Launches don’t drive revenue. What happens after does.

At the Product Marketing Summit in Atlanta, I stood in a room filled with brilliant product marketers, people who live and breathe go-to-market strategy, and I asked a simple question:

“What does enablement look like after the launch?”

Not during. Not the kickoff. Not the big internal rollout with the deck, the Slack channel, and the email blast.

I mean after. When the buzz fades.

When the rep is back in their Salesforce, trying to recall what changed in the pricing sheet. When they’re crafting a follow-up email and can’t remember if there’s a new one-pager. When the pitch call starts in five minutes, and they’re still digging for the latest deck, or worse, reverting to the one saved on their desktop.

That’s the part no one wants to talk about. Because launches feel good. They’re high energy. Cross-functional. Box-checking heaven.

But enablement? Enablement is what happens in the days, weeks, and months that follow.

And the truth is: our launch strategies are getting faster, but our post-launch support isn’t keeping up.

We’re iterating more. Shipping more. Asking reps to absorb and apply more, with less time, and fewer resources.

But we’re still expecting them to remember everything after one live session and a shared drive folder.

And when they can’t? It shows:

• They guess

• They default to outdated materials

• They skip the new messaging entirely because it’s easier

And suddenly, the product we worked so hard to build and launch… never really gets rolled out the way we intended.

The speed of change has outpaced our tools

We’re shipping faster. Iterating more. Running product and GTM like agile sprints. But we’re still enabling like it’s 2010.

From annual releases to daily micro-changes, the rhythm of product development has transformed.

Yet we still train reps as if they’ll remember everything after a one-pager and a Slack post.

And here’s the fallout:

• 57% of reps say competition has gotten tougher

• 67% don’t expect to hit quota this year

• 84% missed quota last year

That’s not a motivation issue. That’s a friction issue.

Launches are a start, not a strategy

We’ve come to equate launch success with asset creation:

• One-pagers

• New pitch deck

• Internal comms and training

• Maybe an intranet page if we’re lucky

But what happens when that launch moment passes?

If you’re like most teams:

• The content lives across 3+ repositories

• The announcement is buried in Slack

• Reps are fielding constant changes to pricing, positioning, and competitors without reinforcement

We talk about “shipping faster,” but speed without absorption is just noise. And noise leads to confusion, guesswork, and stalled deals.

There’s a growing gap between the rate of change and our ability to support that change post-launch.

That gap? That’s where revenue slips through the cracks.

Why content isn’t the problem (but discovery is)

One of the most common myths in enablement is that we just need “better content.” But the stats challenge that directly:

“40% of a salesperson’s time is spent searching for or recreating content because they can’t find what they need.”

It’s not that reps don’t want to use the right content. They just don’t know where it lives. Or if it’s current. Or if it even exists.

So they create something from scratch. Or forward the last deck that kind of worked. Or worst of all, they guess.

Meanwhile, your content library grows, untouched.

The consequences of broken content

Let’s talk about what happens when this broken system meets a new product launch.

Instead of personalized, context-aware selling, reps lean on existing knowledge. They grab a case study designed for the wrong persona. They pitch a new feature using an outdated deck. They confuse the buyer. They lose the deal.

In fact:

• 86% of teams believe their reps use less than 60% of available content

• And 70% of PMMs say enabling reps to use the right content is their biggest challenge

Every missed message compounds.

It’s not just a poor buyer experience. It’s a slow death of GTM execution, one deal at a time.

AI has changed what’s possible, but only if we change our thinking

AI can now anticipate, curate, and deliver content in the exact moment a rep needs it, based on the context of the deal, the stage of the funnel, and the persona on the other end.

It’s not science fiction. It’s already here.

We’ve entered the third wave of enablement technology:

1. Files in the cloud (the Dropbox era)

2. Centralized repositories (Highspot, SharePoint)

3. Just-in-Time Enablement, powered by AI

   
   

This is where enablement gets proactive.

Where content is no longer searched for, it’s surfaced automatically.

Where reps are no longer told what to learn, they’re supported as they do the work.

So, what does this look like in practice?

Imagine this:

• A rep is preparing for a call with a healthcare prospect.

• Instead of hunting for collateral, their AI assistant automatically surfaces a pitch deck tailored to healthcare, a win story from a similar-sized customer, and a one-pager on the latest product release.

• They click one link. Everything’s there.

• The buyer opens it. You get notified.

• The follow-up email? Auto-drafted with personalized messaging tied to that content.

That’s not the future. That’s happening now. And it’s built on three core principles:

• Contextual (in the flow of work)

• Personalized (tailored to each rep's needs)

• Simple (effortless to use and take action)

This isn’t about tactics. It’s about survival.

We’re not lacking content. We’re lacking connection.

Not between people, but between content and context. Between strategy and execution. Between what product marketing ships and what reps use.

That’s why the future of enablement won’t be defined by how much content we create, but by how intelligently we deliver it.

Unified, not scattered across 10 tools and buried in email threads

Personalized, tailored to each rep’s role, moment, and motion

Measurable, with clear insight into what drives pipeline and what collects dust

This is the shift already underway.

So, the next time we launch something new, let’s ask a better question than, “Did the assets go out on time?”

Let’s ask: “Will this actually show up for our reps when it matters most?”

Because that’s the difference between a launch that checks the box and one that changes the trajectory.

Here's how you can get started today...

Turn launch energy into lasting sales wins: Your action plan

Your roadmap for moving from theory to transformation:

1. Leverage AI: Use intelligent systems to deliver the right content in context, not just tucked away in repositories.

2. Repurpose Content: Create once, deploy everywhere. Build integrated playlists that adapt to different teams, roles, and moments.

3. Integrate Workflows: Meet reps where they already work. Embed enablement into Salesforce, Slack, email, don’t ask them to jump into yet another tool.

4. Measure Impact: Track content usage, tie it directly to sales performance, and double down on what actually moves the needle.

The future of product marketing isn’t about producing more; it’s about orchestrating what you already have more intelligently and more intentionally. It’s unified, personalized, measurable, and alive long after launch day.

Curious how you can start putting this into practice? I’d love to connect. Reach out, and I’ll walk you through real examples and next steps to help your team build smarter, faster, and more connected enablement.