Demand for content shows no sign of slowing

Image credit: Adobe Stock/ DC Studio.

As the digital economy continues to grow, companies are seeing an even steeper growth trajectory in demand for content. Digital content is the stuff that fuels digital experiences. Effective content determines whether and how successful brands are at attracting new customers and deepening relationships with existing customers.

To understand the rate at which global demand for content is rising and uncover the factors driving that demand, Adobe surveyed more than 2,600 customer experience and marketing professionals spanning eight countries — the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and India. Following are the highlights from our research:

Demand for content will continue to accelerate. 88 percent of respondents reported demand for content grew by at least 2X during the last two years, with about two-thirds saying they expect demand to grow by between 5x and 20x over the next two years.

The takeaway: organizations that are struggling with content velocity now will need to significantly increase resources or streamline their content workflows if they want to keep up with the competition.

What’s driving demand? Personalization at scale, hybrid experiences, and emerging formats are the top drivers of increasing content demand. For brands experiencing increased demand for content, the three largest factors were #1 customer expectations for personalized experiences, #2 hybrid digital/physical customer journeys, and #3 emerging formats — including 3D and immersive content. Other top factors include increasing needs to create content for traditional blogs/articles/infographics, video/audio formats, more channels, more geographies, and more languages.

Takeaway: Filling demand for content isn’t just about creating more of the same — marketing and customer experience leaders face increasing complexity in what, how and where they deliver.

Top blockers: While demand continues to increase, most companies’ content supply chains — the process of producing and delivering the content that fuels effective customer experiences — aren’t operating as efficiently and effectively as they could be. Our research identified the top reasons marketing and CX pros identified as slowing them down: #1 they lack the right technologies, #2 not having enough people, and #3 broken processes. Budget was, perhaps surprisingly, a distant as #3, and lack of budget as a distant #4.

Takeaway: In the past, companies may have been able to add creative head count or agency support to keep up with rising demand. However, the financial and workforce realities of the digital economy make it impossible for brands to scale — efficiently and effectively — in the absence of a more strategic, automated, and collaborative approach to content.

Today’s companies face tremendous pressure to meet customers where they are with the right experiences in a fast-changing and uncertain digital economy, while at the same time, the ability to deliver effective content at the speed of experience has never been more challenging. Taking a strategic approach to scaling content operations unlocks creative capacity and delivers on key outcomes, including cost efficiency, scaled personalization, and greater employee engagement.

Learn more about how Adobe’s Content Supply Chain solution can help.