Altimeter-2018年网络内容报告（英文）-2018.11-26页-2mb

2018 State of Digital Content Summary

Core Content of the Report

The 2018 State of Digital Content report by Altimeter provides an in-depth analysis of how companies across North America, Europe, and China are using digital content to achieve business outcomes. It highlights the evolving role of digital content, emphasizing a shift from traditional marketing goals to more customer-centric and product-focused strategies. The report is based on a survey of 400 content and digital marketers, offering insights into content strategy, production, measurement, and challenges.

Key Findings

• Revenue Impact: 41% of companies can directly tie revenue to content performance.
• Personalization: 42% of companies can create personalized content, but only 38% can deliver it in real-time.
• Content Archetypes: Product-focused content (29%) outperformed other archetypes like thought leadership (25%) and brand-focused content (18%).
• Content Formats: Visual content, particularly short-form video (52%) and images (51%), is the most engaging format, surpassing blog posts, whitepapers, and podcasts.
• Measurement Shift: Companies are moving away from measuring content by views to using engagement (30%) and efficiency/cost savings (23%) as key performance indicators.
• Regional Differences: North American and Chinese companies are more mature in content strategy and production than European companies, which lag in both strategic alignment and technological adoption.

Content Strategy Ownership

• Marketing Department: Still the primary owner of content strategy (35%), though a growing number (23%) have established dedicated content departments.
• China Exception: In China, a dedicated content team is more likely to own the strategy (36%) than marketing, indicating a shift in content management practices.
• Banking Industry: The only industry where a dedicated content team (36%) is more likely to own the strategy than marketing, due to regulatory requirements.

Top Content Strategy Objectives

• Customer Support and Information: The most important objective for content strategy is to provide accurate, helpful information and support for buying, using, or repairing products (32%).
• Trust and Transparency: Inspiring trust and being seen as transparent (32%) is also a significant objective.
• Brand Awareness: Creating brand awareness and positive feelings (28%) and positioning as thought leaders (25%) are secondary priorities.
• Community Engagement: Serving a niche community (17%) is a lower priority compared to other objectives.

Main Challenges

• Team Alignment: 24% of respondents identified team alignment as the biggest challenge.
• Skill Acquisition: 17% cited hiring the right skills as a challenge.
• Data Utilization: 21% of European companies and 26% of retail companies struggle with producing content based on customer data.
• Technology and Compliance: Technology industry companies face challenges with purchasing the right software (22%), while healthcare companies face regulatory constraints.

Content Production Models

• Centralized Model: 45% of companies use a centralized content team to manage content production across departments and channels.
• Holistic Model: 22% of companies use a holistic approach, allowing departments to independently create content while following unified guidelines.
• Hub and Spoke Model: A smaller percentage use this model, where a central team oversees content creation and consistency.
• Organic Model: Only 14% of companies produce content without coordination or a unified strategy, which is considered the least mature approach.

Content Production Ownership

• In-House Teams: 47% of companies produce the majority of their content in-house, up from reliance on agencies (12%).
• User-Generated Content: 12% of companies use user-generated content as a significant source, valued for authenticity and cost-effectiveness.
• Industry Variations: The technology industry uses the most user-generated content (20%), while the banking industry still relies heavily on agencies (24%).

Data Sources for Personalization

• Web Analytics: 59% of companies use web analytics as the primary data source for personalization.
• Industry-Specific Sources:
  • Retail: Website and social media analytics (68% and 60%).
  • Manufacturing: CRM data (64%).
  • Healthcare: Customer surveys and call-center records (68% and 66%).

Content Performance Metrics

• Engagement: 30% of companies use engagement metrics (clicks, shares, comments).
• Efficiency: 23% use efficiency metrics (cost savings on customer support).
• Conversion: 23% use conversion metrics (downloads, direct sales).
• Reach: 12% use reach metrics (likes, views).
• Inbound Metrics: 12% use time spent on owned properties.

Conclusion

The report underscores a clear trend in digital content strategy: a move from brand-centric and thought leadership content to product-focused and customer-support oriented content. Companies are increasingly measuring success through engagement and efficiency rather than reach, and are adopting more sophisticated technologies and in-house capabilities. While marketing remains the primary owner of content strategy, the role of other departments is expanding. The report highlights the importance of alignment, skill development, and data utilization in driving successful content initiatives.