The state of digital content 2025: Solving an impossible equation
| February 11, 2025
While 77% of content and creative professionals expect to produce more digital content this year, only a quarter feel they have the right tools to meet the demand. But the challenge isn’t just about volume, it’s about increasing quantity while also maintaining quality and brand consistency. Balancing all these factors can feel like an impossible equation.
To find answers, we surveyed 423 content and creative professionals and compiled The State of Digital Content: 2025 Edition. The results reveal a clear divide: only 19% of teams managed to increase their content ROI in the past year. These high performers didn’t just succeed by chance; they followed a strategic playbook that set them apart. The good news? Their approach provides a roadmap for other teams looking to increase content production, improve quality, and maximize ROI.
The key takeaways from these top performers lead to an interesting solution: succeeding in today’s high-volume content world isn’t just about producing more – it’s about transforming how teams work.
Here are some of the highlights:
Break down siloes with better systems
While more average-performing content teams chase brand awareness, top performers are solving a fundamental challenge: operational efficiency. Most content teams are drowning in complexity, often using four or more disconnected tools, with content professionals wasting over three hours a week searching for digital assets. Not only is this inefficient, but collaboration is hindered between teams.
Top performers take a different approach – they prioritize streamlined operations, with 84% emphasizing cross-team collaboration as a top priority. The goal isn’t just to create content but to build scalable systems that eliminate friction and empower teams to work more efficiently.
DAM + PIM: The duo you need to meet
Top performers are making a critical shift: replacing fragmented tools with comprehensive solutions. Digital asset management (DAM) remains the backbone of content operations, and top performers are twice as likely to have a DAM platform in place. According to the report, these teams are also more than three times as likely to say that repurposing content is “extremely easy.”
But they’re not stopping there. While 43% of teams still struggle with spreadsheet-based product data management, top content ROI performers are twice as likely to have adopted product information management (PIM) technology. Together, DAM and PIM create a powerful combination – teams using both are twice as likely to maintain brand consistency, distribute content efficiently, and measure performance effectively. This isn’t just about better organization; it’s about building a unified content ecosystem that scales.
Get creative with AI
Top-performing brands are moving beyond AI hype to focus on practical, day-to-day advantages. They are nearly twice as likely to use AI for content organization and automated tagging. They are also 1.5x more likely to leverage AI to enhance content discovery. By offloading tedious manual tasks to AI, they’re not replacing human creativity – they’re making a strategic move that frees their team to focus on high-value projects and maximize content ROI.
Solve the content equation
While most teams struggle with fragmented tools and manual processes, top performers have identified a winning strategy: combining streamlined workflows, unified technology platforms, and strategic AI adoption to turn heightened content expectations into an advantage. As content demands continue to grow, the distance between those who settle for the status quo and innovators will only continue to widen.
Interested in more stats and facts that will help you solve the content equation? Download Canto’s exclusive report today: State of Digital Content: 2025 Edition.