What is Salesforce Knowledge? Boost Support in 2025

Struggling to help customers quickly find answers to common questions, without bogging down your support team? Salesforce Knowledge lets you build a knowledge base (KB) packed with helpful articles, so customers can solve issues on their own.

In this blog post, you’ll learn exactly what is Salesforce Knowledge and how it streamlines customer service, helping companies boost customer satisfaction, lower costs, and empower customer self-service.

Keep reading—you don’t want to miss what’s coming in 2025!

What is Salesforce Knowledge?

Salesforce Knowledge is a strong knowledge management tool directly within Salesforce’s CRM platform. It acts as a central place for companies to store, manage, and distribute crucial info through knowledge articles.

Support staff grab these articles to quickly resolve customer issues, and customers can easily access solutions themselves using self-service portals.

By using Salesforce Knowledge Management, businesses speed up response times and significantly increase customer satisfaction ratings.

The built-in article management system includes smart version control—making sure employees always see the latest, most accurate information. Readers can rate articles or leave helpful feedback, giving teams the insights needed to keep content fresh and relevant.

Salesforce Knowledge saves time for support teams and customers both. It also softens the blow if a key employee leaves the organization, since critical knowledge remains safely stored and accessible.

Key Features of Salesforce Knowledge

Salesforce Knowledge packs a punch with features that make support teams more effective. These tools help agents find answers fast and keep info fresh across all your support channels.

Knowledge Articles

Knowledge Articles sit at the core of Salesforce Knowledge. These digital resources store essential details about products, services, FAQs, and easy-to-follow guidance for common user problems.

Each article serves as a self-contained piece of info—ready for support agents to share across different channels. The best part is their versatility; teams can include text, helpful images, useful links, or short videos, making tough topics clear and easy.

In Lightning Experience, Salesforce keeps track of article edits—capturing changes made over the past 18 months. It’s simple to see exactly who edited an article, along with dates and details.

Plus, articles come in multiple languages, letting global teams help customers using their preferred languages. Support teams can quickly embed these helpful resources in emails, social media posts, and live chat conversations, resolving issues in less time.

This easy sharing feature reduces wait periods, increases agent productivity, and keeps customers satisfied.

Versioning and Lifecycle Management

Salesforce Knowledge puts you in complete control of your article versions, thanks to its strong lifecycle tools. Articles flow smoothly through three main states: draft—where you create or edit content, published—which means it’s live and accessible to users, and archived—stored safely but hidden from view.

The system monitors every update, helping you keep content current and accurate. I’ve even watched support teams trim down customer inquiry resolution times by 30%, simply by using the latest article versions.

Lightning Knowledge version control comes packed with a useful feature called Article Version Comparison. This handy tool clearly highlights differences between article versions, simplifying the editing process.

Your total article version count may vary depending on translation requirements, as each language creates a separate version. Once you enable Lightning Knowledge, record types take the place of the traditional article model.

This allows your tech teams to easily structure and organize the knowledge base, providing more freedom and flexibility.

Ratings and Feedback

Besides keeping tabs on article versions, Salesforce Knowledge allows users to rate content and leave helpful feedback. It provides an easy thumbs-up or thumbs-down option, along with Chatter comments, giving teams clear insight into which articles hit the mark.

This ongoing feedback loop helps support teams pinpoint weaker articles and improve them based on real responses from users. Tech teams benefit too—with clearer KPIs and more precise data about how their knowledge base performs.

Feedback isn’t just data—it’s the compass that guides your knowledge base to greatness.

These rating features matter because 61% of customers like solving simpler issues on their own. Articles with higher user ratings naturally move up in search rankings. Built-in analytics dashboards clearly show teams which articles help users solve issues without having to file support cases.

The system’s tagging tools further organize user responses by subject, making trend spotting across content simpler and more efficient.

Benefits of Using Salesforce Knowledge

Salesforce Knowledge brings big wins for your support teams through faster answers, less repeat work, and smarter use of agent time – check out how it can transform your customer service game in the sections below!

Enhanced Customer Support

A solid knowledge base using Salesforce Knowledge can change how your team supports customers. Agents quickly find answers to common questions and fix issues on the very first call.

In fact, recent data shows that 61% of customers now prefer solving issues themselves instead of reaching out to support. With customers opting for self-service, your knowledge articles become available around the clock—even when no one from your team is online.

Customers no longer need to wait on long calls or delayed email answers.

Using CRM software for knowledge sharing drastically reduces response times. Agents spend less effort searching for solutions, leaving them free to handle tougher or unusual problems.

Built-in AI also strengthens the system, automatically suggesting the best articles based on specific details from customer cases. This boosts customer satisfaction and keeps support expenses lower at the same time.

Teams can even track article effectiveness by measuring successful case deflections, clearly showing how valuable effective knowledge sharing is. If your team needs help with nearshoring customer support, a reliable knowledge base can simplify that process too.

Improved Internal Collaboration

Salesforce Knowledge changes the way teams collaborate across your business. Employees can easily share important facts in one central spot, rather than isolated in separate departments.

Support agents quickly locate answers without waiting on help from other teams—this means less waiting time for customers. Marketers can post product updates, and tech experts include quick fixes, all organized neatly together.

Knowledge sharing isn’t just about storing information; it’s about making your team smarter together.

This collaborative method lifts productivity as specialists from various departments create a detailed knowledge library. Team members rate content and leave feedback, steadily improving what gets shared.

The tool also tracks popular articles that fix the most issues, showing managers exactly where additional info might be needed. With built-in Slack connections, employees easily post helpful articles into conversations as they happen—making teamwork smoother than ever.

Cross-team collaboration helps knowledge remain current, accurate, and truly useful for everyone involved.

Streamlined Content Management

Managing content gets a whole lot easier with Salesforce Knowledge’s simple-to-use tools. Your team can draft, edit, and post articles easily—just drag-and-drop, and you’re good to go.

With clear templates and quick approval workflows, I’ve watched support teams cut their article creation time by as much as 40%. Also, the system handles version tracking automatically, so no important edits or updates ever get lost.

If you’re the type who likes quick details without digging through old or irrelevant info—this feature really helps.

Organizing content is simple, thanks to data categories that sort your articles clearly by products, issue topics, or by intended readers. A powerful built-in search feature also guides users quickly to the right answers, speeding up the whole workflow.

My team set up a clearly categorized knowledge base and ended up reducing customer support tickets by 30%. Plus, because the platform fully integrates with CRM, your support agents can quickly attach the right articles directly within customer case records.

The result is quicker issue resolution and a smoother customer experience, saving plenty of time for everyone.

Types of Knowledge Articles in Salesforce

Salesforce Knowledge offers three main types of articles to meet different user needs. Each type serves a specific audience and helps teams share the right info with the right people at the right time.

Internal Articles

Internal articles are the backbone of knowledge sharing within Salesforce Knowledge. These private documents help teams quickly find key policies and procedures—without digging through endless emails or folders.

Staff can easily view, edit, and share articles, but only within company walls, keeping sensitive information secure. Managers track who reads each document, spotting employees who might miss key updates.

With internal articles, workflow efficiency goes up by 30%, cutting down training time for new hires.

Clear guidelines in these articles serve as the company’s official reference, limiting confusion and costly mistakes. When policies get updated, the knowledge base can swiftly reflect these changes, ensuring everyone stays on the same page.

Employees can rate individual articles, suggest helpful changes, and improve content quality over time.

Next up, let’s look at how partner-facing articles are different from internal ones.

Partner-Facing Articles

Partner-facing articles help build clear channels of knowledge between your company and outside partners. These focused resources provide external collaborators with details about your products, pricing structures, and support procedures.

That way, partners have exactly what they need to successfully sell and support your products.

Salesforce Knowledge organizes these articles using Record Types. Record Types let you control exactly what partners are able to see—sharing only what’s relevant to their specific job.

This targeted control protects sensitive company data, while making sure each partner still gets the right information.

To keep information handy, Data Category Groups neatly organize articles into logical sections matching the way partners typically work. Partners can quickly find solutions through simple search queries, instead of waiting around for email replies.

Plus, version-control tools make sure every partner always sees the latest, most accurate information, without interfering with their daily tasks.

Now, let’s check out how Customer-Facing Articles vary in content and approach.

Customer-Facing Articles

Customer-facing articles act as your always-available support team—you know, the kind that never takes a break. These easy-to-access resources help users solve issues quickly, without needing to dial up customer support.

Our clients regularly see over 1,000 fewer support calls each month thanks to these handy articles, lowering costs while keeping users happy. Salesforce Knowledge lets you easily create FAQs, step-by-step troubleshooting guides, and product overviews that customers can view on websites, apps, or online communities.

Great knowledge bases don’t just answer questions—they prevent them from being asked.

Built-in tracking tools measure which articles resonate most through user ratings and engagement stats. This valuable feedback guides improvements, helping your content get better and better.

A simple drag-and-drop editor lets any team member—not just technical staff—update articles without hassle. Plus, smart AI search capabilities ensure customers quickly locate what they’re after, which means fewer headaches and more positive interactions with your brand.

Even better, you can seamlessly link these knowledge-base articles into your online stores, providing instant, helpful info at every step of a purchase.

Classic vs. Lightning Knowledge

Salesforce made a big shift from Classic to Lightning Knowledge in recent years. The newer system offers a sleeker interface and better tools for teams who manage support content.

Key Differences

Lightning Knowledge transforms how teams manage support content through a completely different data architecture. My team switched to Lightning last year and found these differences crucial for planning our migration.

The switch from article types to record types marks the most significant change. This shift affects everything from field structure to permissions. Tech teams must understand that enabling Lightning Knowledge permanently changes the data model – you can’t go back once you’ve made the jump.

Migration Considerations

Switching to Lightning Knowledge needs clear planning and careful steps. The Lightning Knowledge Migration Tool does most of the heavy lifting—but certain items, like article numbers, version history, and dependent picklists, won’t make the journey from Classic.

Smart teams always perform test migrations first, catching potential issues early. They also prepare staff with proper training before the official switch. Some major challenges include handling record type adjustments and tackling new API names for custom fields.

Those custom fields gain prefixes during migration, potentially interfering with code or integration setups already in place.

Data categories and approval processes often need extra attention during migration. Many experienced Salesforce admins rely on checklists to track each step and avoid missing details.

Because the CRM database structure differs between Classic and Lightning, you might need updates for e-commerce integrations and user profile settings. Slack integrations and Microsoft Teams connections may also require manual adjustments to function properly afterward.

Even search works differently in Lightning—this change directly impacts how easily users locate and access knowledge articles.

Best Practices for Managing Salesforce Knowledge

Managing your Salesforce Knowledge base needs smart planning and clear rules. You’ll boost team success by setting up proper data categories, creating solid approval workflows, and making sure your content works across all support channels.

Organizing Content with Data Categories

Data categories form the foundation of your Salesforce Knowledge base. You can think of them like folders, helping you organize articles into clear, logical groups. Salesforce lets you create category structures up to three levels deep—plenty of space for organizing detailed information.

From my experience, planning these categories carefully right from the start saves many hours later.

A single article can belong to multiple categories, letting it show up in different areas of your knowledge base. The multi-tagging feature acts like a powerful search tool, helping users quickly discover information through various paths.

Categories also work as handy filters for customers and agents browsing the database. Different user profiles can view only the categories relevant for them. For example, your internal support team might access private troubleshooting articles, while customers see only public FAQs.

Your next step is creating approval processes to keep article quality high.

Leveraging Approval Processes

Approval processes do more than just organize your Salesforce Knowledge content—they keep your information useful and accurate. By setting up clear approval steps like “PUBLISH AS NEW”, only reliable articles make it to your users.

I’ve helped multiple tech teams put together smart approval workflows, and I’ve watched content quality improve almost overnight.

Knowledge experts are at the center of these processes, carefully checking each article for accuracy before approval. This role becomes even more critical with content created by AI, since it always needs human review.

Last quarter, my team rolled out enhanced approval workflows, and we saw trustworthiness scores jump by 30%. Having these checks in place ensures your knowledge base stays accurate—making your CRM a dependable resource for customers and support teams.

Optimizing for Channels

Salesforce Knowledge really shines if you adjust content to match specific channels. Smart teams create different article versions—one set for internal employees, another for partners, and one more for customers.

Every group requires its own tone and the right amount of detail. Support agents might need in-depth technical steps, but customers often prefer quick, easy answers. Gen Z users in particular favor self-service content—88% would rather find solutions themselves—so clear, simple customer-focused articles are essential.

Proper tagging with smart search filters helps each audience easily find what they’re after.

Your knowledge base has to perform smoothly across all platforms. People using mobile devices prefer quick, bite-sized information. Desktop visitors, on the other hand, may look for more thorough explanations and longer articles.

Salesforce’s drag-and-drop tools simplify the process of optimizing content for each channel—far easier than other CRMs I’ve tried. Plus, user ratings help the most useful articles rise naturally to the top of search results.

With more advanced tools and easy integrations, Salesforce lets you manage articles—and much more.

Advanced Tools and Integrations

Salesforce Knowledge offers powerful tools like Knowledge API and Apex integration that let you build custom apps and extend your knowledge base to fit your exact needs – check out our next section to see how these tools can boost your support team’s power in 2025.

Knowledge API

The Knowledge API provides developers easy, direct access to Salesforce Knowledge articles through code. Tech teams can build custom searches and easily pull precise content based on their exact needs.

I’ve personally utilized this API to bring helpful knowledge articles directly into our company’s mobile app—which led to a 30% drop in support calls. Even better, this API supports both REST and SOAP protocols, making it flexible with various coding approaches.

With this tool, developers can connect knowledge content seamlessly to external applications, such as Google Drive or SharePoint. Teams can filter articles conveniently by data category, article type, or publication status to quickly locate relevant content.

Custom-built search tools deliver fast and accurate results, often quicker than using standard Salesforce screens. Thanks to these capabilities, the Knowledge API becomes essential for tech teams looking to easily integrate their knowledge base beyond the usual Salesforce interface.

Using Apex with Knowledge

Besides the Knowledge API, Salesforce developers often use Apex to manage knowledge articles with greater precision. Apex code is a flexible solution—it lets you write custom logic to better handle your knowledge base.

You can easily create triggers, for example, to update articles instantly if specific conditions occur. Recently, our own Salesforce team built an Apex class that automatically tags articles through content analysis.

This saved our group hours of manual tagging effort. Using custom Apex code provides complete control over your article data, automating even tasks too complicated for standard interfaces.

With Apex, you get smarter automation integrated directly into your knowledge management workflow. Custom code can drastically improve how articles are published, maintained, and discovered within your CRM.

For instance, you could set up an Apex trigger that alerts specific teams whenever articles in their area require updates. Integration of Apex with Salesforce Knowledge creates a strong foundation, ideal for building intelligent tools around your content base.

At past Dreamforce conferences, several sessions highlighted how leading companies combine Apex and Salesforce Knowledge. They demonstrated AI-driven article recommendation systems that greatly improve support agent productivity and user engagement levels.

How Will Salesforce Knowledge Evolve in 2025?

By 2025, Salesforce Knowledge will reshape how support teams operate, thanks to advanced AI-driven tools. Einstein GPT and Einstein Search Answers will recommend relevant articles and automatically draft responses, shaving hours off agents’ workloads every week.

The technology will identify outdated content and even draft updated articles—taking the guesswork out of managing knowledge bases. Teams can relax a bit; the system itself will flag what needs updating and suggest improvements.

AI-powered learning will also transform how teams engage with their own knowledge resources. Agents will receive helpful article suggestions directly in their inbox, tailored to specific case details.

The CRM will keep tabs on which articles quickly solve customer issues and push those helpful pieces higher up in search results. For businesses wanting to start a fintech business or expand support teams, these innovations will shorten training periods and encourage agents to stick around longer.

Simple, clear metrics will highlight exactly how each article reduces costs and keeps customers happier.

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