If you’re handling content for a sales team, you know the pain: updates get missed, reps complain they didn’t hear about new assets, and everyone’s buried in manual work. This guide is for anyone who’s tired of chasing people down or sending the same “New Brochure Uploaded” email for the hundredth time. If you’re using Showpad, you’ve got some solid tools for automating the mess—if you know where to look and what actually works.
Let’s cut through the noise and set up real automation for content updates and notifications in Showpad. Here’s how to keep your content fresh and your team in the loop—without losing an afternoon to clicking around.
Step 1: Know What You Can (and Can’t) Automate in Showpad
Before you dive in, let’s get honest about Showpad’s automation powers. Showpad does a decent job when it comes to notifying users about new or updated content, but it’s not a full-fledged workflow automation platform. You can’t, for example, easily set up complex approval chains or automate every notification under the sun without a few workarounds or outside tools.
What you can automate:
- Notifying users when new content is published or updated (within certain rules)
- Scheduling content updates (to a degree)
- Some integrations with tools like Zapier or Microsoft Power Automate for more advanced workflows
What you can’t automate (natively):
- Highly customized notification emails
- Complex multi-step approval processes
- Automatic content tagging or organization beyond basic rules
If you need heavy-duty automation, you’ll probably end up linking Showpad to other tools. But for most teams, Showpad’s built-in options cover the basics well enough.
Step 2: Use Showpad’s Built-in Content Notifications
The simplest way to keep your team informed is to use Showpad’s built-in content notifications. These are (mostly) automatic and require minimal setup.
How it works: - When you publish new content or update existing files in a Showpad Experience, users who have access will get a notification—either via email or in the app. - Admins can tweak notification settings per user or group.
To enable and configure notifications:
- Go to Online Platform as an admin.
- Navigate to Users & Groups.
- Select a user or group.
- Under Notification Settings, make sure content update notifications are enabled.
Pro Tips: - Users can mute notifications themselves, so it pays to remind them where these settings are if someone swears they’re not getting alerts. - Notifications are only sent for content updates in Experiences users have access to. If someone’s not seeing updates, double-check their permissions.
What to watch out for:
Showpad’s notifications are generic and can get ignored if your team is drowning in alerts. Don’t count on these alone for mission-critical updates.
Step 3: Schedule Content Updates (Set It and Forget It—Mostly)
Sometimes you need to update content ahead of a launch or campaign, but you don’t want to babysit the platform at 9 pm on a Friday.
Showpad lets you: - Upload new content and schedule when it goes live. - Schedule expiration dates so old assets disappear automatically.
To schedule a content update:
- In the Content Library, upload your new file or replace an existing one.
- Look for the Scheduling or Availability options (depends on your Showpad version).
- Set a start and/or end date for when the content should be available.
Why bother? - This reduces manual work and ensures your team doesn’t use outdated assets. - You can prep campaigns in advance—no more last-minute scrambles.
Limitations: - Scheduling is straightforward, but there’s no “review before publish” automation. If you need approvals, you’ll have to manage those separately.
Step 4: Automate More with Integrations (Zapier, Power Automate, and Friends)
If built-in notifications aren’t cutting it, you can use external tools to beef up automation. Zapier and Microsoft Power Automate are your main options. Here’s how to make them actually useful:
What can you do with integrations? - Send custom notifications to Slack, Teams, or email lists when new content is published - Trigger other business processes (like updating a CRM or logging activity) - Sync files from cloud storage to Showpad (with some caveats)
Example: Custom Notifications with Zapier
Let’s say you want a Slack channel to light up whenever new content hits Showpad. Here’s a rough outline:
- Connect Showpad to Zapier:
Showpad doesn’t have a public Zapier app, but you can use webhooks or email parsing as a workaround. - Option 1: Use Showpad’s notification emails as a trigger. Forward those to a Zapier email parser.
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Option 2: If you have API access, set up a webhook for content changes (requires technical chops).
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Set up the Zap:
- Trigger: New parsed email or webhook from Showpad.
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Action: Send message to Slack, Teams, or wherever.
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Test and refine:
- Make sure you’re not spamming channels with too many updates.
- Tune filters so only important changes get broadcast.
Pro Tips: - Check Showpad’s API limits—if you’re polling for changes, don’t hammer the API or you’ll get throttled. - If this sounds like overkill, stick with basic notifications. Not every team needs this level of noise.
Example: Advanced Workflows with Power Automate
If your org already uses Microsoft 365, Power Automate can link Showpad notifications to SharePoint, Outlook, Teams, and more.
- Use incoming emails or API calls as triggers.
- Route notifications based on content type, owner, or other fields.
- Build approval steps outside of Showpad if you need them.
Reality check:
These integrations are great for technical admins but can be a pain to maintain. Unless you have a real business case, keep things simple.
Step 5: Educate Your Team (or No One Reads Anything)
Even the best automation is useless if your team ignores it. A quick communication blitz helps make sure your shiny new workflows actually get used.
How to do this without wasting everyone’s time:
- Send a short “Here’s how you’ll get updates from now on” message.
- Point users to notification preferences so they can tailor alerts.
- Ask for feedback after a week or two—if everyone’s ignoring updates or feels spammed, tweak frequency or channels.
Don’t:
- Bombard people with “test” notifications.
- Assume silence means success—sometimes it means nobody saw your changes.
Step 6: Monitor and Tweak Your Automation
Automation isn’t “set and forget”—especially with content. Things change: new reps join, old assets get re-used, and people’s notification tolerance shifts.
How to keep things running smoothly:
- Review notification engagement (if available) every month or so.
- Check for outdated schedules or content that should be archived.
- Ask users what’s working—sometimes the best feedback is “I didn’t even notice the change.”
Signs you need to adjust:
- People are missing important updates.
- There’s confusion about which assets are current.
- Your own inbox is a disaster of system-generated emails.
If something’s not working, don’t be afraid to scale back. Automation should save time, not create new headaches.
What Actually Works (and What to Skip)
Worth your time: - Built-in notifications for everyday updates - Scheduling content for launches or expirations - Simple integrations for must-see alerts (if your team actually uses Slack/Teams)
Usually not worth the hassle: - Over-engineered, multi-step automated workflows (unless you’ve got a dedicated ops team) - Custom notification emails that nobody reads - Automating for the sake of “digital transformation” (don’t)
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Start with the basics. Get notifications working, test scheduling, and only add integrations if there’s a clear payoff. Don’t chase “full automation” unless you’re sure it’ll actually save time. The best systems are the ones people actually use—and the fewer moving parts, the better.
If something’s not working, change it. If you’re not sure, ask your team. That’s it. Good luck, and happy automating.