How to Get Better at Creating Digital Content in 2023

Content marketing is cost-effective, but many organisations haven’t invested in the proper setup to help their teams to flourish.

Expectations of marketing are high, yet creating and managing content has never been more complicated. Individuals and teams can easily find themselves frustrated. In 2023, content must be planned and delivered faster and more efficiently than ever before. 

But with legacy systems, remote working and an assortment of relationships between internal team members and external partners, there are many challenges.

The recently released State of Digital Content 2023 report identifies these challenges as well as the traits of those who are happier and performing better. With insights from more than 600 UK and US respondents, it found that while content marketing is cost-effective, many organisations haven’t invested in the proper setup to help their teams to flourish.

For example, 57% of those surveyed said that they waste more than three hours a week locating and updating much-needed assets. That equates to 144 hours a year, or around 3.5 work weeks, which could have been spent on work that helps to drive forward their business.

This lost productivity and time delay publishing content was a major sore spot for respondents.

Removing the Burden of Content Admin in Order to Deliver More

The research found nearly two-thirds of businesses are using basic cloud-file storage for their assets. However, many content creators store assets on individual hard drives and desktops. Basic and localised storage makes sharing files and collaborating with colleagues and partners more challenging.

Additionally, 37% of survey respondents cited that maintaining, updating and managing content is frustrating. And considering that their files aren’t saved in a central location, many teams have issues with version control, and ultimately, they risk publishing out-of-date assets or information.

There is also a high risk of security and business continuity issues if locally saved files are lost or damaged.

The findings highlight that those in teams using a digital asset management (DAM) platform are twice as likely to be satisfied than those that use other content storage tools.

It’s clear that a solid tech stack and a frictionless approach satisfy those involved in content production, and what’s more, they say they can access better reporting and insight that informs strategic marketing and design decisions.

Being organised matters in 2023. 43% of respondents said that this would make the biggest improvement to how they manage and store their content. Significantly, the survey respondents who described their content and workflows as efficient were five times more likely to report a significant increase in content ROI.

How we as marketers and creatives work today is vastly different to pre-2020.

The report identified that less than one-quarter (24%) of remote workers feel satisfied with their ability to share and manage content.

This is a major red flag.

With the advance and adoption of tech platforms such as video-conferencing and collaboration tools, as well as the normalisation of hybrid and remote working, streamlining content workflows is a must. DAM is an incredibly effective way to achieve this.

So, how can you improve the state of digital content in your organisation?

Empower your content teams to be more efficient and therefore more creative. Don’t drag them down with out-of-date processes, insufficient technology, and the burden of time-wasting administration. After all, you hired them to make a difference.

The State of Digital Content research was conducted by Ascend2 in partnership with Canto.