2021-05-31-Altimeter-The_2021_State_of_Digital_Content_30页_20mb

2021 State of Digital Content Summary

Core Content of the Document

The document explores the evolution and challenges of digital content systems in modern businesses, emphasizing the need for agility, personalization, and efficiency in content creation, management, and delivery. It outlines key capabilities that define an agile content system and provides benchmark data based on a survey of 375 global businesses.

Key Capabilities of an Agile Content System

An agile content system is composed of five essential capabilities:

1. Data-Informed Content Creation: Using data to generate relevant content.
2. Automated Content Creation: Leveraging technology to streamline content production.
3. Real-Time Personalization: Delivering the right content to the right person at the right time.
4. Unified Strategy Implementation: Ensuring all content aligns with a coherent strategy.
5. Collaborative Content Management: Enabling multiple teams to access and use content effectively.

These capabilities are supported by both technical and non-technical factors, including AI tools, cloud-based platforms, and proper organizational structure.

Goals and Metrics of Digital Content

• Top Content Goals:
  • Brand awareness (35%)
  • Thought leadership (28%)
• Commercial Goals:
  • Lead generation, sales enablement, and customer support are increasingly adopted, indicating a shift toward customer-centric content.
• Top Metrics for Measuring Success:
  • Engagement (36%) is the most commonly used metric.
  • Conversion (31%) is the top metric for revenue-focused teams.
  • Reach (11%) is the least used metric, showing a move away from purely brand-focused metrics.

Organization and Governance

• Multiple Content Strategy Owners:
  • 31% of companies have multiple owners, allowing for department-specific goals but risking inconsistency.
  • 15% use a hybrid model, where leadership sets strategy and the content team owns production.
• Centralized vs. Decentralized Models:
  • 50% of companies use a centralized model, while 32% are moving toward decentralized production to meet demand.
  • Retail is the only industry with a single content strategy owner, suggesting brand-centric content use.
  • Mature companies are more likely to adopt decentralized models to increase output and meet commercial objectives.

Content Creation and Personalization

• Data-Driven Inputs:
  • 30% of companies use a mix of data inputs including audience needs, competitor analysis, and company goals.
  • Only 13% rely solely on internal creative ideas.
• Real-Time Personalization:
  • Most companies can deliver personalized content, with 19% using AI to enable this.
  • Sales and support teams are more likely to use customer-specific data for personalization.
• Segmentation:
  • 25% of companies use multi-data segmentation, with 19% leveraging AI for complex schemes.
  • Brand-focused teams are more likely to use demographic data, while commercial teams use behavioral and transactional data.

Content Storage and Management

• Cloud-Based Platforms:
  • 78% of companies use cloud-based DAM (Digital Asset Management) platforms.
  • 22% still rely on on-premise or local storage, which limits scalability and collaboration.
• Advanced Features:
  • 28% of mature companies use automated tagging and review features in their DAM platforms.
  • Technology and banking industries lead in using cloud-based DAM with AI-powered tagging.

Content Quality and Compliance

• Design Systems:
  • 30% of companies have a centralized design system hard coded.
  • 26% have it integrated into all content creation platforms, ensuring consistency and quality.
• Compliance and Approval:
  • 62% of companies still use inefficient "one-item-at-a-time" review processes.
  • 16% use dedicated compliance platforms, and 23% use modular systems for faster approvals.

Key Research Insights

• Top Challenges:
  • Producing personalized content based on customer data is the biggest challenge.
  • Aligning teams on strategy and hiring the right skills are also significant challenges.
• AI Adoption:
  • AI is increasingly used for audience segmentation (18%), content variation (19%), and testing (24%).
• Maturity Levels:
  • Companies with more commercial goals are more likely to adopt holistic content measurement and decentralized production.
  • Technology and banking industries show the highest maturity in content systems.

Methodology and Disclaimer

• The survey included 375 respondents from businesses worldwide.
• The document provides benchmarks and insights to help companies evaluate and improve their digital content operations.
• It is important to note that the findings are based on self-reported data and may not reflect all organizational realities.

Conclusion

The 2021 State of Digital Content highlights the growing importance of agile content systems in meeting the demands of personalized, scalable, and effective content strategies. While many companies are still in the early stages of digital content maturity, those that invest in data, automation, and collaborative structures are better positioned to deliver high-quality, impactful content that aligns with both brand and commercial objectives.