1. Focus on the right metrics

Measure what matters, not what’s easy to track. Many companies stop at the basic metrics, but top performers take a more sophisticated approach – try tracking your content’s quality, relevance, conversion rates, and content production costs. 

Having a more comprehensive view of your content’s performance means you can make smarter decisions about where to invest resources and how to optimise your content strategy.

2. Build systems, not silos

You shouldn’t just focus on creating content and chasing brand awareness. Instead, think about how you can improve on more fundamental challenges like operational efficiency.

With nearly half of marketers using four or more separate tools, too many content teams drown in complexity and confusion. These disparate tools create inefficiency – around two-thirds of marketers are wasting more than three hours every week searching for digital assets.

Compare this to the top performers who take a different approach. Canto’s report found the most successful marketers were more likely to focus on streamlined operations and cross-platform performance tracking. 

3. Implement DAM and PIM

Linked to the point above, consider the benefits of moving from fragmented tools to integrated solutions. Digital asset management (DAM) solutions are vital for managing content, with the most successful teams being twice as likely to have a DAM platform in place. 

Interestingly, businesses who report the highest ‘content ROI’ are also twice as likely to have product information management (PIM) technology in place. The combination of DAM and PIM software is powerful: it helps with brand consistency, content distribution, performance measurement and more. 

4. Optimise your analysis

Of course, measuring the performance of your content is one thing, but how do you turn that into tangible improvements? It comes down to speed and actionability. Take note from the top performers again: these teams have processes that provide real-time insights on the effectiveness of their content, meaning they can adjust their strategy and resources quickly. 

The results speak for themselves. These top-performing teams report significantly higher revenue growth, faster time-to-market for new content, and consistent ROI improvement. 

5. Get creative with AI

Top performers are moving past the hype of artificial intelligence in order to find its practical advantages. They’re nearly twice as likely to use AI for content organisation and automated tagging, and 1.5 times more likely to tap into AI-powered search and discovery. 

As always, the real story is in the results. Those who use AI tools report that it improves the  grammar and tone of their written content and some have automated their content creation workflow with help from AI. Leveraging AI isn’t about replacing human creativity – it’s about using AI to handle repetitive tasks, so your team can focus on higher-value work.

So, work smarter not harder. Consider adopting some of our top tips for closing the content capability gap, and you could find yourself in the high-flying 19% who are thriving and making their content work better for them.

Canto is the industry leader in digital asset management (DAM), now leveraging PIM to help more than 4,000 organisations worldwide improve their content and product lifecycle. To book a free demo, visit www.canto.com