Brands have prioritised investments in the speed, scale and efficiency of their content creation capabilities and workflows to build stronger customer relationships and succeed in 2023, according to Adobe's 2023 Digital Trends Report
The 13th annual deep dive into brand marketing and IT priorities for the year ahead also revealed that brands are enhancing their existing marketing processes and technologies to make the most of their investments and ensure they seize every opportunity throughout the year.
According to the research, 88% of senior ANZ executives say demand for content has significantly increased. Despite this appetite from customers, less than a quarter (19%) of brands rate themselves as “good” at creating and delivering content.
Industry leaders are therefore rethinking and streamlining their content supply chains, which cover content campaign planning, creation, delivery, and data analysis. Efficiency and cost-reduction have become the focus: 25% of senior ANZ executives say they have already made their content processes more efficient, while 40% of senior executives aim to streamline or automate processes to work more efficiently in 2023.
Almost half (46%) of ANZ marketing practitioners cite a lack of time to be creative as a barrier to delivering excellent customer experiences. Less than a quarter (23%) of ANZ practitioners rate their organisations as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ at planning, scoping, prioritising, and assigning content to achieve measurable outcomes, compared to 25% in APAC and 33% globally. Almost half (44%) of ANZ marketers say workflow issues are critical in holding back their organisations.
To address this issue and strengthen content development in 2023, more than one-third (40%) have prioritised streamlining and leveraging AI or automating collaboration processes so their teams can work more efficiently, and 27% of ANZ brands have prioritised building their team’s digital and customer experience skills.
Nearly two thirds (65%) of ANZ leaders plan to invest in new marketing and data technologies in 2023, while another quarter (15%) plan to maximise the value of existing technologies. Some brands’ future planning may be suffering due to economic concerns: 63% of senior brand executives in ANZ report that emphasising immediate needs has come at the cost of longer-term planning and strategy.
88% of ANZ senior brand executives are looking into chatbots and AI-driven customer interactions to improve the customer experience, but investment in the Metaverse is also lagging, as 90% of ANZ executives say they don’t believe it will apply to their organisation compared to 36% globally.
Katrina Troughton, VP and MD of Adobe Australia and New Zealand, said: “Customer expectations for content-rich, personalised experiences have reached new heights, meaning ANZ businesses need to be more creative to deliver meaningful customer experiences.
“Adobe’s Digital Trends Report shows lack of time is the most significant barrier for ANZ businesses to deliver exceptional content. To address this, business leaders need to prioritise a content supply chain and explore new technologies to automate workflows for a streamlined content lifecycle.”
The global survey of more than 9,000 executives, practitioners, and agency employees explores the technology investments and strategies that set industry leaders apart from the competition.
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