A new report by Accenture has called on enterprises to “equate content” with their “most essential asset” if they are to develop a successful digital marketing strategy. The State of Content Survey found that while marketing teams are motivated to transform their content offerings, more than half admitted that they feel their competitors are better at executing a successful digital strategy. An impressive 100% of the marketers surveyed said they now recognise the crucial role that content such as social media posts, videos and blog posts play in meeting strategic business goals, but just 20% said they managed it well.
Accenture’s report noted that marketers are now acutely aware that they need to vastly improve their digital content management, as the volume of content and assets is set to increase in the future. The majority of respondents said they were not fully satisfied with how they were handling their current content load, which is described by 81% as between moderate and large amounts. A further 83% expect it to grow further by 2018, with just 3% expecting it to decrease during that time.
Researchers concluded that enterprises will not be able to fall back on a “singular fix to mastering content” and that they would have to acquire skilled staff, improve technology and streamline general processes to get up to speed with today’s digital content landscape. Meanwhile, more than three-quarters of marketers said they would like to work together more seamlessly with the IT department, as advertising now “relies more on technology than ever before.”
Researchers added “Not only must companies bridge the gap between marketing and technology, they must develop and communicate a digital content strategy from the top down and enable an effective governance and operating model. Collaboration is key to creating a responsible, conservation-minded atmosphere with content at the centre.”
When asked what would put their organisations on a path to success for content management and production, the 1,000 marketers surveyed placed an equal emphasis on a range of success factors. For example, 10% believe that better technology and platforms were the most important, 8% highlighted a clear strategy for content and a further 7% claimed that being better at content publishing and delivery was key.
