BNP Paribas transforms static sales materials into interactive buyer experiences

THE CHALLENGE

Producing content with no idea whether sellers used it — or how

BNP Paribas Fortis, a subsidiary of the BNP Paribas group, serves large companies and mid-caps primarily in Belgium, with many clients active worldwide. The marketing team was producing a high volume of materials to support sellers — but had zero visibility into what happened next.

“We had no clear idea what they were doing with it, when they were using it, how they were using this material, or if it made any sense,” says Michael Poelmans, Strategic Marketing Manager at BNP Paribas.

The team needed a solution that could manage many different content formats in one application — not a bloated software package with a few relevant features bolted on.

THE SOLUTION

A purpose-built platform that revealed what content actually mattered

BNP Paribas chose Showpad because it was tailored specifically to their problem. The platform made it simple to manage diverse content formats, apply corporate branding, and integrate with existing systems.

But the most valuable outcome was insight. Once the team could see how sellers used content, a difficult truth emerged.

“A lot of material wasn’t used,” says Poelmans. “Many things we produced were probably just given to a customer but never really discussed in a sales conversation.”

That data forced the team to rethink everything. Static documents explaining what BNP Paribas does were no longer enough. The team shifted to creating interactive content that gives customers deeper insight and drives real conversation.

THE IMPACT

A complete reinvention of sales content — driven by data

Armed with usage analytics, BNP Paribas rebuilt its sales materials from the ground up. The shift moved the team from producing volume to producing value — creating content designed to support actual sales conversations rather than sit untouched in a customer’s inbox.

The partnership with Showpad has also continued to evolve. Poelmans values the relationship as much as the product.

“It’s a customer-oriented company, really focused on listening to the customer, and the product constantly evolves based on customer feedback,” he says. “You have a real partner — not just a piece of software.”