The Marketing Activation Gap: Why Sales Isn’t Using Your Content (and How to Fix It)

Twelve months ago, the problem was clear. There wasn’t enough content.

Sales teams were crying out for marketing materials they could actually use — not just glossy awareness-level assets, but mid-funnel content that spoke to real buyer concerns. Marketing couldn’t produce fast enough to keep up with demand.

Now, thanks to generative AI and large language models (LLMs), the pendulum has swung the other way. Content production has exploded, and most B2B marketing teams are shipping more assets than ever.

And yet the same frustration often lingers... sales still isn't using the content.

This is what I call the activation gap — the growing disconnect between what gets produced and what actually gets used.

It's rarely a content volume problem, and only sometimes a content quality problem. Most often, it's a content activation problem. The faster we scale output, the more deliberate we need to be about how that content moves through the business, and into the hands of the people who need it.

Why marketing content isn't getting used by sales

The activation gap usually exists because content production has outpaced content enablement. Thanks to AI, we’re creating more content. However, it's not necessarily better content, nor are we making it easier to use.

The upshot is that sales teams are overwhelmed. Content is everywhere, but not always where it needs to be. Some of the content is misaligned with what sales actually needs. It might be beautifully branded and full of the right key messages, but it doesn’t reflect real objections or deal-stage dynamics. And even when content is useful, it’s often buried in shared drives or locked away in systems sales never opens.

So sales teams do what sales teams do — they work around it to get the deal closed. Maybe they reuse something they pulled together months ago, or maybe they don’t use anything at all. They're not ignoring marketing, it's more that they don't see the value in what you're doing, right when they need it.

The trust problem behind the activation gap

There's an uncomfortable truth at the heart of the marketing content activation gap, and it comes back to that key issue of trust in the era of AI: if sales doesn’t trust the content, they won’t use it.

It isn't because they're difficult or because they don't care (well, usually). It's because all too often, the content you're producing feels disconnected from the real conversations they’re having every day:

• Sometimes it’s the tone — too polished, full of AI tells, not grounded in buyer reality.

• Sometimes it’s the context — no one has explained who it’s for or when to use it.

• Sometimes it’s the process itself — content that appears fully formed, without input, dropped into a drive or tacked onto a campaign.

In that environment, it's no wonder that trust breaks down. No matter how well-written your assets are, it's entirely possible that your sales team is questioning the whole idea that marketing content can move a deal forward.

The good news is that there is a way to fix the activation gap, but you might need to put in a little bit of work. It starts with a mindset shift — away from content as a finished product, and toward content as a shared, working asset, as you can see in the table below.

The role of content is changing

Old Role of Content	New Role of Content
One-and-done asset	Living resource
Created by marketing, handed to sales	Co-created across teams
Used once (if at all)	Used, tested and adapted in-market
Housed in folders	Embedded in workflows
Measured by output volume	Measured by usage and deal impact

How to close the content activation gap

This is not about asking sales to try harder (trust me, we've all been there and it doesn't work). It's also not about telling marketing to write better copy, or to come up with better ideas. The sales-marketing content activation gap exists because the way we manage content still treats it as output — whether that's a case study to tick a box, or a campaign. Instead, it needs to be treated as infrastructure.

To close the gap, we need to treat activation as a capability -— a shared, embedded way of working that links content to commercial outcomes. That means building systems and habits that make content discoverable, trustworthy and usable in real sales conversations.

It also means letting go of the idea that content is “done” once it’s been produced. Content that gets used is content that evolves. It’s built with feedback and updated based on what actually works. It’s part of how you sell.

The good news is that you probably don't need to invest in a new tool to solve the content activation gap. It may be more about standing up a content operating model that keeps people, platforms and priorities aligned around usage, rather than output. The table below outlines three of the most common causes of the activation gap and some of the fixes you might consider to solve it.

What’s causing the activation gap — and how to close it

What’s Getting in the Way	What Actually Works
AI has accelerated content production, but the infrastructure hasn’t kept up	Build governance into your content workflow — including tagging, ownership, and regular reviews. Prioritise usage, not just volume.
Content isn’t aligned to real buyer conversations	Co-create sales enablement assets with your reps. Skip the assumptions and go straight to the field.
Sales doesn’t trust what’s been produced	Involve sales early. Give context, not just access. If they help shape it, they’ll use it.
Assets are scattered across disconnected systems	Consolidate and simplify access. Make it easy to find the right version, in the right place, at the right time.
Content is seen as a deliverable, not a living resource	Treat content like infrastructure — maintained, updated, and tied to performance. Design for iteration, not one-and-done.

If marketing content isn't getting used, the fix is likely operational

Ultimately, the fix here isn't to "slow your roll" on AI content; nor is it to assume the content is fine and sales "just doesn’t get it". Sometimes the content isn’t good — perhaps it misses the mark, or it's too generic to be useful. However, it’s just as likely that the problem sits around the content, rather than in it.

Content is the output of people, process and tools. If it’s not getting used, it’s worth treating that as a project in its own right. Carve off the work. Look at what’s working, what’s not and where things are getting stuck.

If that sounds like something you need to untangle, get in touch — and we’ll have a proper poke around under the hood to solve the activation gap together.