Is Content Worth It For Salesforce Partners?

There’s comfort in the idea that content should produce results you can measure. Publish something valuable, track what it brings back. If you look at it this way, it’s a simple equation. Clean logic that makes it easier to ‘defend’ the work. I write defend because that’s what I’m trying to do with this article. Although, if you wanted to be a tad fancier you could say I’m trying to demonstrate the value of content… beyond numbers or your new dashboard.

As much as we want it to, marketing doesn’t unfold in clean logic, and people don’t make decisions in straight lines. They don’t move from awareness to consideration to decision with the discipline of a flowchart. More often, they move unpredictably, pausing, doubling back, forgetting, and returning. They gather information across time on different platforms, in a state of partial attention.

I suppose my main argument here is that content doesn’t always leave a visible trail. 

Someone might read half your blog post, forget about it, and then remembers something they learnt from it three weeks later during a meeting. Someone could see a carousel on LinkedIn and never engage but it reshapes the way they talk about a problem internally. Someone may receive a forwarded article in a Slack thread, not click, but it forms an impression that changes how they perceive your brand.

None of that shows up in a fancy dashboard or spreadsheet, but it’s still happening.

And when we only value the things we can track, we set the bar in the wrong place. We miss the full picture and underestimate the slow, often invisible role content plays in helping people feel more informed, more ready to buy. 

That’s the real function of most content. Not to convert on the spot, but to stay with people while they think and move them along in their purchasing decision.

Attribution Misses the Point

I’m not trying to tell you measurement doesn’t matter. Of course it does! Especially when budgets are tight and marketing is expected to prove its contribution to the pipeline. But attribution can drift from being a useful tool to a rigid lens. Instead of helping us understand what’s working, it can narrow what we’re willing to see.

 If a post didn’t bring you followers, or the form on your latest blog post hasn’t been filled out, content can get deprioritized fast, even if it was exactly the thing that helped someone take the next step in their head.

Also, it’s easy to lose sight of the non-linear path people take when it comes to marketing. What if someone ignored your form but clicked your contact us button and then went and filled out a form anyway? Are you currently set up to track this? Or would you just assume the blog flopped?

Note: we offer a marketing ops health check to ensure you are set up to track what matters before you spend a load of resources on content.

The flaw here is conceptual. Attribution models are built to follow digital interaction but a lot of influential content moments happen out of view. Like we said previously, they’re passed around internally, saved and referenced, half-remembered. A founder might recall something they read months ago when shaping a strategy. A buyer might read your newsletter consistently without ever clicking your CTA but still bring your name into a conversation when the timing’s right.

There’s no model that can account for all of this. And trying to retrofit every interaction into a funnel shape distorts the picture. 

The question shouldn’t be “Did this piece convert?” The better question is: “Did this piece help someone get closer to a decision?”

So, What Does Content Actually Do For Salesforce Partners?

It’s important to make it clear that good content will undoubtedly increase your amount of leads, but the argument I’m making here revolves around the ‘invisible’ impacts of content. Not all content is the kind that drives a sale in isolation, some will support the sale.

Content gives shape to ideas. It helps people name the problem they’re experiencing, or articulate a goal they hadn’t yet defined. It offers clarity, and context. Sometimes, that’s what someone needs before they even know what to search for.

But it also works downstream. It’s what a salesperson sends when a prospect raises a common objection. It’s what a buyer shares internally to bring their team along. It’s what someone stumbles across while researching and realises: these people actually get it.

None of those moments are “conversions.” But they move people. And in many cases, they’re what make the conversion possible later.

When you treat content as a one-shot lead generator, you judge it far too narrowly. But if you start looking at it as something that helps people think better, understand faster, and make more confident decisions, hopefully you’ll realise it’s doing more than you gave it credit for.

Again, this impact isn’t always visible, but it’s there. 

A Better Way to Think About Value

Strip away your content for a moment. No blogs, no decks, no one-pagers. No slides, no posts to point to, no articles to share when someone asks, “What exactly do you do?” No collateral. 

What happens?

Suddenly, every conversation becomes harder. Sales teams are left to re-explain the basics on every call and prospects arrive with less context, less confidence, and fewer reasons to trust what you’re saying. Every deal starts from zero so every pitch has to work harder. You’re building from scratch, every time.

Long before a prospect books a demo or replies to an email, they’re already forming an opinion. They’re searching, reading and comparing. Trying to make sense of what you offer and whether it applies to them. And if you’re not part of that early picture, if there’s no content to explain your value, or demonstrate your expertise, they move on. Not out of disinterest, but out of uncertainty.

They didn’t see a reason to believe you could help because you didn’t show them one.

Content helps people understand who you are, what you do, and why that matters, long before they’re ready to talk.

You can’t always measure that moment. But if it doesn’t happen, you’ll feel the effects everywhere else.

If you’re at the point where you know this kind of content matters and you’re ready to start building it, click here for a quick chat!