Content management crucial for business success according to study

More and more Swiss and German companies are recognizing the strategic value of content management for digitization and business success: 74 percent now see content management as an important lever for strengthening their competitiveness when it comes to increasing customer loyalty and attracting new customers.

In practice, however, the great potential of content management often remains untapped: Only 55 percent of companies have a defined content management strategy. This is the result of the current study "Content Management as an Enabler of Digital Transformation" conducted by the market research institute Techconsult on behalf of Adobe.

As part of the study, 100 user companies each in Switzerland and Germany were surveyed about their digitization strategies and the challenges and trends in the area of content management.

Technological challenges

When it comes to the strategic orientation of their content activities, the companies surveyed face a technological challenge: Based on their current solutions, they do not see themselves in a position to implement a completely customer-oriented approach.

Almost every second company (49 percent) is dissatisfied with the consistent use of its own content management solution across all areas of the company. 47 percent criticize the personalization options of their current content management solution (CMS). 46 percent criticize the speed of content publication in particular.

Modern CMS develop into a competitive advantage

Overall, it is becoming more and more difficult for companies to directly address the relevant and increasingly demanding customer segments and to stand out from the competition. Content management, which allows scalable personalization options, takes on a wide variety of tasks at this point.

For 64 percent, the main focus is on building trust through tailored content. If the individual information needs of consumers are fully covered, this positive customer experience (CX) also strengthens trust in the company. In addition to the efficient and targeted distribution of digital content, the handling of direct customer interactions also plays a major role: 63 percent of companies state that they already have a complete overview of all customer contacts.

To capture these interactions with customer segments and translate reactions to content into a delightful customer experience, 63 percent are increasingly turning to cloud-based content management solutions that offer them a high degree of agility and flexibility.

"Given the immense potential that content management offers today, many companies urgently need to catch up," says Christoph Kull, Vice President and Managing Director Central Europe at Adobe. "With consistent customer centricity, relevant content has long been at the heart of sustainably successful corporate strategies. Content management must be thought of holistically and does not stop at asset management. Rather, it should also be integrated in other areas of the customer experience, such as campaign management, in the commerce store or in the personalization strategy."

Reduced costs and rising sales

When choosing future content management solutions, the companies surveyed attach great importance to a wide range of different functionalities. The main focus for them is on reducing costs (84 percent), increasing productivity (79 percent) and further revenue growth (78 percent), which are to be achieved through modern content management solutions.

The top 10 required CMS features range from mobile deployment capabilities, low maintenance and support requirements, flexible operating/pricing models, comprehensive personalization capabilities, and integration of innovative technologies to a high number of preconfigured tools/features/workflows and comprehensive customer experience analysis and optimization capabilities.

These features are all rated as important or very important by more than half of the respondents. In contrast, the decision-makers surveyed see the use of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence (56 percent), the creation and updating of content for all channels (55 percent) and the scalable provision of personalized content (54 percent) as future technological challenges.

The study "Content Management as an Enabler of Digital Transformation." was designed and conducted by Techconsult on behalf of Adobe Systems. In November 2021, 100 companies in Switzerland and Germany with 150 or more employees from a wide range of industries were surveyed about their digitization strategies and the challenges and trends in content management. The study report can be downloaded from the Adobe Newsroom downloaded be