What is your plan for your marketing tech stack as you head into 2024?

With generative AI’s growing influence on marketing content creation, most of us are now reevaluating our tech needs. Creative teams have never moved faster and technology decisions have never felt bolder.

AI will have consequences for the way in which we work. We get it. But early signs indicate an inevitable evolution rather than an imminent revolution. What is increasingly clear is that new technology will not only help us produce more digital content but will be pivotal in helping us manage higher volumes and wider delivery.

Canto recently conducted its latest annual research among hundreds of US and UK-based content and creative professionals. This reveals how teams are navigating the digital content challenge going into 2024, and who is succeeding, especially against the backdrop of more and more AI-enabled tools and AI-generated content.

Here are three big findings.

Three-quarters anticipate more content in 2024, but are teams prepared?

In a landscape where digital content is the linchpin of customer engagement and brand recognition, content and creative teams are bracing for a significant uptick in workload.

The research reveals that an overwhelming 74% of these teams expect an increase in content production volume in the coming year. This surge underscores the urgent need for efficiency and reducing mundane tasks to get the best value from skilled teams.

Yet, the readiness to meet these demands appears to be lacking. Concerningly, just 33% of companies report high satisfaction levels with their current content management strategies. This gap between expectation and reality signals a critical need for an overhaul in digital content management practices for the majority.

AI is here to help

The research found that improving efficiency is a top priority and a top challenge for content and creative teams.

Enter the transformative potential of AI. Content teams are keenly eyeing AI as a game-changer for creating, organising, searching, and distributing content. Its rapid development is seen as a key to unlocking higher efficiency and effectiveness in meeting the burgeoning content demands. 8 out of 10 surveyed say that a benefit of using AI as a part of their content program is improved efficiency and productivity.

However, the road ahead is fraught with challenges. Teams face a multitude of hurdles, ranging from content production requirements across diverse channels to efficiently locating and accessing assets, managing budgets, and streamlining workflows.

The hottest pairing in town: AI-generated content and AI in content management

With AI-based functionality, digital asset management (DAM) platforms have an expansive role to play in helping teams overcome these challenges.

Use of DAM to manage and store digital content is up significantly from last year. Just 24% of content and creative professionals last year reported that their organisation uses a DAM platform compared to 43% of those surveyed this year.

DAM platforms improve ROI, and AI improves the use of DAMs. 72% of DAM users saw an increase in ROI on content and creative production in the last year compared to 59% of those not using a DAM solution. Those who use a DAM and AI for content management efforts are significantly more satisfied with how their content is managed compared to those not using AI in conjunction with their DAM. (56% vs 28% are very satisfied).

How is AI and automation being used in DAM? Here are two examples.

AI Visual Search is revolutionising how high volumes of content are navigated and bringing unparalleled search accuracy. AI-driven image recognition means teams can avoid metadata dependency and spend less time on tedious tagging and asset management work. Searching for a keyword or phrase returns a comprehensive set of results, so you can extract more content value and skyrocket ROI through instant asset discovery and reuse across websites, platforms, and campaigns.

With Media Delivery Cloud you can save an image once and deliver and display it everywhere it needs to feature. It instantly transforms the picture into the sizes, focal points, and file types you need and publishes them globally in real time from your DAM library to your brand’s sites, stores, and platforms.

The connected digital ecosystem

In 2024, one thing is for sure. Connectivity across the increasingly AI-enabled marketing tech stack will be paramount as this new wave of technology aims to fulfil its promise of driving improved outcomes for those working in marketing and design.

You can find more of the latest insights and experiences of content and creative professionals in the US and the UK in Canto’s State of Digital Content 2024 report. This comprehensive research delves into content strategy, workflows, and vital technologies. It identifies key takeaways from industry responses and provides expert analysis of current trends.

????Canto joined us at The MarTech Summit London in November 2023. Find out what we discussed in the Post-Summit Report.

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