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Content Management and Implementing Effective Strategy

Today, executives are more convinced than ever that content management is a strategic function in business. But they don’t quite have a feel for how it all works yet. The waves pass by.

Content production workflow has become an even bigger bottleneck because marketing leaders know they need more content assets, but the business can’t quite count the waves yet. More waves pass by.

Owned media properties (e.g., websites, blogs, magazines, resource centres) are important for enhancing customer experience. But businesses don’t quite have the hang of managing them as products yet.

Content as a core business strategy

2020 was no doubt a unique and challenging year. This year’s study was fielded in April 2021. While it’s clear the world is still dealing with the unprecedented disruption of COVID-19, we can see glimpses of optimism and resurgent growth.

But we also can see some lingering challenges for the business environment and fundamentally accelerated changes in the way we live, work, and take our products and services to market.

Overall, the big takeaway is a fundamental sense that big change is coming.

Here are a few results that jumped out to us and the questions they might have you asking.

Struggling to Master New Tech

Like last year (and seemingly every year), around 40% of respondents said their organization isn’t using its existing content technology to its potential.

The top three reasons cited for this: integration issues (56%), lack of training (55%), and lack of communication about capabilities (50%).

This desire to add new technologies isn’t surprising. Last year we predicted a much greater need for more collaborative solutions to help content teams work remotely. This trend has been accelerating as more and more businesses demand more and more content. The growth of freelance networks and content contributors from all around the world also creates pressure for businesses to get their arms around how they engage and facilitate all the work done outside the traditional corporate campus.

It’s about that content experience

Following on that technology question, another finding indicates teams are becoming more focused on their owned content marketing platforms (e.g., websites, blogs) than reacting to internal ad hoc requests.

Consider the following: In 2020, the Content Marketing Institute asked respondents to “indicate the typical approach taken by content creators in your organization.” Forty-three percent selected “project-focused” (creating content in response to internal requests), whereas only 14% picked “platform-focused” (creating specific types of content such as blogs or videos).

In 2021, CMI changed the question to: “Which one of the following most closely describes your organization’s current content operating model (i.e., where the content team spends most of its time, effort, budget)?” Interestingly, half (50%) indicated a “content products” model (focused on content marketing platforms such as website, blog, magazine, resource centre), followed by 32% who indicated a “projects/campaign” model (operating as an internal agency, responding to ad hoc internal requests).