If you’re reading this, you probably have access to Showpad and a pile of sales content, but you’re not sure if it’s actually helping your team close deals. Or maybe your boss keeps asking for “analytics” and you’re tired of sending over charts no one reads. Either way, this guide’s for you. I’ll walk you through using Showpad analytics to make real improvements to your sales enablement—not just box-ticking or busywork.
Let’s get straight to it.
Step 1: Get Clear on What You Want to Improve
Before you even open up the analytics dashboard, get specific about what you’re trying to fix or learn. There’s a ton of data in Showpad, but not all of it matters. Ask:
- Are sellers actually using the content you give them?
- Which pieces help move deals forward?
- Where do reps get stuck in the sales process?
- Are buyers engaging with what you send, or ghosting you?
Trying to “improve everything” is a recipe for getting nothing done. Pick one or two real problems, and focus your analysis there.
Pro tip: Write down your questions before you start. Otherwise, you’ll get lost in the data swamp.
Step 2: Learn Where to Find the Right Data
Showpad offers a few main types of analytics. Here’s what actually matters (and what you can probably ignore):
- Content Usage: Tells you which assets are being used by sellers and sent to buyers. Good for spotting content that’s gathering dust.
- User Adoption: Shows how often your team logs in, shares, or interacts with content. Helps you see if your platform rollout is actually working.
- Buyer Engagement: Tracks whether buyers open, view, or interact with what you send them. Honestly, this is the goldmine.
- Deal Insights: If you’ve connected Showpad to your CRM, you can see which content appears in winning deals vs. lost ones. This is advanced, but powerful.
Don’t get distracted by: Vanity metrics like “number of downloads” or “total shares” unless they directly tie to your goals. You want impact, not activity.
Step 3: Audit Your Content—What’s Actually Used?
Open up the Content Usage analytics. Filter by the last 3–6 months, depending on your sales cycle length. Look for:
- Top 10 most-used assets by sellers
- Content that’s never used (zero views or shares)
- Assets that get shared a lot, but never clicked by buyers
Ask yourself: - Is your “flagship” content even being used? - Are there outdated decks still floating around? - Do reps prefer making their own stuff? (If so, find out why.)
If something’s not getting used, there’s usually a reason: - It’s hard to find - It’s too long or complicated - Reps don’t think it helps
Action: Prune the dead weight. Archive or update anything that’s not seeing real usage. Less clutter means reps find the good stuff faster.
Step 4: Dig Into Buyer Engagement
Now, check Buyer Engagement analytics. This tells you what happens after a rep shares content:
- Are buyers opening it at all?
- Which pages get the most/least attention?
- Do they forward it internally?
Here’s how to make sense of what you see:
- High open rates, low time spent: Maybe your subject lines are good, but the content is boring or irrelevant.
- Lots of views on certain pages: That’s what buyers care about. Maybe pull that info up front.
- No engagement: Time to ask the rep if this content is being sent to the right contact, or if it’s even worth sending at all.
Don’t assume all content needs to be flashy. Sometimes a simple PDF gets better engagement than a fancy video—buyers are busy too.
Pro tip: If you see a piece of content that gets shared a lot but never opened, it’s probably filler. Cut it or rework it.
Step 5: See What Correlates With Closed Deals
This is where things get interesting—if your Showpad is hooked up to your CRM, you can look for patterns:
- What did winning deals have in common? (Did all closed-won deals use a particular case study or ROI calculator?)
- Which content is always present in lost deals? (Maybe your pricing sheet scares everyone off.)
Don’t force a pattern if there isn’t one. Sometimes content isn’t the reason a deal closes or dies—but if you spot a clear link, double down on what works.
Action: Share these patterns with your sales team. “Hey, every deal we win uses this one-pager—make sure you’re sending it.” Or, “This deck never leads to a win. Let’s fix or drop it.”
Step 6: Talk to Your Sales Team—Don’t Just Trust the Dashboard
Data’s only half the story. Sit down with a few sellers and ask:
- What content do you wish you had?
- What’s missing or out of date?
- Are there assets you never use? Why?
- Do you find Showpad easy to use, or is it a pain?
You’ll get way more insight from a ten-minute call than from a month of staring at dashboards. Analytics should help you start conversations, not replace them.
Step 7: Make Small, Real-World Changes
Armed with your analytics and feedback, pick a few things to change:
- Update or kill unused content
- Make high-performing assets easier to find (pin them, add to a collection, etc.)
- Create new content based on buyer engagement patterns (e.g., a shorter version of a popular deck)
- Run a quick training session to show sellers what’s working
Don’t try to fix everything at once. Make a tweak, check the results in a month, and go from there.
Step 8: Set Up Simple, Repeatable Reporting
Don’t waste time building custom reports every week. Instead:
- Identify your key metrics (e.g., “Top 5 most-shared assets” or “Buyer engagement by stage”)
- Set up automated reports or dashboards in Showpad, if possible
- Share quick, actionable summaries with your team or leadership
If people aren’t acting on your reports, they’re too complicated. Focus on what’s actually useful.
What to Ignore (Mostly)
There’s a lot of noise in analytics platforms. Here’s what you can safely put on the back burner:
- Obsessing over total downloads: Who cares if something got downloaded 500 times if it doesn’t help close deals?
- Comparing yourself to industry benchmarks: Your buyers and sales cycle are unique. Focus on improvement, not beating someone else’s numbers.
- Tracking every tiny action: Stick to the big stuff that drives outcomes.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Don’t overthink it. Showpad analytics can absolutely help you improve your sales enablement strategy, but only if you use the data to support real conversations and small, practical changes. Start with one or two improvements, see what happens, and keep it rolling. Fancy dashboards are nice, but deals get won by people, not charts.