist

• Enable a single, searchable repository (SharePoint is not enough).
• Tag every asset by persona, stage and use-case.
• Integrate the repository with CRM and email plugins.
• Set automated review/expiration dates for regulated industries.
• Train reps with role-based playbooks and in-app guidance.

Ongoing Optimisation Checklist

• Pull quarterly asset-performance dashboards (opens, shares, influenced revenue).
• Survey reps twice a year for content gaps.
• Retire or refresh any piece with <10 % adoption over two quarters.
• Add win stories and competitive talk-tracks within 48 h of deal close.
• Hold a cross-functional content council meeting every quarter.

Aligning sales and marketing around a shared content hub turns “lost in the
folder maze” decks into revenue-generating conversations. Need help setting up an enablement platform or revamping your library? Our team can audit your current assets and build a roadmap that keeps sellers stocked with content they’ll actually use.