1、1Content Matters for C-ExecutivesContent Matters 2024 Report2ContentsContent Matters for C-executivesExecutive summary3Data-driven content strategy4Retention and website-centricity8Artificial intelligence15Conclusion20Methodology andparticipant profile223Executive summaryIn January and February 2024

2、,we surveyed 1,003 marketing and media leaders about what matters to them when creating and publishing content.The results of this survey revealed that 78%of organizations feel an increasing demand for their content in 2024 but many struggle to balance budget constraints with the need to produce qua

3、lity content.Further,it confirmed that there is a high demand for data-informed content creation.Our research also uncovered areas of disagreement among respondents.On whether their company was data-driven,more than half of managers believed they were,but only 30%of C-executives felt the same.This d

4、isparity prompted a closer look at how different seniority levels develop and understand their content strategy.In this 2024 Content Matters for C-Executives report,we take a deeper look at the responses of 193 C-level employees who make strategic decisions and plan the budgets for their companies.T

5、hese results offer a more nuanced look what matters to organizational leaders and identify the top challenges facing media and marketing teams when developing and implementing their content strategy.Content Matters for C-executives3Gaps persist between“having data”and applying a data-driven strategy

6、Simply collecting data has no value without the means to organize and interpret it into a meaningful and actionable analysis.5Do you consider your organizations content strategy to be data-driven?Understanding of content performance is high,but there is room for improvementData-driven content strate

7、gyAlmost nine in 10(87%)C-levels say they have a very clear or somewhat clear picture of how their content is performing,leaving only 13%who feel otherwise.This closely aligns with the average of all respondents across all job roles.So,the vast majority of executives and employees at content-creatin

8、g organizations feel confident that they are aware of how their content is performing.Despite this high level of understanding,more often than not this knowledge is not being used in a data-driven strategy.In fact,just 43%of content professionals surveyed indicated that their content strategy was da

9、ta-driven.This share was even lower among C-executives,where only 30%said their organization had a data-driven content strategy and half(49%)said it wasnt data-driven at all.This demonstrates that although most feel that they have a good understanding of content performance,C-levels recognize that s

10、imply understanding how content is performing is only one element in developing a good strategy.Another crucial,yet more challenging element is turning this information into insight by connecting historical performance with future planning.6Do you have a clear picture of how your content is performi

11、ng?Data-driven content strategy7Who reports on/measures content performance using analytics in your organization?Analytics should be accessible at all levels,but theres a responsibility disconnect Data-driven content strategyConcerning who reports on content performance,theres also disagreement betw

12、een roles.More than 50%of VPs,directors,managers,and individual contributors see content reporting as primarily the role of marketing and editorial positions.However,C-levels are far more likely to place this responsibility with executives like themselves.They see themselves in a critical role when

13、understanding and disseminating information about analytics,but they still dont believe their organization is as data-driven as other roles do.Datais,in fact,everyones business.Content data should be accessible to all seniority levels so everyone can use it in their own reporting.With a good analyti

14、cs tool,this critical data can be made accessible to all,in a format thats relevant to their position.Retention is the goal and website-centricity is the meansWith the rise of low-quality AI-generated content and widespread loss of trust in third-party platforms,your companys web presence must be se

15、lf-reliantengaging,secure,and modern.This means adopting a customer-first,website-centric approach to your digital strategy and understanding what keeps your customers coming back.9Content measures that C-level finds most(and least)impactfulRetention and website-centricityHalf of C-level respondents

16、 we surveyed hadrevenue goals tied to content.We asked thissample which content measures they believedwere most impactful for their organizationsrevenue.Sixty percent agreed that retainingand expanding existing customers is themost impactful content measure to driverevenuerepresenting the No.1 conte

17、nt-related revenue driver for this group.But these days,its harder than ever to buildand maintain a loyal audience on fly-by trafficfrom social media and search.Instead,youneed to encourage users to go directly to yourwebsite,where theyll learn to know and trustyour brand,and become loyal fans.After

18、 retention,advertising placements anddriving traffic to products were the next mostimportant revenue generators for C-levels.Buteven less popular content measures likeaffiliate sales and paywalls/subscriptions wereseen as high-impact measures by at least athird of the executive respondents.Althoughr

19、etention is a top priority,every contentmeasure on the list was impactful to at least aquarter of those surveyed.So,when allocating resources to contentmeasures,its important not to put all youreggs in one basket.And with the recentupdates to Googles algorithm,theirintroduction of AI-generated answe

20、rs,andgrowing distrust in social media platforms,being able to pivot quickly is more importantthan ever.So how can budget decision makers allocatefunds effectively and drive a greater ROI?Theanswer is access to good first-party analyticsthat provide a clear picture of what contentmeasures are and ar

21、ent driving results.Not all businesses share the same operatingmodel or interact with their community in thesame way,so the effectiveness of contentmeasures can change from organization toorganization.A flexible analytics tool that canidentify trends in your unique community isinvaluable to anyone p

22、lanning a budget.10How impactful do C-levels consider these content measures to drive their organizations revenue?Retention and website-centricity11How impactful do you consider these content measures to drive your organizations revenue?Retention and website-centricityBetween C-level and lower senio

23、rity levels,its clear that there are competing priorities when driving revenue through content.Without supporting data,this can lead to points of disagreement about where to invest time andresources.The most divisive content measure uncovered by the survey was sponsored content,which was seen as imp

24、actful by 53%and 51%of managers and individual contributors,but less than 40%of C-levels,VPs,and directors felt the same.Another point of contention was selling content products,which was the number one revenue driver for VPs and directors but didnt make the top three overall for C-level.12C-level i

25、snt convinced that quantity is the answerRetention and website-centricityCreating high-quality content is the top challengeidentified by content-creating organizations,butchallenges like this can only be addressed if theyare communicated across departments as partof an effective content strategy.Our

26、 survey data showed that although themajority of respondents at all seniority levelsagreed that demand for their content hadincreased and will increase into 2024,the shareof respondents who felt this way rose asseniority level decreased.This highlights a voidbetween content creators,of whom 87%expec

27、t an increase in demand,and C-levelexecutives,of whom just 63%felt the same.This difference suggests that contentcreators and their managers feel pressure toproduce more,but that pressure isntnecessarily driven,or even recognized,bymany C-levels.This leads to a content strategy communication breakdo

28、wn where resources are unnecessarily diverted to creating quantity when the expectation from higher up is on quality.This disconnect is one reason why creatinghigh-quality content is the top challengeidentified by C-levels and communication across departments is so important to implementing an effec

29、tive content strategy.Another reason is,of course,that Google is cracking down on low-quality,high-volume sites and answering searchqueries with AI-generated overviews.13An increase in demand for our content from our audience is anticipated in 2024.Retention and website-centricityCompared to the sam

30、e time 12 months ago,how has the pressure to use content to drive revenue changed?14Quality is King,but the goalposts are constantly shiftingRetention and website-centricityThese days,quality content isnt just aboutproviding an engaging,secure,and moderndigital experience to keep customers comingbac

31、k.With Google constantly updating theplatform underneath us,the definition ofquality content changes every day.This makesit impossible to understand how trends arechanging and what“quality content”will meantomorrow unless you have immediatefeedback loops.That only happens if analyticsare easy,clear,

32、and accessible across theteam,in real time.This daily challenge is reflected in C-executives top three concerns regarding content in 2024:1.creating high-quality content,2.keeping up with trends,and 3.staying up-to-date with technology.These are the core principles of engaging a loyal community and

33、maintaining relevance on platforms.This is where good analytics shine.Use contentanalytics to identify exactly what your community is interested in to stay ahead of trends and platform shifts,and create high-quality content that brings the best experience to your customers.Biggest challenges for C-e

34、xecutives regarding content in 2024 RankingCreating high-quality content1Keeping up with trends2Staying up-to-date with technology3Personalization/content that caters to the individual needs and preferences of the audience4Building and maintaining audience trust5Measuring content performance6Budget

35、constraints7SEO changes8Adapting to new formats9Content saturation10AI has yet to solve IT and developer bottlenecksC-level values technologies and software like CMS,analytics,and AI tools.Despite being budget conscious,theyre willing to invest in technologies and tools that show potential and a dem

36、onstrated return on investment.16C-level kicking the tires on AIArtificial intelligenceC-level executives are wading into the AI trendand recognize the technologys potential,but theyre not making significant investmentsjust yet.Three-quarters of C-level respondents said that their team would allocat

37、e budget to AI tools in 2024,and 40%said that AI tools were specified in their content budget.The most common amount spent on AI tools was between 5,001 and 10,000 USD as reported by 24%of C-level respondents;only 11%expected to spend more than 25,000 USD on AI.AI is still finding its place in conte

38、nt workflows,and most C-levels are not yet ready to allocatefunds to AI over other budget priorities.Manyare also split on whether AI can effectivelysupplement the work done by human staff.Fifty-two percent agree that AI can bridge resource gaps;however,48%dont,representing the lowest level of confi

39、dence across seniority levels.The dream state for all data-driven productsof which AI is oneis to be able to intelligently tell humans what they should be doing to maximize performance.The data shows that we arent quite there yet.When we asked if AI recommendations are important when deciding what c

40、ontent to create,only 14%of C-level execs considered them very important.So although some investment in AI is there,wesee a 50/50 rift between executives whoembrace AI and those who dont feel itsimportant.Time and the advance of AItechnologies are likely to move this even splitfurther in the directi

41、on of the AI adopters.Butconcerning Googles recent Helpful ContentUpdate that de-ranks and de-indexes AI-generated content,we expect AI tool adoptionto center less around pure content generationand more on operations and optimization.Even if AI is not capable of replacing the content work done by sk

42、illed creators,it is and will continue to be used as a tool to support content creation.Analytics tools are using AI to predict trends,optimize content,and automate tedious tasks.This has been further recognized by some of the more advanced contentmanagement systems that are integrating AItools to a

43、id creators to produce content moreefficiently with the aid of content analytics.17How much is your team spending on AI tools this year(in USD)?Artificial intelligenceLeveraging AI for content creationcan effectively bridge resource gapswithin our teams.How important are AI recommendations for your

44、organization when deciding what content to create?18Mixed experiences regarding IT hurdles and finding CMS developersArtificial intelligenceMore than a third(37%)of C-levels claim that IT challenges are blocking their publishing workflow,and 46%say its hard to find developers for their CMS.A conside

45、rablenumber of content-driven organizations stillstruggle to find or design a CMS that canseamlessly integrate with their needs andworkflows.This is not just an issue of skills and staffing shortages of developers.There are a countless number of CMS productson the market,all with varying degrees ofc

46、ustomizability and special tools and features.For most businesses,the real reason why ITgets in the way of publishing content or struggles to find skilled developers is that they havent found the right CMS and tools to suit their needs.19IT is often in the way of publishing content due to security c

47、oncerns,e.g.,broken governance practices and unintended access restrictions.Artificial intelligenceHow easy is it to find developers for your CMS?38%46%62%54%46%37%Totally/somewhat agreeVery/fairly difficultTotally/somewhat disagreeFairly easy53%63%Conclusion21Key takeaways:ConclusionContent Matters

48、 for C-executivesThere is a gap between having data,understanding data,and using data.To have a data-driven content strategy,content analytics must be accessible to all departments and positions.A user-friendly tool enables clear communication of organizational goals backed up with evidence from dat

49、a.Creating high-quality content is the top priority for C-levels,but keeping up with shifting trends makes this goal a moving target.The definition of“quality”content is constantly changing with consumer preferences and the latest SEO algorithm updates.To be seen online takes more than just good con

50、tent.C-executives are aware that they need a website-centric approach and to react to the latest trends with content analytics.AI is in the early adoption phase.C-levels may be less confident than other seniority levels that AI can bridge resource gaps,but they cant deny that it is growing in import

51、ance.This suggests that,for now,AI tool adoption is likely to center less around pure contentgeneration and more on supporting tools like SEO optimization,data analysis,and content recommendations.Quality over quantity.C-levels are less preoccupied with the increasing demand for content than content

52、 creators.This suggests an imbalance of priorities between the two groups,which can have a significant impact on how resources are allocated.Its crucial to have effective communication of common strategic goals to all levels.As decision makers for their organization,C-executives best reflect the cha

53、llenges and goals facing their industry,giving us insight into their approach to content.But when we compared their survey answers with those of their employees,we uncovered inconsistencies in how each seniority level in an organization understands and engages with content strategy.This shows that m

54、any organizations still have work to do when communicating their strategy at all levels and getting everyone to pull in the same direction.22C-Level main job focusOrganization typePosition heldMethodology andparticipant profileContent Matters for C-executivesFrom Jan.5 to Feb.6,2024,we surveyed 1,00

55、3 marketing and media leaders203 respondents held a C-level position at their organization,193 of whom are at organizations that write,edit,or produce content.Marketer32%Analyst5%Editor13%Journalist2%Developer6%IT4%Product owner29%Other9%B2C(Business-to-consumer)53%B2B(Business-to-business)14%Both B

56、2B and B2C28%Nonprofit5%Respondents whose organization writes,edits,or produces contentAll respondentsC-Level193203VP/Director311346Manager231241Individual Contributor159170About WordPress VIPWe are WordPress VIP,the agile content platform leading a powerful enterprise ecosystem.As we fit seamlessly

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