Our 2017 Content Operations + Leadership Benchmark Study uncovered no shortage of interesting findings. After thinking about and discussing the implications with the team, I wanted to share a few takeaways that struck me.
1. The More Mature Content Operations Are, the More Likely They Are to Report Success
We found a promising correlation between reported maturity and reported success. Investing in your content capacity likely would not be a wasted effort. That begs the question… what do mature content operations look like?
2. Mature Content Operations Have Leadership, Content Intelligence, and Content Automation
Those elements emerged as essential to modernizing and scaling content operations. Content intelligence requires access to data and tools to analyze and report that data. Mature content teams are curious about their content’s effectiveness or impact. The future of content automation that is quickly becoming now is artificial intelligence.
3. Content Leadership Requires Content Vision
Our study of content teams in 2015 revealed content vision as an important leadership quality. This study confirmed and expanded that finding. Crafting and communicating a vision for content specifically correlates with reporting success.
4. The “Why” of Artificial Intelligence for Content Automation Is Clear But Not the “How”
Our study revealed enthusiastic interest in artificial intelligence and machine learning, but most participants have not progressed much further than enthusiasm. We anticipate figuring out the “how” will be the focus over the next two years. And, if you already have it figured out, you have a significant advantage over most organizations.
5. Content ROI Seems Like a Catch-22
Maturing to the point where you can assess return on investment requires investment in time and resources. The good news is this Catch-22 only seems like one. If you secure that investment and use it wisely, you are likely to report a return.
Combined, these takeaways add to my excitement for 2018 but also remind me of the work we face to overcome challenges. Of course, you might glean different takeaways from our study. My hope is that you find it useful.
The Author
Colleen Jones is the president of Content Science and a recognized expert on content, AI, and digital transformation, advising top organizations around the world such as Dell, Thompson Reuters, and The Home Depot. The author of the top-rated book The Content Advantage (third edition), Colleen hosts conversations with senior leaders on the Content Powers AI podcast.
A passionate entrepreneur, Colleen has led Content Science to conduct the world’s largest ongoing study of content operations and AI, develop the patented ContentWRX evaluation system, and architect the AI superagent ContentIQ.
She served as head of content at Mailchimp during its transformation into a marketing platform and eventual $12 billion acquisition by Intuit. Colleen also led customer experience transformation at AT&T and the CDC. Sharing insights based on her experience and her firm’s research, she is a frequent contributor to business and technology publications and podcasts as well as a top LinkedIn Learning instructor. Follow Colleen on LinkedIn.
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